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Psychosocial development in adolescence
Psychosocial development in adolescence
Psychosocial development in adolescence
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Introduction:
Adolescence is an important period of life where significant physical, cognitive and social-emotional developments take place very rapidly. Changes in any developmental area affects all the other areas of development, which shapes the appearance, personality and social status of a person.
Adolescence is transition between childhood and adulthood (10-20 years old). Adolescent experiences numerous changes in brain structure, physical growth, cognition, emotional and social development. Numerous academic disciplines such as medicine, psychology and sociology, etc. researched and proposed theories in attempt to understand these developments and their impact on adolescents. Any theory provides representative assessment of a person’s
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Brain: During earlier years of adolescence, the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex, responsible for “executive and logic functions” is lesser developed than at the age of 20-years when adolescent is almost matured (Fig. 1). As a result, the ability to plan and think on long-term at the beginning of adolescence is far limited than adult. On one hand, this limits their ability to overcome certain social fears (earlier or later puberty may results in developing social stigma) and on the other hand, encourage them to engage in risky behaviors (extreme sports, pregnancy).
Shortcoming in brain’s executive area is compensated by relatively more developed Amygdala, the emotion center. As a result, adolescent thinking is on the spur, more emotional, impulsive and often without best
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“Adolescent often test parents’ and teachers’ rules and boundaries.” (Green, n.d). Adults often consider it misbehavior. Regardless, they need well-balanced boundaries for their own safety and discipline purposes.
As stated earlier, adolescent begin to see the perspective of other people but remains self-centered and focused on their needs. They often fail to consider how their needs may affect others. As adolescent grows older, they become more empathic and begin to understand other people’s perspectives and needs.
Adolescence and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Adolescents also have the same five motivational needs as identified by Maslow, namely, Physiological, Safety, Love and belonging, Esteem and Self Actualization needs in respective order. Adolescents strive to fulfill these motivational needs while growing and it shapes and affects their personality and development. Adolescent with issues, usually indicates one or more unfulfilled needs.
Summary:
Adolescence is rapid growth period in all aspects of a young person’s physical, cognitive and social-emotional development. A child has to pass through these developmental stages to transform into a mature adult within a short period of about 10
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
Steinberg, Laurence & Morris, Amanda Sheffield. “Adolescent Development.” Annual Review of Psychology, (Annual 2001): 83-110. [E Journal]
This cognitive change allows adolescents to; think about what is possible, think about the abstract, think about the thinking process, think about things in a multidimensional fashion, and see things as relative. One manifestation of the adolescent’s increased facility with thinking about possibilities is the development of deductive reasoning (Steinberg, 2014). Deductive reasoning leads adolescents to hypothetically thinking, which enables adolescents to plan ahead and look at their future. Abstract thinking increases adolescents’ interest in thinking about interpersonal relationships, politics, philosophy, religion, and mortality (Steinberg, 2014). This type of thinking makes it possible for adolescents to have friendships, look at the fairness of things, and to be honest. Metacognition, or thinking about thinking, enables adolescents to make conscious decisions and sometimes it leads to adolescent egocentrism. Adolescent egocentrism is extreme periods of self-absorption and personal fable, which is the belief that everything is centered on you. The development of multidimensional thinking allows adolescents to look at things in a variety of ways. Unfortunately this type of thinking tends to complicate situations for adolescents. Finally seeing things in more relative terms “adolescents are more likely to
As Paul Thompson states in his article Startling Finds on Teenage Brains from the Sacramento Bee, published on May 25, 2001, “.These frontal lobes,which inhibit our violent passions, rash action and regulate our emotions, are vastly immature throughout the teenage years.” He also says that “The loss[of brain tissue] was like a wildfire, and you see it in every teenager.”. This loss of brain tissue plays a role in the erratic behavior of teens, who cannot properly assess their emotions and thoughts. During this period of brain tissue loss, teens are unpredictable, adults do not know what their teen’s next move will be, teens themselves do not even know what their next move will be. As we grow our brains develop, therefore teen brains are not fully developed, so they cannot be held to the same standards as adults.
