Adolescent psychology

Adolescent Psychology addresses the psychological issues and interests of adolescents.

Adolescence

Adolescence, the transitional stage of development between childhood and adulthood, represents the period of time during which a person experiences a variety of biological changes and encounters a number of emotional issues. The ages which are considered to be part of adolescence vary by culture, and ranges from preteens to nineteen years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adolescence covers the period of life between 10 and 20 years of age. Adolescence is often divided by psychologists into three distinct phases: early, mid and late adolescence.

Background

Adolescence can be a specifically turbulent as well as a dynamic period of one's life. It has been identified as a period in which young people develop abstract thinking abilities, become more aware of their sexuality, develop a clearer sense of psychological identity, and increase their independence from parents. ] Allomaternal behavior increases among females in several species, including humans, [cite journal|author=Fullard, W & Reiling, A|title=An Investigation of Lorenz’s Babyness|journal=Child Development|volume=47|pages=1191–3|year=1976|doi=10.2307/1128462] nonhuman primates,cite journal|author=Weisfeld, G & Berger J|title=Some Features of Human AdolescenceViewed in Evolutionary Perspective|journal=Human Development|volume=26|pages=121–33|year=1983] and rodents. [cite journal|author=Mayer A, Freeman N, Rosenblatt J|title=Ontogeny of MaternalBehavior in the Laboratory Rat: Factors Underlying Changes in Responsivenessfrom 30 to 90 Days|publisher=Developmental Psychobiology|volume=12|pages=425–39|year=1979] However, males tend to exhibit less interest in infants during adolescence.

Psychological issues

Adolescents are widely considered by the psychological establishment to be prone to recklessness and risk-taking behaviors, which can lead to substance abuse, car accidents, unsafe sex and youth crime. [cite book | last = Lightfoot | first = Cynthia | title = The Culture of Adolescent Risk-Taking | publisher = The Guilford Press | date = 1997 | isbn = 978-1572302327] There is some evidence that this risk-taking is biologically driven, caused by the social and emotional part of the brain (amygdala) developing faster than the cognitive-control part of the brain (frontal cortex). [ cite news | last = Moretz | first = Preston | title = Adolescent Risk Taking Likely Biologically Driven And Possibly Inevitable | publisher = Medical News Today | date = 2007-04-17 | url = http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=67714 | accessdate = 2007-06-20 ]

Although most adolescents are psychologically healthy, they can (like adults) exhibit signs of mental illness. Late adolescence and early adulthood are peak years for the onset of schizophrenia.Addington J, Cadenhead KS, Cannon TD, Cornblatt B, McGlashan TH, Perkins DO, Seidman LJ, Tsuang M, Walker EF, Woods SW, Heinssen R. (2007) North American prodrome longitudinal study: a collaborative multisite approach to prodromal schizophrenia research. "Schizophrenia Bulletin", 33 (3), 665-72. PMID 17255119] Mood disorders such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder can initially show in adolescence. [ cite journal | last = Bhatia | first = Shashi K. | coauthors = Subhash C. Bhatia | title = Childhood and Adolescent Depression | journal = American Academy of Family Physicians | publisher = Creighton University, Department of Psychiatry, Omaha, Nebraska | date = 2007-01-01 | url = http://www.aafp.org/afp/20070101/73.html | accessdate = 2007-06-20] [cite web | title = Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation | url = http://www.bpkids.org/ | accessdate = 2007-06-20 ] Girls aged between 15 and 19 make up 40% of anorexia nervosa cases. [Bulik CM, Reba L, Siega-Riz AM, Reichborn-Kjennerud T. (2005) Anorexia nervosa: definition, epidemiology, and cycle of risk. "Int J Eat Disord", 37 Suppl, S2-9. PMID 15852310.] [Hoek HW. (2006) Incidence, prevalence and mortality of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. "Curr Opin Psychiatry.", 19 (4), 389-94. PMID 16721169.]

ee also

*Adolescence
**Adolescent sexuality
*Sex education
*Puberty
*Mood swing
*Youth activism

News Section

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6539093.stm Using dogs with disruptive adolescents]

External Links

* [http://www.birchmore.org/camhs/ Resources for Child and Adolescent Mental Health] Information about adolescent emotional difficulties and their treatment

References

Further reading

*"Handbook of Adolescent Psychology" (ISBN 0-471-20948-1), edited by Richard M. Lerner and Laurence Steinberg
*cite book
last = Goethals
first = George W.
authorlink = George W. Goethals (psychologist)|George W. Goethals
coauthors = Klos, Dennis S.
title = Experiencing Youth. First-Person Accounts. Second Edition.
publisher = University Press of America
year = 1986
id = ISBN 0-8191-5688-4
*cite book
last = Muuss
first = Rolf E.
authorlink = Rolf E. Muuss
title = Theories of Adolescence. Sixth Edition.
publisher = McGraw Hill
year = 1996
id = ISBN 0-07-044267-3