That Adolescence Is a Time of Storms and Stresses Is an Overstatement

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Question That adolescence is a period of storms and stresses is an overstatement. The term adolescence refers to the period of a person’s life from 12 years old to 18 years old. G. S Hall, one of the pioneers of American psychology first introduced the perspective that adolescence was a period of “storms and stress” (Hall, 1904). This perspective was also supported by the psychoanalytic tradition (Freud, 1958) and Erikson’s (1968) definition of the period of adolescence as a time of identity crisis. This essay will seek to discuss on whether this statement is an overstatement from three aspects of the adolescent’s development, Physical Maturation and Development, Cognitive Development and Socio-emotional development. Physical Maturation and Development Adolescence is the time when they are going through the most physical change because of puberty. For adolescents, puberty is a time of great physical change and sexual maturity. In terms of physical changes, adolescents have not only to deal with the physical changes, but also the influence of media on the adolescent’s perception of what physical beauty is. In terms of sexual maturity, adolescence is the time that males and females experience physical change, and have also to grapple with their sexual identity, and depending on what kind of influences surround them during this important period of change, the adolescents will either develop proper and healthy sexual attitudes or be confused and vulnerable about their sexual identity. In addition, the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), which is the part of the brain that “regulates emotions, planning, reasoning and self-control develops later in the adolescent stage” (Op De Beeck, 2010), and it is a combination of both the late development of the PFC and the hormonal changes that the adolescent is going through that might cause the adolescent in the earlier stage of
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