One of the most complicated puzzles that have faced our society and you, the parents, is that of the teenage brain. The reason that this has been stumping our heads is because this puzzle isn’t even complete. The adolescent brain is developed from back to front creating many complications for their decisions. This both helps and damages us. With this ability, we have an easier ability to learn new things, easier time adapting to our environment, and we seek new thrilling experiences. The ways this hinders us is that we have bad decision making, emotions controlling our decisions, sensitivity to social and emotional information, and the seeking of immediate rewards. Although a teenager’s brain is not fully
Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2001). Physical and cognitive development in adolescence. Lifespan Development. 3ed., 292-293.
One major change to the brain during adolescence is that which affects an adolescents’ need for sensation seeking. Because of the changes in dopaminergic activity, rewards may seem even more rewarding to adolescents (Steinberg, 2009). This mixed with the idea of the personal fable can result in dangerous outcomes for the individual (Steinberg, 2011, p. 62). The addition of peers to a vehicle while driving significantly increases the risk of an automobile accident. Considering this along with the research rega...
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
Adolescents are still developing. They are at the stage where they are too old to act like children, but not old enough to be treated like adults. This can cause a disturbance with their self-perception which can affect their emotions, often making them confused of who they are and causing feelings of self-consciousness and isolation. During this stage adolescents are at high risk for risky behaviors, due to changes in the neurochemicals of the brain. “Changes in dopamine activity affect the limbic system, which is involved with emotions, and its connection with the prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive functioning skills such as reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Increased emotional
Adolescence is a transition which has no fixed time limits. However, the changes that occur at this time are so significant that it is useful to talk about adolescence as a distinct period of human life cycle. This period ranges from biological changes to changes in behavior and social status, thus making it difficult to specify its limits exactly (Damon, 2008). Adolescence begins with puberty, i.e. a series of physiological changes that lead to full development of the sexual organs and the ability to breed and sex. The time interval that elapses begins at 11 to 12 years and extends to 18 to 20. However we cannot associate to a 13 with one 18 years. Let us talk about early adolescence between 11 to 14 years, which coincides with puberty, and after a second period of youth, or late adolescence between 15-20 years. Its extension to adulthood depends on social, cultural, environmental as well as personal adaptation.
Successful resolution of this psychosocial stage of development is imperative in order to acquire an enduring incorporated sense of self and to progress to the next stage of development. Society and one’s culture also contributes enormously to the commitment or prevention of dealing with the challenges faced during adolescence. Regardless of what challenges are faced during this stage of development, overcoming it is a fundamental necessity in order to progress into a strong-willed and stable individual in
During adolescence emotional reactivity is heightened, and the social environment is changing as adolescents spend more time with their peers than adults (Casey, 2008). To an adolescent, the value of positive information, as well as negative information may be exaggerated which leads to greater emotional reactivity and sensitivity during this growth period (Casey, 2008). This can heighten the incidence of addiction and the onset of psychological disorders (Casey, 2008). There are various theories that attempt to explain why adolescents engage in risky behaviour. One of these theories by Yurgelun-Todd stems from human adolescent brain development, and proposes that cognitive development during the adolescent period is associated with increasingly superior efficiency of cognitive control and affective modulation (Casey, 2008). This theory also suggest...
Throughout our life, it can be marked by developmental changes in every domain of life: our physical, cognitive, social, personalities, and morals. Due to some important researchers such as Erickson, Freud, Piaget we are able to understand the development of each of these domains. Each stage of it’s life has it’s own difficulties and events that can determine a person’s life (Mogler, 2008). During the stages of adolescence, they are very vulnerable to a lot going on in their life such as fitting in, peers, family, school, activities, and society, and not to forget the ups and downs of puberty. Adolescence can be viewed as a huge part of many children’s lives where in this part of their life they try to find teenagers experience physical, cognitive,
Adolescence is the bridge between childhood and adulthood. It is the place in development for a transition. In this time period, adolescent’s social life and relationships develop. Social development occurs throughout a person’s whole lifetime. Social development in adolescence marks the beginning of independence, selective interactions, and conformity. This the time where family relationships can be put to the test as well as seeking independence and adult acknowledgment from parents. Due to the development of the brain in regards to plasticity, adolescences are discovering and trying out new things. They are also viewed as risk takers. Social development in adolescence is important because any decision can lead to future consequences. I decided
Myths of adolescence are perpetuated because adults do not spend the time and effort learning about normal, expected changes during this period. It is much easier for us to put a label on people rather than to try to understand them. The teen years are truly "high speed, high need" years. Here are some concepts of conflict and some areas to look out for.