Running Head: PERIODS OF THE LIFE
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Periods of the life span
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Physical, Psychosocial, and cognitive changes associated with adolescents
Adolescence is a critical stage that involves the maturation of neurobiological
processes that impact the social, emotional, and cognitive functioning of adolescents. Changes in
emotional capacity and physical development, among other changes, mark the transition from
childhood into adulthood. The changes associated with adolescence are discussed below.
There are physical changes that mark the onset of adolescence in both boys and
girls, and they include; growth of pubic hair, underarm hair, skin changes, and development of
facial hair, experienced in boys. Boys also undergo a deepening voice while girls begin
menstruating in the stage due to hormonal changes, where the testosterone hormone reacts in the
male gender. In contrast, the estrogen hormone reacts in the female gender (Arnett, 2000). The
adolescence stage changes are greater than any other changes of the lifetime, except for the
infancy stage that does not have such differences in both males and females. There are body size
changes, sexual maturity, emotional attitudes, and social attitudes in both male and female
genders, among many other health concerns such as eating disorders observed in adolescents
(Herman et al., 2012). The physical stage begins at the age of eight and fourteen years, and the
stage is influenced by heredity and environmental factors. The stage also involves some distinct
physical changes in weight, height, respiratory systems, and body composition. These changes
are due to hormonal activities in both males and females, and these hormones play a major role
in triggering the transition of children into adulthood.
The adolescence stage occurs in two major phases; the adrenarche stage begins at
six to eight years. The gonadarche stage occurs later, leading to sexual maturation in males and
females (Herman et al., 2012). Sexual maturation can be observed as physical development of
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hips and breasts in females, development of pubic hair, and sweat glands in both males and
females. Other physical changes include nipple growth, testes in males, penis growth in males,
experiencing the first menstrual period in ladies, and a peak growth spurt.
Psychosocial development in adolescence involves development in personality and
self-definition, leading to behavioral changes that reflect adult roles. Adolescents adopt social
duties, assume responsibilities, and establish new relationships, among other behavioral changes.
The adolescents also make their own decisions, demand more attention, and the center of their
environment changes from family to friends and school mates (Res, 1994). Psychosocial
changes in adolescents are characterized by abstract thinking changes, the ability to absorb other
people's perspectives, increased introspection ability, and the development of sexual identity.
The Psychosocial changes also lead to establishing a system of values, more personal
independence, greater peer relationships, increased sub cultural ability, and the ability to solve
problems (Res, 1994). The adolescents shift their attention to the outside world; their school
concentration decreases, and they negatively react to their parents. Psychological change
involves several concepts, such as identity, ego, temperament, character, and personality
development. The concepts reflect how adolescents perceive themselves, and these concepts
shape their behavior. In the adolescent stage, the individuals realize their self-identity, where
they think of themselves as unique, which impacts family ties, career choices, lifestyle, friends,
and relationships with other people. Identity development is a major psychosocial change in
adolescents, and it involves social identity, gender identity, and professional identity. Social
identity consists of identifying the adolescent's roles and responsibilities in society, and in this
stage, the individual seeks to know how other people perceive him or her. Developments in
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sexual organs trigger gender identity, and this helps the individual realize their sense of identity.
Professional identity involves assuming responsibilities that prepare the individual to have a
profession.
Cognitive changes in the adolescence stage involve the progression of mental
development and thinking from childhood into adulthood. Cognitive development consists of
developing advanced reasoning skills, the ability to explore different possibilities in various
situations, and the adolescents think logically and hypothetically. The adolescents think more
critically, which impacts the individual's capacity to love and participate in other activities (VeraEstay, E., & J.J Beauchamp, 2014). The cognitive stage of development marks adolescents'
transition from the basic thought process into the abstract thought process that involves more
logical thinking and analysis of situations that involve what-if possibilities about the world.
Cognitive development enables adolescents to evaluate alternatives, think logically about the
future, and set goals. Mental changes also affect the brain structure's biological changes that lead
to increased knowledge, changing demands, and an increase in the thinking capacity.
Cognitive development in adolescents is associated with the brain's prefrontal
cortex area that is responsible for the development of executive and cognitive skills that facilitate
coordination of thoughts (Vera-Estay, E., & J.J Beauchamp, 2014). In this stage, the ideas and
thoughts greatly impact the future life of the adolescents, and they shape an individual's identity,
personality, and character. The cognitive stage involves changes in emotional capacity,
processing speed, attention shifting, and response inhibition. Other mental changes observed in
adolescents include; improved modulation, goal-directed behavior, and changes in processing.
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References
Arnett. (, 2000). Emerging adulthood. In Arnett, development from the late teens through the
twenties (Vol. 55, pp. 469-480). American Psychologist.
Herman, Giddens, Steffes, Harris, J., E., S., Hussey, M., et al. (2012). Secondary physical
characteristics of boys and girls in the adolescence stage. In Herman-Giddens, Pediatric
Research (pp. 1058-1068). Pediatric Publishers.
Res, H. (1994). Psychological milestones in adolescence. Retrieved January Sunday, 2021, from
Karger Website: https://www.karger.com/HRP
Vera-Estay, E., D., & J.J Beauchamp, M. (2014). Cognitive development in the adolescence stage.
(Vera-Estay, Ed.) Journal of Moral Education, 1 (44), 17-33.
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