Part V: The Developing Person So Far: Adolescence

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Puberty begins adolescence, as the child’s body becomes much bigger (the growth spurt) and more sexual. Hormones of the HPA and HPG axes influence growth and sexual maturation as well as body rhythms, which change so that adolescents are more wakeful at night. The normal range for the beginning of puberty is age 8 to age 14.

Many teens do not get enough iron or calcium because they often consume fast food and soda instead of family meals and milk. Some suffer from serious eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. The limbic system typically matures faster than the prefrontal cortex. As a result, adolescents are more likely to act impulsively.

Both sexes experience increased hormones, new reproductive potential, and primary as well as secondary sexual characteristics. Every adolescent is more interested in sexual activities, with possible hazards of early pregnancy and sexual abuse.

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Adolescents think differently than younger children do. Piaget stressed the adolescent’s new analytical ability—using abstract logic (part of formal operational thought). Adolescents use two modes of cognition, intuitive reasoning and analytic thought. Intuitive thinking is experiential, quick, and impulsive, unlike formal operational thought; intuitive processes sometimes crowd out analytical ones. Technology has both positive and negative aspects. Positives include enhancement of learning and promotion of social outreach and reduced isolation through online connections. Negatives are evident in cyberbullying and video game addiction.

Secondary education promotes individual and national success. International tests find marked differences in achievement. In the United States, high-stakes tests and more rigorous course requirements before high school graduation are intended to improve standards.

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Adolescent development includes a search for identity, as Erikson described. Adolescents combine childhood experiences, cultural values, and their unique aspirations in forming an identity. The contexts of identity are religion, politics/ethnicity, vocation, and sex/gender.

Families continue to be influential, despite rebellion and bickering. Adolescents seek autonomy but also rely on parental support. Parental guidance and ongoing communication promote adolescents’ psychosocial health. Friends and peers of both sexes are increasingly important.

Depression and rebellion become serious problems for a minority of adolescents. Many adolescents break the law, but their delinquency is limited to their adolescent years; the great majority eventually become law-abiding adults. Some, however, are life-course-persistent offenders. Adolescents are attracted to psychoactive drugs yet such drugs are particularly harmful during the teen years.