Psychological characteristics of adolescence

Teenagers

Adolescence is a time of crises and discoveries that accompany the formation of personality. It is not for nothing that adolescence has become the most discussed period in psychological literature. The child finds himself in a new and completely uncertain situation: childhood is over, but the possibilities of adult life are not yet available. The crisis of adolescence is a bright but responsible time, one of the first turning points in life. And although teenagers strive for independence, they need the attention and support of their parents.

The psychology of a teenager has a fairly typical, but at the same time varied picture. Pubertal children think differently than adults: they have difficulty with self-control, are prone to taking unnecessary risks, and often misinterpret the attitudes of others. It would seem that just recently this was a sweet child, but now he has suddenly stopped making contact, constantly bickers, behaves withdrawn or even aggressively! Of course, such changes cause anxiety and irritation among parents.

To help a child safely go through the path of becoming his own “I,” the tactics of behavior with him must be very delicate. Thanks to modern advances in psychology and medicine, we have been able to “look” inside the teenage brain and see more clearly what the characteristics of the teenage psyche are. So what did we find?

Adolescence has rather blurred boundaries, but usually it is the age range from 12 to 17 years. Conventionally, younger adolescence is distinguished - 12-14 years old - and older - 15-17 years old. Neurobiological processes that occur during adolescence become a key behavioral factor.

One of the most interesting features of the teenage brain is the ability to change connections between different parts of the brain in response to events that happen in life. On the one hand, this contributes to a huge leap in the development of thinking and sensitivity. At the same time, constant change in structure leads to emotional instability and risky behavior.

Modern research tells us that problem behavior in adolescents arises from unbalanced functioning of different brain systems. We are talking mainly about two structures:

1. The limbic system is responsible for emotions, sleep and memory. She becomes highly active during puberty.
2. The prefrontal cortex is a part of the cerebral cortex that controls thinking, attention, and behavioral control. In adolescence, this structure is imperfect, does not function at full strength and reaches final maturity only by the age of twenty.

It turns out that young people experience a “gap” between emotions and common sense. Underdevelopment of the prefrontal region during adolescence explains the emergence of the main behavioral problems of difficult ages. This is not a sign of mental problems. Young people are not always able to correctly analyze a situation simply because important areas of their nervous system are not yet working as they should.

Teenage psychology of girls

It's not easy being a teenage girl, and it's not easy being her mom or dad. The modern generation of teenage girls is exposed to a huge number of traumatic factors that can lead to problems such as eating disorders, depression, alcohol abuse, problems in the formation of identity - the development of an integral personality.

Puberty is accompanied by changes throughout the body. The pituitary gland and thyroid gland begin to work intensively, which leads to significant changes in hormonal levels. As a result, changes occur in the physiological and emotional spheres.

Psychology views the teenage period in girls as a difficult but important stage of development, during which there is an acute need for recognition from peers and understanding from loved ones. The child faces new problems, but rarely asks adults for advice. This is hampered by maximalism and self-esteem: the girl believes that her parents do not understand her difficulties and any careless word risks causing severe resentment.

The psychology of teenage girls is designed in such a way that hormonal imbalance leads to frequent mood swings and the desire to stand out at any cost. There may be a depressive mood and emotional torment, which is why the girl moves away from her family and feels the need to join some subculture or other society of like-minded people.

When communicating with a teenage girl, you need to be patient. Under no circumstances should you yell or engage in provocative behavior.

Diseases

Psychologists and doctors are aware of mental disorders that most often manifest themselves at the age of puberty.

Examples of disorders:

1. Depression is a persistent decrease in mood. Patients are pessimistic, irritable and apathetic. The first symptoms of the disease often appear in childhood. The danger of depression lies in the possible transition of a melancholic mood into suicidal tendencies. Due to the characteristic features of pubertal psychology, symptoms of the disease cannot always be easily detected in a teenager.
2. Anxious personality disorder is a pathology manifested by constant anxiety, complexes and inexplicable fears. A person develops avoidant behavior. Anxiety negatively affects the quality of later life and personal development.
3. Borderline personality disorder is the most common mental illness in adolescents. The first symptoms usually appear between the ages of 16 and 25. Pathology is more often diagnosed in girls. Manifestations of borderline disorder include decreased self-control, antisocial behavior, impulsivity, and emotional instability. In general, the signs of the disease resemble accentuated adolescent personality traits, so diagnosis can be difficult.
4. Mental disorders of the schizophrenia spectrum are the most severe pathologies. Unlike the above conditions, these diseases significantly impair the quality of life and often make a person disabled. Illnesses may manifest as hallucinations, delusional thoughts, erratic behavior and general disordered thinking.

