13.5.

ADOLESCENCE

The term" adolescence "comes from the Latin verb "adolecere" which means to grow into
adulthood and it is the most important period of human life cycle.
Adolescence is the transition period between childhood and adulthood. It is a period which
begins at puberty (12-13 years) and ends when a full adult state has been has been attaint by age
21/22 years.
Puberty is the stage physical development during which an individual change from a child to an
adult capable of producing children. It is a period of sexual maturation.
Introduction The term adolescence is derived from a Latin word ‘adolescere’ that means to grow
to adulthood. Adolescence begins as a separate developmental stage at about the age 11 and ends
at about the age of 22. The age boundaries of adolescence vary so, the adolescence
developmental stage can be distinguished on the basis of physical and psychological
characteristics and social roles. Adolescence is considered the transitional stage from childhood
to adulthood that occurs between ages 13 and 19. But the physical and psychological changes
that take place in adolescence can start earlier, during the preteen years between ages 9 and 12.
G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924) is known as the father of adolescent psychology. He constructed a
psychological theory of teenage development and one major aspect of his theory was that this
stage of life is characterized by ‘storm and stress” that most teens are by nature moody and
untrustworthy
The many physical, sexual, cognitive, social, and emotional changes that happen during this time
can bring anticipation and anxiety for both children and their families. Understanding what to
expect at different stages can promote healthy development throughout adolescence and into
early adulthood. Adolescence has generally 3 stages: Early adolescence, Middle adolescence and
late adolescence.
13.5.1. Early Adolescence (Ages 10 to 13)
Hirwa Hirwa is a P6 student and has 12 years old. He many times get home at night. When it is
time to go home after class, Hirwa and his friends Mugabe, and Sibomana pass by at Premier
betting officer. They spend much money in betting and their parents always claim missing money
at home
1. Do these children obey their parents?
2. Why do you think they are disobedient to parents?
3. Where do you think they get money for betting?
4. What can you do if you are a parent of one of these three boys?
Major characteristics of early teens
During the early adolescence stage,children often start to grow more quickly. They also begin
notice other body changes, including hair growth under the arms and near the genitals, breast
development in females and enlargement of the testicles in males. They usually start a year or
two earlier in girls than boys, and it can be normal for some changes to start as early as age 8 for
females and age 9 for males. Many girls may start their period at around age 12, on average 2-3
years after the onset of breast development. These body changes can inspire curiosity and anxiety
in some especially if they do not know what to expect or what is normal. Some children may also
question their gender identity at this time, and the onset of puberty can be a difficult time for
transgender children. Early adolescents have concrete, black-and-white thinking. Things are right
or wrong, great or terrible, without much room in between. It is normal atthis stage for young
people to center their thinking on themselves (called “egocentrism”). As part of this, preteens
and early teens are often selfconscious about their appearance and feel as though they are always
being judged by their peers. Pre-teens feel an increased need for privacy. They may start to
explore ways of being independent from their family. In this process, they may push boundaries
and may react strongly if parents or guardians reinforce limits.

1.1 Physical Development

Adolescence growth spurt

This refers to the accelerated rate of increase in stature and mass (height and weight). There are
normally two periods of rapid growth in humans that is, during infancy and adolescence. The
growth spurt varies in intensity and age, from one child to another. It normally lasts from about
41/2 years. Depending on feeding and other factors, girls attain their adult height towards late
adolescence while boys reach their adult height during their early twenties. The speed of growth
is different for various parts though all the body parts grow rapidly. This disproportionate growth
rate of different body parts is referred to as asynchrony.

Marked physical changes take a place during adolescence. Those changes have significant
behavioral implications and which begin to take place during puberty.
This period of puberty brings about fundamental changes that have significant behavioral
implications. Those fundamental characteristics or changes are also called Primary sexual
changes.

Primary sexual characteristics

For girls, the physical changes include maturation of reproductive function such as ovaries,
fallopian tubes, vagina, uterus, the occurrence of menstruation.
In boys, the physical changes involve maturation of penis, scrotum, testes, prostates, seminal
vesicles, commencement of ejaculation.

Secondary sex characteristics

These characteristics include physical and physiological changes such as breasts development in
girls and broadening of the shoulders in boys. Other secondary sex characteristics that appear in
both sexes are voice changes, skin change, and the growth of public, facial, axillary and body
hair.

The psychological effects of physical changes

  Irrespective of being an earlier or late mature, a youngster will often experience social
and psychological consequences of the physical changes in his or her body. During the
adolescence period. Adolescents are acutely aware of the physical changes they
experience; for instance, they become self-conscious and that their bodies constantly
betray them. The reaction to these changes can result into negative image of the body
which make someone to develop eating disorders; anorexia and bulimia.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body
weight, and an obsessive fear of gaining weight due to a distorted self-image which may be
maintained by various cognitive biases that alter how the affected individuals evaluate and
think about their body, food and eating. Anorectic persons starve themselves to death.
Obsessed by thoughts of food and an unattainable image of ‘perfect’ thinner, they refuse to
eat.

