Physical and Social Developement of Adolescents Issues Essay

Physical and Social Developement of Adolescents Issues - Essay Example This paper aims at exploring different issues related to physical and social development of adolescents and the impact of those developmental changes on them. The adolescence period is featured by dramatic physiological changes that in practice leading them to move forward from a child to an adult. Hence, adolescence period is a transitional period, where an individual reaches to the physical maturity. This period distinguishes among males and females quite evidently by developing sexual characteristics, however, the secondary sexual characteristics become visible during prepubescent period. In the prepubescent period, a female may begin to develop her breast buds around the age of 8 years, which take the mature shape with full breast development during late adolescent phase. Apart from that, public hair growth - armpit and leg - has been observed during 9 to 10 years, where the distribution pattern becomes prevalent at the age of 13 to 14 years. Another significant physical change occurs in adolescent females with the menarche2. In general, the menarche occurs after 2 years of prepubescent changes. A female may undergo menarche at early at the age of 10 years and as late as 15 years. However, the puberty is not identified with a sudden onset of pubertal changes in case of males, as it happens with females with menstrual changes. In case of males, the scrotal and testicular changes occur during 9 years of age along with a lengthening of penis size, whereas it reaches to its adult size around 15 - 16 years of age. Public hair growth in the areas of armpit, leg and face is noted at the age of 12 years, whereas it reaches to its adult distribution at the age of 15 to 16 years. The occurrence of nocturnal emissions3 in around every 2 weeks interval consisting of seminal fluid may define the onset of puberty among male adolescents. This typically occurs during the age of 13 years to 17 years. A contemporaneous brisk of growth in height is noticed between ages of around 10.5 to 11 years and 16 to 18 years, with a peak period characterized around the age of 14 years. Another significant change in males occurs with the changes in voice which is usually parallel to penile development, whereas the occurrence of nocturnal emissions corresponds with the peak period of height spurt. Social Development The radical and dynamic changes both at physical and psychological level throughout the adolescent period make it typically distinct from other phases of development. An adolescent, irrespective of gender, experiences an individualized form of self consciousness, sensitivity about the surrounding environment and an increased concern over one's own body image along with excruciating evaluation between own self and peers. An important aspect of the psychosocial development contributing to the adolescence period is adolescent egocentrism. According to Elkind (1967), adolescent egocentrism includes a belief system carried by adolescents that makes them to consider as special and unique which is accompanied with the accomplishment of new psychological abilities. Adolescent egocentrism is characterized with an imaginary audience with an increased self consciousness. Adolescents consider that their people in their surrounding areas, especially peers, observe their activities,