Thus, the transitional period of mental development is dangerous for the formation of diseases, so it is important to monitor the teenager’s condition.

Adolescent psychology of boys

One of the most common complaints expressed by parents of teenage boys is that their son has become angry and aggressive.

Teenage girls get angry too, but they are usually more receptive to constructive conversations, which gives parents a little more leverage. Psychology and medicine identify a surge in testosterone as a distinctive feature of adolescence in boys. Because of this, the feeling of fear is dulled and behavior is disinhibited. All this leads to frequent outbursts of anger and an abundance of conflicts.

The psychology of teenage boys is structured in such a way that in order to have a comfortable relationship with the outside world, they need to clearly understand responsibility for their behavior. The young man must understand that if he behaves responsibly, he will receive privileges, and vice versa. Teenagers are very receptive to rewards and encouragement.

Psychological help

Depending on the results of the consultation, the specialist may offer treatment for the identified disease or correction of certain psychological problems. It is important to understand that full-fledged psychotherapy requires a large number of sessions and a long course of treatment in general.

Possible correction methods:

1. Family therapy. The psychologist tries to competently conduct a psychotherapy session with a teenager and his parents.
2. Group therapy. In psychology and psychiatry, work in specialized groups is often practiced. This method helps fight social phobia and anxiety.
3. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most popular method of psychotherapy aimed at teaching the patient independent methods of dealing with the symptoms of disorders.

The choice of treatment method depends on many factors, including the severity of the psychological condition and the age of the patient.

When is the best time to see a psychologist with a teenager?

Sometimes it can be difficult to know whether your child's behavior is due to typical puberty experiences or whether it's time to seek professional help. Here is a list of “red flags” that indicate that a teenager, and possibly the whole family, needs the help of a specialist:

• depressed mood that lasts two weeks or more: this condition may indicate the presence of clinical depression. This includes signs such as melancholy, apathy, lack of interest in previous hobbies and any other things
• Signs of an eating disorder: weight loss or gain, regular refusal to eat or overeating followed by vomiting. In this case, it is necessary to exclude the presence of anorexia, bulimia and other dangerous syndromes
• sleep disorders and decreased vital energy: insomnia, pathological drowsiness and constant lethargy may be signs of diseases of the nervous system
• difficulties in managing emotions: isolation and withdrawal or, conversely, excessive irritability and conflict, which is often accompanied by the desire and threats to leave home. In order to smooth out the problem in time and prevent dangerous consequences in the form of accidents due to the risky behavior of a teenager, you need to consult a psychologist
• Regular use of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes – experimenting with chemicals is common during adolescence, but if your child regularly returns home under the influence of alcohol or other substances, you need to act immediately
• thoughts of death, self-harm or suicide attempts - in this case, you cannot assume that you can cope with the situation on your own. With suicide rates rising among teenagers, take the problem seriously and take your child to a therapist

These are the main signs, if present, you should contact a specialist. In other cases, you yourself can make sure that the period of growing up passes as smoothly and painlessly as possible. Here are some tips:

1. Planned work and rest schedule: promotes better concentration and productive learning. In addition, looking tired can have a negative impact on your appearance, which is especially important for teenage girls.
2. Interesting leisure time and hobbies: if a teenager has nothing to do after school, he will delve deeper into his internal problems. Exercising helps release pent-up energy and aggression.
3. Help from specialists: do not be afraid to visit a pediatrician, therapist, psychologist or endocrinologist, especially if you see that the child’s mood and well-being is deteriorating

When raising a teenager, you should remember that this difficult period is not called transitional for nothing. Soon you will overcome the difficulties of growing up together, and your relationship will improve. Do not forget that the child loves you and needs your support, and his not always pleasant behavior is 90-100% due to insufficiently perfect structures of the nervous system and hormonal imbalance.

Diagnostics

To undergo a professional examination, it is recommended to make an appointment with a psychologist or psychotherapist. The specialist will ask the patient and his parents about complaints, and will also study anamnestic information to identify risk factors for diseases. An initial consultation helps identify suspicious behavioral traits. To clarify the level of anxiety and depression, a psychologist can use standardized tests.

Additional diagnostic methods:

• neurological examination to exclude organic diseases of the brain that affect emotions and behavior;
• therapeutic examination to exclude pathologies of internal organs.

The purpose of an early psychological examination is to detect unfavorable personality tendencies that may subsequently become the cause of the manifestation of the disorder. Eliminating the disease at this stage of development can significantly improve a person’s quality of life. On the contrary, treatment of already established mental disorders can be difficult.

