Adolescence is often considered a time of confusion, rebellion, and problems. While this can occur, most people emerge from adolescence without any problems and successfully navigate the changes that accompany adolescence. Researchers do seem to agree that there are a lot of changes that take place during adolescence, but it does not always mean that it is an unpleasant time in the lives of humans (Santrock, 2011). As children enter adolescence they will experience neurological, hormonal, and physical changes. It is also important to consider the psychosocial development of adolescents and how it can be influenced by these biological changes as well as the environment that the adolescent is experiencing. Many of the changes that adolescents experience are the result of a combination of factors and the interaction of biology and the environment.
Neurological Changes
Many times the focus on neurological development is during the early childhood years of development. Such rapid changes take place during early childhood, it is many times the focus of clinicians and academics, but very significant changes also take place during adolescence as well (Rutter, 2007). One of the most interesting neurological changes that are observed in adolescents is that the connections between neurons continue to be refined through pruning (Rutter, 2007). The amount of brain matter tends to increase throughout childhood, but a decline in grey matter is found in adolescence due to pruning of the synaptic connections (Rutter, 2007). Pruning is typically discussed as a major event that occurs in early childhood after the proliferation of connections made during infancy (Santrock, 2011). Research indicates that significant pruning and refine...
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We are introduced to adolescence in the 5th stage of development. Adolescence begins for boys around the age of 14 and continues up until the age of 21 years of age. At this stage of development, there are many changes that occur emotionally, physically, sexually and spiritually (McGoldrick, Carter, & Garcia Preto, 2011). At this time, adolescent kids are going through changes in their body. They are dealing with coming into their own sexuality. Skills pertaining to social skills and social relationships are being developed through experience. Adolescents are also increasing their skills of physical and mental coordination, such as learning about the world and working on their own coordination. Adolescence is also characterized by learning their own identity and where they fit in the world, as well as learning their relationship with peers and those around them. Spiritual identity is also developed along with a deeper understanding of life. Independence is something that is also weighing on the mind of an adolescent. Overall changes in the family structure can also occur when a child of this age reaches this
Sexuality and Gender in Children’s Daily Worlds article by Thorne and Luria focuses on the relationships between sexuality and gender in the experience of 9 to 11 year old children. The purpose of the authors’ analysis is to illuminate age-based variations and transitions in the organization of sexuality and gender. Throughout this paper we discover how gender and sexuality has become a social and cultural construction that is expressed through young children. At a young age we tend to define and separate ourselves by gender, boys vs. girl. These divisions are enforced around us daily. For example, teachers often tend to separate team by gender whether it’s in the classroom or the playground.
14, 2002). Riley is currently experiencing physical changes in her body such as developing breast, getting her period, and hormonal fluctuations. Along with these other changes, her prefrontal cortex is still developing. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision-making, planning, and impulse control (Micucci, 2012). “The physical changes associated with puberty, in themselves, have little negative impact on the adolescent’s self-image, except in one instance: when adolescents are going through puberty around the same time they are experiencing other changes in life, such as changing schools”(Micucci, p. 18,
As every child grows up in a different environment, not all have a safe one to grow up in and as a result everything that surrounds them becomes apart of the clarity that their mind incorporates and becomes apart of that child 's behavior of way. In terms of brain development children or teens often listen, and see what is around them, it is also said, by researchers of the National Institute of Health, that in recent studies that were made that in teen years massive loss of brain tissue...
The teenage brain is very divergent, when compared to the adults. The prefrontal cortex is still growing, gray matter begins to decrease, and myelin is increasing. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for thinking and judgement; containing 100 billion neurons, sending information from cell body to axon to the axon terminal by electrical pulses. Furthermore, gray matter is located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Gray matter is simply in control of just about everything. It has a lot to do with the nervous system. In addition, the matter directs sensory of the central nervous system to produce a response of chemical synapses. Gray matter along with white matter, similar to gray matter, but contains extended axons, makes up 3 pounds of
In the nonfiction article “The Teen Brain: Still under construction” by NIMH, the author believes the teen brain is still developing emotionally, intellectually, and hormonally.
All around the world society has created an ideological perspective for the basis of gender roles. Gender and sex are often times misused and believed to be interchangeable. This is not the case. There are two broad generalization of sexes; female and male, yet there is a vast number of gender roles that each sex should more or less abide by. The routinely cycle of socially acceptable behaviors and practices is what forms the framework of femininity and masculinity. The assigned sex categories given at birth have little to do with the roles that a person takes on. Biological differences within females and males should not be used to construe stereotypes or discriminate within different groups. Social variables such as playing with dolls or
Studies show that up to nine percent of teenagers meet criteria for depression at any one time, with as many as one in five teens having a history of depression at some point during adolescence (Cheung et al., 2007). Symptoms in adolescents can manifest differently than in adults due to the physical and social challenges that teenagers encounter. Some of the challenges that teenagers encounter that might lead to depression are peer pressure, changes due to developing bodies, changing hormone levels, peer pressure and sports among others. These challenges present in a teenager’s life can cause high levels of stress and anxiety that affect the teenager’s life in different areas such as school, work, family and their personal, social and family lives. Due to the challenges confronted when living with depression, it is completely necessary to seek professional help once symptoms
Imagine a gardener, pruning trees and plants of its useless limbs. This process of removing unneeded material may seem unnatural or man-made, yet, it occurs in the brain during the teen years. Pruning, or the removal of unused connections in the brain, is essential to brain development. Gray and White matter are also essential, which store information and make new neuron connections. Furthermore, new studies show that neuron connections are actively being made throughout teen years. The teenage brains goes through many processes, such as pruning, developing grey matter, and making new connections. Teenagers may seem like they purposely make bad decisions and want to annoy people; however, it is not completely their fault.
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It has been found that juvenile brains are not yet fully developed. The parts of the brain specifically still changing during the teen years include the brain circuitry involved in emotional responses and impulsive responses. Teen emotional reactions are intense and urgent (National Institute
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Adolescence is a time of challenge and change for both teens and parents. Teens are at a stage in life where they face a multitude of pressing decisions -- including those about friends, careers, sex, smoking, drinking, drugs and parental values. At the same time, they are confronted with profound physical, social and emotional changes.