How many times have we heard fathers and mothers say that their sons and daughters are of turkey age and we have simply been able to laugh because we knew how hard this stage can be in the life of a family.
My mother always says that adolescence is like measles but that it lasts much longer, and where you have to constantly be aware of your child or daughter so that she does not make mistakes that can mark the rest of her life, as happens when a baby scratches a lot and leaves marks on the skin.
Adolescence is considered the transition between childhood and adulthood. It is a concept that has its origins in a purely social construction to name that period of time in which the person is neither a child nor an adult.
In Psychology-Online we want to show you a little more what this stage consists of, so feared by all parents and so desired by all children. We will see the psychological changes that occur in adolescence.
If we rely on the different stages described by Piaget To explain evolutionary development, adolescence is in the last of them, the stage of formal operations.
Within this, adolescents are already able to delve into abstract reasoning to, in this way, develop much more complex moral judgments. This capacity for abstract thinking begins to develop from 11 years and it allows them both to imagine possibilities and to form and test hypotheses. In addition, it is also linked to a series of emotional implications oriented towards moral and ethical concepts, such as freedom, exploitation, empathy. Concepts that previously they were not able to understand because they could not see them in their reality.
Adolescents are considered to suffer from a number of changes in cognition and sensation:
- Increase your capacity for abstraction, idealism and criticism.
- They develop what is known as cognitive egocentricity:
- Lack of differentiation between the unique and the universal, so they feel misunderstood.
- They have a increased self-awareness.
- Imaginary audience, which is a type of egocentricity where the adolescent confuses his thoughts with those of others, thus considering himself the center of all eyes.
- Personal fable: they are considered unique, so they tend to think that their actions are unrepeatable.
- Fable of invincibility: they have the wrong feeling that nothing bad is going to happen to them and that they are not going to suffer any harm. They believe they are invincible.
Adolescents also present a series of changes in language, which is developed as a result of the more adult reading materials that they are asked to read. Thanks to this development, they are allowed to discuss and define fully abstract concepts, becoming more aware of the possibility that words and symbols can have multiple meanings.
During this stage, young people enter what is known as puberty, which is the process of acquiring sexual maturity and fertility. The brain is in a state of development, which is why these psychological changes occur.
- They undergo a series of structural changes, such as the case of increased frontal lobes, which provides them with an increase in their reasoning, judgment and impulse control.
- They present changes in the composition of the cerebral cortex. It has been observed thanks to numerous studies a increased gray matter.
- They tend to act more risky, as there is a unbalanced interaction between the socio-emotional network (sensitivity and activity at puberty) and the cognitive control network (The responses they give to certain situations and the maturation process, which is usually gradual with age).
During the period of adolescence, young people go building your identity, that is, the coherent conception of the self, which is made up of goals, values and beliefs with which each person has a solid commitment.
These teenage years are considered by many to be a time of rebellion which involves a emotional confusion in adolescents. They are usually characterized by frequent conflicts with the family, withdrawal from adult society, reckless behavior and rejection of adult values. In the following article you will find How to deal with a rebellious teenager.
However, it has been seen that in some western societies, this behavior is rare since young people tend to experience closeness to their parents as a result of a greater understanding on their part of the views of their parents.
But nonetheless, adolescence can be a difficult time for some. Family conflict, depression, and risk behaviors they are much more common at this point in the life cycle.
Individualization is a battle on the part of the adolescent to achieve and fix both their autonomy and their personal identity. For this reason, it is very important that the parents of adolescents manage to find a balance point between excess freedom and excess individualization.
It should also be noted that it is at this stage when young people begin to be more aware or at least begin to understand their sexual identity in an adequate way. During this period, young people who identify as gay or bisexual tend to act more cautious about their identity. This is due to the lack of socially accepted ways to explore their sexuality, since, for fear of being isolated and discriminated against, they do not decide to reveal their sexual orientation. In the following article you will find tips for help a son or daughter define their sexuality.
When it comes to sexual behavior itself, the average girl has her first sexual intercourse at 17 and the average boy at 16.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