Disadaptation

Disadaptation, that is, problems with accepting a new social situation and entering into it, is a normative phenomenon of adolescence. This arises against the background of uneven development of personality spheres. Disadaptation manifests itself:

• criticism of oneself and others;
• hypersensitivity;
• vulnerability;
• aggressiveness;
• instability of desires and moods;
• intrapersonal conflicts (the most popular is “Who am I?”).

A teenager strives to know himself, which results in a craving for peers (clubs of interests, subcultures, multiple acquaintances). That is, a teenager receives information about himself by looking at his peers.

All teenagers are explorers. They study the world, themselves, and other people. Sometimes introspection takes an extreme option and turns into self-examination and self-flagellation.

• It was experimentally revealed that adolescents who are anxious, insecure, uncommunicative, withdrawn, overly controlling themselves and feeling guilty have problems with adaptation.
• An average level of adaptation was noted in unstable adolescents with an average level of self-control, prone to dominance and aggression.
• Successful adaptation is characterized by confident, sociable, non-anxious adolescents with adequate self-esteem and level of self-control.

Sometimes normative maladjustment drags on, and then, as a rule, we are talking about deviant behavior.

Search for authority

At all times, fourteen-year-old boys tried to find an example to follow. At this time, it is very important for him to figure out whether his parents are right or wrong, whether they can trust their statements and the truths that were instilled in him since childhood. The teenager chooses his own authority. To be like their idol, teenagers change not only their clothing style, but also their entire behavior. At this time, it is very important for parents to unobtrusively push him towards the right choice. This must be done in such a way that the teenager has no idea who contributed to the acquaintance he needed. The boy himself must feel the need for such communication. He cannot follow the example of those whom he does not like, in whom he does not feel a friendly disposition and trust.

Appearance is a source of dissatisfaction

Against the backdrop of interest in the opposite sex, the age of 15 also sharpens a teenager’s self-perception based on his changing appearance. Children grow quickly, some gain weight amid a hormonal storm, and their skin deteriorates. Looking at yourself in the mirror can be a difficult experience for many girls - they are very worried about every little thing, and it is also difficult to get used to rapid changes and the erratic work of the sebaceous glands. Appearance attracts more and more attention; peers often comment negatively on someone else’s appearance, which adds to the suffering.

Teenagers' body reactions are often surprising and disorienting. For girls, the first experience of their period can be painful, when the pain is overwhelming and you don't know what's going on! Take care of the girl, explain how to deal with this regular problem.

Just help your son or daughter - don’t deny them the right to wear the clothes they like, let them experiment with piercings (within reason) or hair color. When new fashion trends appear, go to the store together and discuss changing your wardrobe. Many parents prohibit their daughters from wearing short dresses or too bright clothes - but at an older age in the office it will be difficult to freely express themselves through their appearance! Let the child remember this period of time as a “golden” period when almost anything is possible!

Physical development

Teenagers grow an average of 9 centimeters per year. There is rapid growth of the heart muscle (length, width, volume). Blood pressure (usually increased) and heart rate change. All body systems are rapidly changing.

Modern teenagers are characterized by a general weakening. Despite the apparent acceleration, in comparison with teenagers of past decades, modern girls and boys, according to the results of a study by L.V. Mishchenko, are underweight in more than 80% of cases. The overall strength also decreased.

You were born in 2005 or 2006

2005 - 5 January. Eris, the largest of the dwarf planets in our solar system, has been discovered.

2006 - March 29. The first total eclipse of the sun in the 21st century could be observed in Russia. 24 August. Scientists have stripped Pluto of its planetary status. This decision was made at the congress of the International Astronomy Union in Prague, Czech Republic.

2007 — Genetics have discovered modifications in the human body that are responsible for the development of certain diseases. After DNA analysis, it became possible to identify a predisposition to certain diseases.

2008 - February 17. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. 8 August. Military operations began in South Ossetia. November 4. Presidential elections took place in the United States. The first black president in the history of the state, Barack Obama, became the head of the state.

2009 — August 17. A disaster occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. Hundreds of people became victims. The cause of the problems was a series of shortcomings and a failure in the redistribution of electricity in the power system.

2010 - 18th of March. Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman proved the Poincaré conjecture, which was considered one of the unsolvable Problems of the Millennium. For this, the Clay Mathematical Institute awarded him a prize of $1 million, which he refused. April 10th. A plane crash occurred over Smolensk, in which Lech Kaczynski, the President of Poland, his wife Maria Kaczynskaya, the high military command, Polish politicians, as well as religious and public figures (97 people in total) died. The first living cell was created in which its own DNA was replaced with DNA created artificially. Humanity has received new tools for developing technologies for artificially growing organs.

