Efas/ifas Airbus Adolescent Development & Is It a Difficult Period or Not?

ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT – IS IT A DIFFICULT PERIOD OR NOT?

The attempt to answer the question “who I am” is a key developmental challenge of adolescence. Thinking generally, adolescence is a development stage between childhood and adult and it represents a critical period in peopleÑžs life. It starts with physical beginnings of sexual maturity and ends with the social achievement of independent adulthood. No longer children but not quite adults, adolescents face a period or rapid changes in physical, cognitive, social and moral development that affects them for the rest of their lives.

Physical Development

Adolescence begins with puberty, the time when one is maturing sexually. Puberty is a period of rapid physical development, usually beginning at about eleven in girls and at about thirteen in boys. During puberty, changing hormonal levels play a role in activating the development of secondary sex characteristics that differentiate men and women but not directly involved in reproduction such as pubic hair growth of underarm hair, facial hair growth for boys and breast development for girls, deepening of the voice. Adolescents experience also rapid gains in weight and height. Weight gain results from increased muscle development in boys and body fat in girls. Primary sex characteristics also emerge. Reproductive organs and external genitalia develop dramatically. Puberty lasts about three – four years, by the end of which time adolescents become physically capable of reproduction.

Recent research suggests that teenÑžs brains are not completely developed until late in adolescence, connections between physical and mental abilities are incomplete. This could explain why some teens cannot control their emotions, impulses and judgments.

The timing of puberty may have different consequences for boys and girls. For earlier maturing boys, their greatest size and strength give them an advantage in athletic and contributes to a more positive self image whereas later maturing boys tend to be less popular and may be a subject of ridicule. For girls, the most obvious physical sign of maturation is the development of breast. Earlier maturing girls may experience unwelcome sexual attention from boys and tend to have lower self esteem, a more negative body image and more emotional problems than late maturing girls. They also are very likely to experience pressure to become involved in dating relationship with older boys before they are emotionally ready. Early maturing girls have a higher risk to suffer from depression, eating disorders and anxiety.

Cognitive Development

As adolescents develop advanced reasoning skills that include ability to think about multiple options and possibilities, they foster more logical thought process: the ability to think hypothetically. They develop abstract thinking skills like faith, trust or beliefs. They think about how they feel and how they are perceived by others. But the ability to think abstractly does not mean that adolescents are free now from egocentric thinking. Their egocentrism basically reveals through the belief in their “imaginary audience”. Belief that people are always watching them or are very interested in their concern. They may feel as they are always on the stage and all eyes are scrutinizing them. Basically they view themselves as the centre of attention and feel extremely self conscious and are overly concerned in their appearance. They think “how could they not notice this blemish. Everyone will notice”.

Adolescents also have an exaggerated sense of their uniqueness. They may believe that their life and experiences or personal feelings are so unusual or unique that no one could possibly understand them. They may say things like “you will never understand what IÑžm going through” or “my life is ruined”.

Adolescents tend to exhibit the syndrome “it can never happen to me”. It is the belief in their personal invulnerability and it causes teens to assume very risky behaviour patterns such as reckless driving, drinking alcohol, drug use or having unprotected sex. Underestimated risks may lead to harmful consequences like drug abuse, sexual diseases, unwanted pregnancies or troubles with the law. According to psychologist Kohlberg, people pass through a series of stages in the evolution of their sense of justice to achieve a higher level of moral reasoning or sense of morality. Adolescents however having reached PiagetÑžs formal operational stage of cognitive development, become capable of comprehending moral principles because they develop an autonomous morality which is based on their own individual principles and ideas. They achieve mature morality but exhibit “justice orientation”. For example, reading books about cruelty to the animals may inspire adolescents to become vegetarians or members of Green Peace.

Psycho – Social Development

According to Ericsson, defining your own identity is the most important developmental task for any adolescent. Self identity is a stressful period of soul searching and serious self examination that many adolescents experience when struggling to develop self concept as a set of personal abilities, attitudes and values. They try to determine who they are, how they came here and where they are going. So they attempt to find a group that reflects or reinforces their self identity. To achieve stable self identity it is very important to develop ethnic identity to cope with a variety of life situations assuming different roles of the self according to the different circumstances. Adolescents who take pride in their ethnicity have higher self esteem, self motivation and self image and can handle themselves in each environment. However the stereotypes that large societies place on ethnic groups can be a great contribution

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