adolescence: From the point of view of biological development, a span of time starting with puberty and concluding with maturity. Chronologically, this is usually from about 12 or 13 to 18 or 19 years of age. (Consequently, there are the informal terms teenage years and teenager.) Some authorities suggest that adolescence ends for females at about the age of 21 and for males at about the age of 22.

From the psychological and social point of view, adolescence as it is popularly known is to some extent an artifact of an industrialized civilization. Primitive tribes frequently have no concept of adolescence. With the onset of puberty, there are often rites of passage, and the child becomes an adult in terms of both status and responsibility. The increased affluence associated with industrialization makes possible the prolonged period of dependence and learning that is associated with adolescence.

G. Stanley Hall, one of the principal founders of developmental psychology in the United States, called adolescence a time of "storm and stress" during which the individual was thrown about by opposites such as action versus inaction, excitement versus calm, elation versus depression, self-confidence versus doubts about self-esteem, and the need for authority versus the need to rebel against authority. Although some recent studies have suggested that adolescence is not necessarily a time of storm and stress and that there are many exceptions to the rule, Hall's way of looking at adolescence has prevailed. On the whole, it is thought of as a period of unusual emotional turbulence.

An adolescent is challenged to make a number of adjustments. With the onset of puberty, the former child becomes capable of reproduction. (In terms of Freud's psychosexual theory, this is termed the genital stage.) The question of how to deal with the capacity for reproduction and its associated desires is one that every adolescent must cope with. The self-image changes greatly with the appearance of pubic hair in both sexes, the development of breasts in females, and the first signs of a beard in males. The average female grows about 4 inches and gains about 33 pounds. The average male grows about 9 inches and gains about 55 pounds.

Erik Erikson has proposed that the principal task of an adolescent in terms of social development is to form a clear identity consisting of a robust sense of self and an image of one's future direction. Problems often arise in the adolescent's struggle to complete this task, and it is possible to speak of an identity crisis.

From the point of view of cognitive development, the adolescent becomes capable of formal operations, consisting of the ability to use symbols with flexibility and think in abstract terms.

Milad Sharp

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