The Psychology of Adolescence - Research Paper

Introduction

Adolescence is of specific importance in the study of child development. It is defined as the period between the onset of puberty in a boy or girl and the transition into the roles of adults (adulthood). This stage of life usually occurs during the second decade of life for most people, and it is distinguished by rapid biological (or physical) and psychological (cognitive and emotional) changes, as well as the restructuring of the social contexts of children. However, no single boundary line denotes the exact year of the onset of puberty and the end of adolescence.

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Thesis Statement. Boys and girls undergo particular physical and psychological changes as they transit from childhood to adulthood. These changes, in one way or the other, have impacts on their respective self-esteem, emotions, and peer relations.

At the onset of puberty, physical changes occur in both boys and girls. The stage affects nearly all other body parts including the muscular, reproductive, and skeletal systems, which tend to grow gradually and steadily. The changes include rapid growth in height and weight, secondary sex characteristics development (genitals and breast), and appearance of pubic, body, and facial hair. The increase in androgen/testosterone triggers the change in boys as opposed to estrogen in girls. Boys experience enlargement of testes, scrotum thinning, and voice deepening while girls show breast budding as menstruation begins (menarche) (Lackovic-Grgin, 2006).

Psychologists, for many years, treated puberty as something stressful for young people. Adjusting to any change, including puberty may sometimes be burdensome. The timing of puberty plays a huge role in the determination of the mood and self-image of an adolescent. The right timing may depict a very modest outcome. However, children on puberty may feel out of place and shy especially among their peers who show late pubertal developments. This negative impacts may be minimized if the children are made ready to know that the changes are very natural and should be positive towards them.

Pubertal changes have respective effects on boys and girls. Studies show that the ongoing physical maturation processes have a direct impact on the brain and body and, therefore, is likely to alter the children's needs, moods, interests, and emotions. There are significant changes in an adolescent's social life during puberty. The time individuals spend with their peers substantially increases during this period. While the associations with age mates exist way before adolescence, the change in structure and significance exists and four particular developments occur. First, peers spend more of their waking hours together as opposed to only 15% with adults and parents, at least in as is observed in the United States (Agam, Tamir, & Golan, 2015). Second, peer groups function well without supervision as opposed to during childhood. Third, pubertal peers tend to develop more contact with opposite-sex friends. Last, while small children peer relationships are limited to small groups or just pairs of friends, the adolescence initiates the emergence of large groups of crowds/peers, who may or may not always spend a lot of time together.

At puberty, there are situations when peers' opinions are more influential than parents'. For instance, when it comes to short-term, daily, and social aspects of life, peers tend to influence each other more than their parents would do to them. However, when it comes to long-term decision-making concerning educational, career or occupational plans, and ethical issues, religious beliefs, or values, then the parents would influence adolescents more than their peers.

Many researchers have also tackled the aspects of self-esteem and self-consciousness during puberty. Sometimes, during puberty, the teenagers struggle to fit among their peers for acceptance. The physical changes of the body during puberty sometimes make the teenagers feel different and develop self-consciousness about the changes. The increased concerns about the body image in the teens may arise in reduced self-esteem. Reduced self-esteem in adolescents may expose their vulnerability to peer pressure, and according to the research by the Commonwealth Fund, it is important for the adolescents to acknowledge that puberty is normal and that everybody will experience it (Lackovic-Grgin, 2006). Other researchers, on the contrary, indicate that insecurity or low self-esteem only occurs at early adolescence but eventually stabilizes from the mid to late adolescence. Today, most of the findings of studies agree that self-esteem is multidimensional, for instance, an adolescent may show high-esteem in academic abilities contrary to his or her physical appearance (Shirtcliff, Dahl, & Pollak, 2009).

Lastly, the physical changes in puberty often become the basis for certain emotional experiences. For instance, children may easily become irritable and moody at this period of their lives. These mood swings are associated with hormonal fluctuations, otherwise the raging hormones besides other physical causes. Sex hormones have chemicals agents responsible for certain emotional issues. Other emotional effects at puberty include sexual feelings (curiosity about sex) and self-consciousness (Shirtcliff, Dahl, & Pollak, 2009).

The psychological pubertal changes mentioned above are oftentimes depicted differently in boys and girls. For instance, while self-esteem may decrease for both gender during puberty, it happens more in girls than boys. Also, research outcomes indicate that early beginning of puberty in girls greatly affects most of them psychologically (Agam, Tamir, & Golan, 2015). This is because of their body image (weight gain and breast developments), which appears larger than the other girls who are not yet in puberty. This may cause such girls to struggle to become thin as they view their body images negatively. Embarrassments may cause depression and fear to undress at the gym may lead to poorer body image in the early pubertal girls. Such girls tend to associate a lot with older boyfriends. Nevertheless, late onset of puberty in girls leads to a positive behavioural outcome. On the contrary, in male, early onset of puberty is associated with a positive outcome, for instance, high self-esteem, confidence, and good physique. However, late-maturing boys tend to experience the issues of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and less-developed physique.

Research also suggests that in comparison to boys, girls at adolescence stage usually develop emotions and cognitions related to internalizing problems like anxiety, anger inhibition, sadness, and eating disorders. Boys, however, develop emotions and cognitions related to externalizing problems such as dominance and aggressiveness (Agam, Tamir, & Golan, 2015). Moreover, boys consider their physical development a positive experience as opposed to girls who may not be satisfied with the appearance of their bodies at puberty.

Conclusion

In summary, the onset of puberty and the associated physical changes have psychological impacts on both boys and girls. The changes are due to puberty hormonal activities as well as the socio-emotional cognition via the brain. These changes occur often in the second decade of life and tend to influence emotional awareness, self-image, and social interactions among boys and girls. It is highlighted that this is an inevitable stage of life and the adolescents should be made to understand and guided to successfully undergo the adolescence transition.

References

Agam, R., Tamir, S., & Golan, M. (2015). Gender differences in respect to self-esteem and body image as well as response to adolescents' school-based prevention programs. Journal of Psychology and Clinical Psychiatry, 2(5), 00092.

Lackovic-Grgin, K. (2006). Psychology of Adolescence. Naklada Slap.

Shirtcliff, E. A., Dahl, R. E., & Pollak, S. D. (2009). Pubertal development: correspondence between hormonal and physical development. Child development, 80(2), 327-337.