2011 - 11th of March. In Japan, off the northeastern coast, an earthquake occurred, the magnitude of which reached 8.9. As a result of the earthquake, a devastating tsunami arose, as a result of which over 15 thousand people died, several thousand are considered missing. May 2. Osama bin Laden, the “No. 1” terrorist in the world, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who, in particular, is considered responsible for the September 11 terrorist attack, was killed. September 7. An international charter flight crashed near Yaroslavl. On board the plane was the team of the Lokomotiv hockey club, which was flying to Minsk. 44 people died, one survived. October 31. The seven billionth inhabitant of the Earth was born in Kaliningrad.

2012 - February 21. In Moscow, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a scandalous punk prayer service of the PussyRiot group took place, three members of which were detained by the police. December 1. Russia has led the G20 (G20), a forum of representatives of countries with the most developed economies: Australia, Japan, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, South Korea, Great Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, India, USA, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Mexico, Canada, China.

2013 - February, 15. A meteorite fell in the Urals - the largest celestial body that collided with the surface of the Earth after the Tunguska meteorite. Because of the “Chelyabinsk” meteorite (it exploded in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk), 1,613 people were injured. February, 15. Asteroid 2012 DA14 flew by at the minimum distance from planet Earth (27,000 km). This was the closest distance in the entire history of astronomy. March 13. The most powerful telescope on the planet begins operating in the Atacama Desert, Chile.

2014 — February 7-23. The XXII Winter Olympic Games took place in Sochi. 18th of March. Putin V.V. signed an agreement on the admission of the Crimean Peninsula and Sevastopol to Russia. This agreement comes into force from the moment of ratification by the Federal Assembly - March 21. October 26. Permanent winter time introduced

2015 - Jan. 7. A terrorist attack took place at the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, based on a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed previously posted in the magazine. 12 people were killed and 11 people were injured.

Prevention

Preventing the development of mental disorders in adolescents is an important goal. Prevention should begin with the appearance of the first unfavorable behavioral and personality traits in a child.

Some methods:

• consultation with a psychotherapist at least once a year;
• adherence to sleep and wakefulness;
• solving problems of conflict behavior at school;
• teaching the child positive traits, such as the ability to be responsible for one’s own actions.

To obtain information about other prevention rules, it is recommended to make an appointment with a psychologist.

Age goals

During adolescence, for successful socialization in the future, a teenager needs to successfully solve a number of problems. In which the support and help of parents will be invaluable. However, it is important to remember that we can only talk about cooperation. So, what are these age tasks?

1. Accepting your appearance.
2. Successful gender identification (assimilation of male and female roles accepted in society).
3. Changing the style and forms of communication with peers.
4. Establishing a new style of relationship with parents (equal cooperation).
5. Development of professional interests and abilities for further professional guidance in youth.
6. Acceptance and adoption of mature behavior that assumes responsibility and initiative.

If all of these points regarding a teenager at the end of the age period can be answered in the affirmative, then it means that his transitional age has been successful.

Sexual development

It goes in two directions:

• awareness of one's own bodily sexuality;
• searching for a soul mate and love, romanticizing relationships.

S. Buller noted that there is also mental puberty. It can arise long before physical maturation and end after it. In simple terms, this is the desire to be with someone, to complement each other, which, according to the author’s theory, is characteristic of all people. Thus, we can say that this is precisely the direction of romanticism, relationships without sexual overtones: conversations, spending time together.

Gender identification is one of the new developments of age. That is, the formation of sexual orientation and self-perception of a teenager by gender occurs. Gender identification can be biological or psychological. Their discrepancy is fraught with intrapersonal conflict and sexual behavior disorders.

Scientists have noted that the formation of gender identification is more influenced by sociocultural factors than biological ones. That is, the decisive role is played by the patterns and stereotypes cultivated in society, as well as by the conditions of the teenager’s environment.

Own position

So how can you reach a teenager who withdraws into himself, snaps, but at the same time often suffers and really dreams of love and recognition? Help form your opinion about the world and people, do not impose your experience.

To find the key to understanding with a child of adolescence, it is important to remember: he is no longer a child in the literal sense of the word. The complexity of the situation lies precisely in the “transition” of this period. Do not prevent your daughter or son from “breaking” the established foundations in the family or communication. Let him or her gain the experience he or she needs, because only in this way will a “cumulative” effect occur and the person becomes an adult.

However, it is important to let the teenager know that you are always there to support, encourage and help. Talk to him, but don't intrude, just be there, pay attention. A feeling of security and reliability is a surefire recipe for reducing anxiety and solving the problem of possible suicide, breakdowns or any worries. If the family environment is harmonious and stable, the stresses of the late school period will not be a big test for children and their environment.