Adolescence begins at puberty and extends until adulthood.
The stage that comes after childhood and extends from puberty to the complete development of the organism is known as adolescence . The term comes from the Latin word adolescentĭa .
Adolescence is, in other words, the transformation of the infant before reaching adulthood . It is a change of body and mind, but it not only happens in the adolescent himself, but is also combined with his environment.
Adolescence and puberty
It should be noted that adolescence is not the same as puberty , which begins at a specific age as a result of hormonal changes. Adolescence varies in duration for each person. There are also differences in the age at which each culture considers an individual to be an adult .
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , worldwide statistics show that one in five individuals goes through adolescence. Within that total, 85% live in low-income or middle-income nations . On the other hand, about 1.7 million adolescents die every year.
Differences according to sex
When we talk about the stage of adolescence, we are talking about a fundamental series of changes, both psychological and physical. In this last aspect, it must be emphasized that the most obvious are growth in height, increase in weight and body fat, the evolution of teeth or muscle growth.
However, it is true that although these changes occur in both boys and girls, each gender also has its own physical evolution. Thus, for example, male individuals see how hair appears in areas such as the genitals, mustache or armpits and they also witness the growth of their sexual organs.
Female adolescents, for their part, in addition to experiencing hair growth on their body, suffer what is known as menarche, which is the first menstruation. A particularly significant fact that will undoubtedly mark a new stage in their lives.
During adolescence, multiple physical and psychological changes are experienced.
Psychology in adolescence
Among the main changes that a person experiences in their adolescence are the development of abstract and formal thinking , the establishment of sexual identity and the solidification of friendships with the probable group experimentation with alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and even drugs.
According to psychology , adolescents fight for the identification of the Self and for the structuring of their existence based on that identity . It is a process of self-affirmation , which usually appears surrounded by conflicts and resistance, in which the subject seeks to achieve independence.
In this sense, the aforementioned psychology carries out a classification of the main problems that occur during adolescence. Thus, this determines that there are sexual, emotional, school, behavioral, eating, drug or even abuse problems.
And all of them are largely due to the set of physical changes and mental development that young people experience. Some situations to which they must adapt but which at first it is difficult for them to assimilate, which is why they find themselves in a complicated situation with themselves.