Adolescence Socio-Emotional Development: Challenges & Solutions - Essay Sample

Introduction

Socio-emotional development of adolescence refers to the ability to understand the feelings of others as well as having self-control behaviors and feelings to having a strong relationship with other people among adolescents. Among the teenagers, socio-emotional development has an accompaniment with significant changes within the socio-cultural contexts of an individual. Most of the adolescents today find it challenging to fit within the changing environments, a situation leading to many incidences of juvenile delinquency. As a result, there is a need for having the appropriate environment and skills for the development of socio-emotionally competent youths. The development changes coupled with the changing socio-cultural contexts requires the acquisition of suitable socio-emotional skills. Therefore, this essay discusses the topic of socio-emotional development of adolescence with a selection of the most pressing issues surrounding the topic under discussion. The areas for discussion in this paper include self-identity, sexuality, as well as ways of supporting socio-emotional development among adolescents.

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Socio-Emotional Development Through Self Identity Skills

Self-identity which refers to the definition of oneself is one of the facets of socio-emotional development among teenagers. At adolescence, young people start to identify themselves with social groups beyond immediate relations like at the family level (Ciarrochi et al. 565). The way of viewing themselves changes because of the physical, cognitive, as well as social changes. Self-identity is a critical stage among in adolescence because it leads to self-discovery that subsequently defines the attitudes, behaviors, and feelings in adulthood. Through self-identity, teens begin to figure out who they are a situation that makes identity to have centrality in the life of young people. Research shows that in the process of seeking identity in the society, young people gain socio-emotional competence based on factors such as family, culture, peers, media, institutional experiences like schools, and societal expectations. Based on these factors while seeking mechanisms of fitting in new social environments, adolescents begin to select people and settings to have an association with (Mohoric et al. 358). The outcome is an adjustment in behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs for socio-emotional stability.

Studies have shown that the way of seeking identity as part of socio-emotional development among the youth vary across the different age sets in adolescence. In the early years of the adolescence of 11 to 14 years, a balance in the socio-emotional functioning occurs through having the desire of identifying oneself with multiple social relations outside the role played in the family as a child. The process results in an increased awareness of young people as they identify themselves as part of peer groups that they can appropriately fit in. Prioritization is mainly on decisions and personal decision that reflect on the perception of themselves (Ciarrochi et al. 565). Among the middle adolescents aged 14 to 18 years, self-identity contributes to the development of socio-emotional feelings through the identification of their roles within the larger world beyond the peer group. Teenagers in this age bracket start to associate themselves to social groups of a particular race, religion, as well as gender which define the kind of the moral and ethical concerns. There is also an increased view, respect, and understanding of different social groups. Lastly, among the late adolescents aged 18 to 24 years, the youths acquire socio-emotional development by giving a more in-depth consideration of self on career and adult roles. Their context of association becomes that of intimate relations with an accurate perception of reality (Mohoric et al. 358). The commitment to personal and social groups also becomes active with more exploration for new and fitting intimate relations.

Socio-Emotional Development Through Sexuality

Sexual development is another dimension of socio-development among adolescents. Sexuality entails both the cognitive, social, as well as the physical domain of the teenagers' development. Research has shown that sexuality comprises feelings about oneself, behaviors, and attitudes (Toner and Patrick 581). First, the process of hormonal changes in young people increases sexual interest and sex drive. Social contexts also influence biological responses determines the view about sexuality and behaviors. Some of the changes in the body and mind cause the young people to be aware of their sexuality which attributes to an association with a new status (Ciarrochi et al. 567). The new status defines the understanding of sexuality in the life of an adolescent.

Failure to sexual development as part of the socio-emotional competence can lead to engagement into high-risk sexual behaviors. The kind of social attachment determines the type of sexual behaviors for adoption (Mohoric et al. 359). Examples of the high-risk sexual acts that a teenager ought to avoid includes prostitution and early sexual intercourse that can lead to problems like unwanted pregnancies and contraction of sexually transmitted infections. In preventing such problems associated with sexually, teenagers ought to develop socio-emotional competence to help in self-control and decision-making (Toner and Patrick 582). As a result, there is a need for sexual development to enable adolescents in choosing healthy sexuality associations.

