Adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood.

It includes many physical,

cognitive, and psychosocial changes. We first explore physical development. Puberty is a
period of rapid physical growth and sexual maturation that occurs during adolescence. During
puberty, both sexes experience a rapid increase in height. For girls this begins between 8 and
13 years old, with adult height reached between 10 and 16 years old. Boys begin their growth
spurt slightly later, usually between 10 and 16 years old, and reach their adult height between
13 and 17 years old. Both nature example the genes and nurture for an example nutrition,
medications, and medical conditions can influence height.

Adolescents experience an overall physical growth spurt. The overall physical growth spurt
means increases of about 10-11 inches in height and 50 to 75 pounds in weight. The head
begins to grow sometime after the feet have gone through their period of growth. Growth of
the head is preceded by growth of the ears, nose, and lips, however. As the chest grows, so
does the internal organs. The heart and lungs experience dramatic growth during this period.
Sweat, odour, and oil glands become more active.

Sexual maturation is another change we undergo during adolescence. Changes are divided
into two categories primary sex characteristics are changes in the reproductive organs. For
males, primary characteristics include growth of the testes, penis, scrotum, and the first
ejaculation of semen. This occurs between 11-15 years of age. Secondary characteristics are
those not directly linked to reproduction but changes that signal that a male is becoming
sexually mature. Shoulders become broader, the areola or area around the nipples become
larger. There is some temporary breast development due to hormonal changes in many boys,
typically around 14 years of age. The voice becomes lower as the larynx grows. Hair
becomes more coarse and darker. And hair in the pubic area, under the arms, and on the face
develops.

In females, primary characteristics include growth of the uterus and the first menstrual period
or menarche. Stress and higher percentage of body fat can bring menstruation at younger
ages. Many of the secondary characteristics are the same for boys and girls. Breast
development begins at around age 10 and full development takes several years. Hips broaden
and legs get larger. The voice becomes lower as the larynx grows, just as it does in males.
Although, it is often less noticeable in females. Hair becomes darker and rougher. Pubic and
underarm hair develops as well.
Cognitive development incorporates variations in methods and styles of thinking, language
ability and language use, and strategies for remembering and recalling information.
Adolescents develop abstract thinking in terms of how they think about themselves and the
world. Adolescent reasoning skills improve through the use of deductive reasoning, and learn
to negotiate problems even in the absence of concrete events. Environmental influences on
cognitive development include genetics and environment, parenting behaviours and styles,
social peers and interactions, and educator.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development focuses on how children construct knowledge and
how their constructions change over time. Piaget believed that children naturally try to make
sense of their world. Piaget believed that adolescents fall in the formal operations category
where they think abstractly, deal with hypothetical situations, and speculate about what may
be possible. Adolescents begin forming the ability to perform mental operations with abstract,
intangible concepts such as justice and poverty, with the ability to describe the effects of
these concepts. The development of an adolescent’s cognition can be affected by many
factors such as family culture, quality and quantity of formal schooling, various medical
conditions, and emotional or physical trauma.

From birth onward, the human brain continues to develop and mature. For adolescents, the
amount of information they can process continues to increase, but the rate of increase is not
as great as it once was during the middle childhood years. Likewise, their overall fund of
information continues to build. Memorization capabilities further expand. Youth can now
recall a large amount of detailed information such as lengthy, complicated, driving directions.
Likewise, they can remember and apply patterns or formulas such as when solving a complex
calculus problem. Furthermore, as youths' capacity for memorization increases, the brain
develops more efficient methods of organizing information allowing for more rapid and
accurate information storage, and subsequent retrieval. This enables youth to recall
information more easily, and to apply the information in useful ways.

The maturing brain is also responsible for advanced language development. Teens'
vocabularies continue to grow as they develop an impressive working vocabulary of over
40,000 words. Their improved vocabulary includes the acquisition of words with more
abstract meanings, which mirrors their new ability to think in more abstract ways. This
expanded vocabulary enables them to verbalize the abstract thoughts they are having.
Moreover, teens now understand many more non-literal word meanings, and they begin to
use non-literal words to communicate irony and sarcasm. Thus, their ability to think
abstractly also allows them to find humour in the world.

Adolescents' grammatical skills also improve to become more refined and sophisticated.
Written language becomes more complex and illustrative because adolescents are required to
use this form of communication more and more often as a part of their formal schooling. The
quality, quantity, and intensity of formal schooling will influence language development. As
with all developmental progress, there can be a great deal of variation among youth.

Psychosocial development incorporates changes in feelings or emotions as well as alterations

in relations with other people. This includes connections with family and peers, and combines
the person’s personal identity or sense of self. Adolescence is a time when the individual may
become interested in sexual relations, have their first dating experience, and begin their first
job. These are just some topics that will impact the adolescence’s psychosocial development.
Adolescence is a period when the teenager begins the emotional pendulum. The average 13
year old may have emotions such as those of uncertainty, unhappiness and sensitivity. They
may be withdrawn or spend a lot of time alone, and they may be concerned with their body
image developing self-esteem issues. Environmental influences on psychosocial development
include genetics, illnesses, and educational settings, life experiences such as playing sports,
traveling, and reading.

 Erikson's psychosocial theory of human development covers the entire lifespan, including
adulthood.  According to Erikson's theory, the way a person resolves the crisis will determine
their personal identity and future development. The first crisis typically occurs during early to
middle adolescence, and is called the crisis of identity versus identity confusion. This crisis
represents the struggle to find a balance between developing a unique, individual identity
while still being accepted and "fitting in." Thus, youth must determine who they want to be,
and how they want to be perceived by others. However, when youth fail to navigate this crisis
successfully, they are uncertain about who they are. Lacking this understanding, they can
become socially disconnected and cut-off from others. According to Erikson's theory, when
youth become stuck at this stage, they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults.

The second crisis, occurring between late adolescence and early adulthood, is called the crisis
of intimacy versus isolation. This crisis represents the struggle to resolve the reciprocal nature
of intimacy. For example, to achieve a mutual balance between giving love and support, and
receiving love and support. Erikson believed that when youth successfully navigate this crisis
they emerge with the ability to form honest, reciprocal relationships with others and have the
capacity to bond with others to achieve common goals. When youth fail to navigate this crisis
successfully, they can become distant and self-contained; or conversely, they can become
needy, dependent, and vulnerable. If youth do not resolve this crisis, their emotional
development becomes stalled, and as a result, they will remain isolated and lonely without
social supports.

It is important to understand how to incorporate these changes into the adolescent world so
the individual makes a smooth transition from childhood to adulthood. Adults can support the
adolescent transition of physical development. Adults or parents can be aware to not criticise
or compare the teens to others because they would be highly self-conscious about their
appearance. Adolescents should be encouraged and model to eat healthy and stay fit by
participating in physical activity. Exercise will help the teen burn excess energy, encourage
strengthen of developing muscles, and inspire a better sleep.

Other than that, in the domain of cognitive, parents can get teenagers involved in discussing
behavioural rules and consequences. They must be taught responsibility on how they should
behave. Besides that, talking to teens about their views and being open to the discussion will
also help them to learn new things. Psychosocially teens should be encouraged to be involved
in numerous groups or events both within school and after-school. Adults or parents should
be prepared to realise that teens are trying to gain a sense of achievement. Adults or parents
should not get frustrated whereas they should inspire the teen to stick with a project long
enough to generate some skills. Adults can help teens explore career goals and options by
taking teens to work so they can see what adults do. Perhaps they can initiate thought on the
teen’s future by asking them questions about their career goals.