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating, followed by

compensatory behaviors. The common form is defensive vomiting, sometimes called
purging.

A bulimic person is terribly anxious about weighing too much has an uncontrollable need to
eat especially sweets. To compensate for overeating bulimics make themselves vomit.

 Girls worry about the size of their breasts and about the possibility of getting menstrual
blood on their clothes. They experience a high level of depression especially those who
had not been prepared for menstruation. On the other hand, girls who had been prepared
for this event usually accept it as a sign of feminity.
 Boys get concerned very much with uncontrolled erection of the penis and ejaculation.
Although most boys are proud of this ability and see it as a sign of virility, the inability to
control erections leads to embarrassment. Uncontrolled erections also make some boys
afraid of participating in activities like dancing, standing up in class or social gathering.

Early and late maturation

Early maturation: This is when boys and girls attain physical maturation much earlier
than the expected average age.
Late maturation: this is when boys and girls attain physical maturation much later than
the expected average age.

Effects of early and late maturation

Girls who mature early begin to notice breast development at age of 8 or 9 years and experience
a height spurt at the age of 9 and 10 years. Their menstrual flow begins at the age of 10 or 11
years.
Adolescents who mature early are usually taller and heavier and develop primary and secondary
sex characteristics much earlier than their peers. On the other hand, adolescents who mature late
are smaller and lighter and develop primary and secondary sex characteristics later than their
counterparts. The effects of early and late maturation are not the same for boys and girls.
Genders differences which occur are highlighted as here.

Early maturation in girls

Girls who mature early are characterized by the following:

 They are attractive to older boys but not always emotionally mature enough for more
intimate relationships.
 Are popular among their female peers because of superior status.
 Social isolation; this is because they are in marginal social position that is, half-child,
half-woman and do not fit in older groups or groups of their own age.
 Develop primary and secondary sex characteristics as early as 9 years or less.
 Early physical maturation in girls is often linked to poor academic performance and
unplanned pregnancies.
 They seem to be more flexible, independent and more satisfied with their lives in later
years than those who mature late.
Late maturation in girls

Late maturing girls show the following characteristics:

 Have more positive image than those who mature early.

 Are more likely to be successful in their academic pursuits than early matures.
 They tend to be assertive, active, socially poised and higher in leadership ability than
early matures.
 They are more likely to acquire a tall slender figure than early matures.
 Develop primary and secondary sex characteristics between 15 and 17 years.
Early maturation in boys

Boys who mature early generally show the following characteristics:

 They tend to be self-controlled, self-confident and attractive to the opposite sex and are
likely to get earlier sexual experience than late matures.
 They behave in socially appropriate way and are popular and more assertive in their peer
group and social situations.
 They have a better body image and higher self-esteem than boys who mature late.
 They are regarded as competent, natural leaders and often assume leadership roles.
 Due to their strength and size, they often do well in sports.
 They are expected to live to adult’s expectation and should act more maturely than they
are capable of doing.
  They often join older adolescents who mislead them in deviant behaviors like drug abuse,
truancy, rebelling against teachers and parents, etc.

Late maturation in boys

Late maturing boys are characterized by:

 They are seen as less attractive, less well balanced and more tense and anxious than boys
who mature early.
 Their academic performance is often poorer than that of boys who mature early.
 They are more attention seeking than their peers.
 They are restless, talkative and bossy.
 They experience feeling of guilt, inferiority depression, rejection and general anxiety.
They have a great need for encouragement, sympathy and understanding from other boys
than boys who mature early.
 They have difficulty in dealing with authority figures.

1.2 intellectual development: formal operations stage

During this period of human development, adolescents experience the formal operational stage
according to Jean Piaget. This stage lasts from 11/12 years and above.
Adolescent’s thinking is more logical, analytical and creative than young children. They deal
effectively with complex reasoning problems and can understand and deal with hypothetical
tasks because they have ability to pay attention and remember.
Adolescents are characterized by the following:
 They are able to deal with abstract contract.
 They are capable of hypothetical deductive reasoning (reasoning from possible to real
 They can understand and differentiate what is good and what is bad or undesirable for the
society.
 They can reason scientifically that is, they are able to see relationship between theory and
evidence.
 They are able to communicate with others and make decision.
 They can increase the ability to understand, see relationship and solve problems of
increased complexity.
 They have egocentric thought which characterized by the following problems:
Argumentativeness: They have tendency or regarding their views and principles as the best as
the most accurate (correct and true).
Indecisiveness: They have a problem of deciding on things because they have a great number of
choices in every aspect of life.
Self-centered: They have a particular perception of themselves. They think that the bad things
that happen to others cannot happen to them. E.g.: a girl think that she is wise and she cannot get
pregnant. This reasoning makes them fearless in indulging in many risks.
Finding fault with authority: They realize that the authorities and superior are not perfect as
they thought.
Self-consciousness: They think that others constantly watch and make comments about them.