Adolescence
11-18 Years
Physical Development
This life stage is important because adolescents go through puberty, a natural biological process of rapid physical growth. Adolescents experience hormonal changes that cause rapid physical changes in the body and sexual maturation. Timing of changes will vary from person to person but physical changes for boys includes production of the male sex hormone, testosterone, facial hair, pubic hair, Adam’s apple and a deeper voice, increased height and muscle, shoulders broaden, and the genital organs mature. The physical change for girls includes the production of estrogen and progesterone, genital organs mature, pubic hair, increased height and muscle, hips broaden, breasts develop, and they experience their first period (Paris, J. et al. n.d.)
Psychosocial Development
According to Mcleod, S. (2023) social relationships are important in this life stage. It’s crucial for teenagers to have a strong support network that will encourage them to be themselves, and allow them the freedom to explore different environments, activities, and ideas (with boundaries). This support will allow the adolescent to develop their own identity. During this life stage, teenagers spend an increasing amount of interest and time with their friends. They may begin to hold more value of the feelings and opinions of their friends over their parents. This leaves them vulnerable to peer pressure and may begin to engage in risky behavior and activities, because they want to feel accepted and fit in with the crowd.
Environmental Influence
Social media and the internet have a huge impact on the development of adolescents. They can experience pressure to conform to opinions of others, risk being misinformed by false information on social media and experience cyber bullying. These social interactions can have negative impacts on mental health, and make it more difficult for them to find their own beliefs and sense of identity.
Relevant Theory
Erik Erikson believed the personality develops in a natural predetermined order through 8 stages of psychosocial development from infancy to adulthood. During each stage an individual experiences crisis that impact their psychosocial development.
Individuals in this life stage, enter the 5th stage of development of Erikson’s theory. Individuals begin to take risks, experiment, and develop their own sense of identity and their role in their family, community, and society. The conflict in this life stage is identity vs confusion. Identity refers to the teenager exploring their own interests, personal values, beliefs, activities and setting their own goals. Confusion refers to the teenager struggling to find their own sense of identity.
Cognitive Development
They gain the ability to think with abstract ideas and are free from physical constraints. They also gain the ability to reason which allows them to understand politics and ethics. According to Mcleod, S. (2023) adolescents can think hypothetically, this means they are able to think about consequences and the future, which affects their ability to make judgements and decisions. But they can still be impulsive and make decisions based on their emotions rather than logic.
Domain Interrelationship
If adolescents have the support of their parents and family to explore their own beliefs, interests, and values they are more likely to develop a strong sense of self. And feel confident about their direction in life, which means they can set goals, and work toward their future. This also builds their independence and their own unique identity. Parental involvement has positive impacts on a teenager's cognitive development.
Environmental Influence
In New Zealand, adolescents are exposed to a more diverse range of people. This encourages them to broaden their perspective of cultural, spiritual, political and personal values and beliefs. This encourages understanding, open mindedness and can help shape their own identity.
Relevant Theory
During adolescence, children enter the formal operational stage, which is the last stage of development in Piaget’s theory. (McLeod, S. 2023). In this stage, the adolescence acquires the ability of scientific reasoning. Which allows them to hypothesize, plan, test and analyze. These skills allow them to develop future thinking. They also become more aware of their own thought process and reflect about what they can do differently.