Researchers have found out that sexual development is determined by specific factors that cause teens to have the level of socio-emotional skills. One of the elements is peer pressure; the kind of friends that an adolescent associate with determines the type of sexual behaviors adopted (Ciarrochi et al. 565). Friends who engage in unhealthy sexual acts like prostitution negatively affect the attendance of stable socially emotional feelings. The other factor that affects sexual development as a part of socio-emotional functioning is the environment. The social setting chosen by young people determines the decisions in response to sexuality. For instance, choosing an environment where morality is upheld leads to having sexual behaviors that are in harmony with the set morals. Media is also another determent of socio-emotional development associated with sexuality becomes gained in a teenager. Today media contributes to socio-emotional development among youths because most of the sexual behaviors are learned from social media platforms (Toner and Patrick 582). Since sexuality contributes to socio-emotional development in adolescence, there is a need for understanding the determining factors in the adoption of sexual attitudes, behaviors, and feelings.

Supporting Socio-Emotional Development Among Adolescents

Various ways can be used for supporting successful socio-emotional development in adolescence. Social and emotional development is a critical aspect in the lives of teenagers because it determines the feelings, behaviors, attitudes, as well as social choices in adulthood (Mohoric et al. 358). Therefore having appropriate mechanisms of supporting adolescents to acquires the required skills for social and emotional development will lead to having socio-emotionally competent individuals in society. One of the interventions for use in supporting youths to obtain the necessary skills for social-emotional development is being a role model. Teenagers learn from the adult people around them like the parents and teacher in making social interactions and management of feelings (Ciarrochi et al. 567). People around teenagers ought to maintain positive relationships with other people for an opportunity for young people to learn to relate, resolve conflicts, as well as showing empathy and respect.

The other way of supporting socio-emotional development among the youth is sharing with them on matters of social and emotional development like sexuality, peer pressure management, morality, as well as contraception use. Discussing with the youths on subjects related to socio-emotional development lead to the development of the required skills, behaviors, and feelings for social and emotional competence (Toner and Patrick 581). Sharing with teenagers also helps them to learn how to interact with people for positive and healthy relationships. Through such conversations, the mentor can note the challenges related to socio-emotional development affecting the youth for appropriate selection of topics for discussion. When talking with adolescents on the subject of socio-emotional development, positive aspects of social and emotional development such as healthy sexual behaviours like abstinence get reinforced while negative ones like drug abuse and prostitution are discouraged (Ciarrochi et al. 567). The outcome will be having informed teens for socio-emotional competence.

Conclusion

Conclusively, socio-emotional development is one of the essential aspects of the life of young people. Most of the adolescents today find it challenging to fit within the changing environments, a situation leading to many incidences of juvenile delinquency. Therefore, the acquisition of the required skills and information is essential for socio-emotional competence. Self-identity and sexuality are among the critical matters surrounding socio-emotional development among young people. Suitable mechanisms of including self-identity and sexuality in the social and emotional development in adolescence help teens to have information and skills to increase their ability to choose positive and healthy behaviors and feelings. As a result, supporting teenagers to have socio-emotional competence will contribute to socially and emotionally stable youths. Acting as role models and having discussions with adolescents on matters related to socio-emotional developments enables young people to acquire the necessary skills and information for competent behaviors and reaction to feelings.

Works Cited

Ciarrochi, Joseph et al. "The Link Between Emotion Identification Skills And Socio-Emotional Functioning In Early Adolescence: A 1-Year Longitudinal Study". Journal Of Adolescence, vol 31, no. 5, 2018, pp. 565-582. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.10.004.

Mohoric, Tamara, and Vladimir Taksic. "Emotional Understanding As A Predictor Of Socio-Emotional Functioning And School Achievement In Adolescence". Socio-Emotional Development, vol 49, no. 4, 2016, pp. 357-374. The National Library, doi:10.2298/psi1604357m.

Toner, Mark A., and Patrick C.L. Heaven. "Peer-Social Attributional Predictors Of Socio-Emotional Adjustment In Early Adolescence: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study". Personality and Individual Differences, vol 38, no. 3, 2018, pp. 579-590. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.paid.2004.05.013.