Adolescence

Adolescence is the period of time between 12 and 18 years of age that can be considered the stage between childhood and adulthood. During this period of their life, teenagers show different changes in their behaviour which can be developed as they grow up. There are different views on the normal characteristics of adolescent behaviour.

G. Stanley Hall was the first president of the American Psychological Association. He described adolescent behaviour as “Storm and Stress”, which consists in teenagers having conflicts with their parents, being moody and showing risky behaviour. A psychology professor called Jeffrey Arnett from Clark University wrote a reconsideration of Hall’s view of adolescent behaviour, stating that Stress and Storm was not a characteristic of every adolescent although there was evidence of the existence of it on a certain level.^[1]

Adolescents tend to fight very often with their parents, and according to Hall “parents still think of their offspring as mere children, and tighten the rein when they should loosen it”^[2]. This suggests that the reason of why teenagers have conflicts is because they want to be more independent but are held back by their parents. I agree with this statement because I believe that during adolescence a person wants to experience new things, adapt themselves to other groups of people, and I understand that parents may be worried about changes but in certain situations it is not a problem to let their son or daughter be more independent. However, some people say that conflicts are beneficial as it develops an individual’s autonomy^[3]

Teenagers can show mood disruptions during adolescence. In my opinion adolescents feel both negative and positive emotions, but in certain cases negative ones are more reccurring. Teens tend to feel awkward, lonely, nervous and ignored^[4].  This could possibly lead to different stages of anxiety and depression. According to World Health Organisation “depression is the top cause of illness and disability among adolescents”^[5]. It shows that during adolescence, teenagers might have negative impacts in their lives which can turn into a serious situation such as depression and this can possibly change their lives. I think that an adolescent is more likely to have mood disruptions due to the negativity in their lives. On the other hand, in Larson & Richards research, 50% of the adolescents which were asked if they felt “very happy” declined^[6]. It suggests that the other 50% were possibly feeling happiness. This means that teenagers can also have a very positive time in their life during adolescence.