PROBLEMS OF

ADOLESCENTS

Presentation by: Ravneet Kaur

 MEANING OF ADOLESCENCE
Adolescence comes from LATIN word ADOLESCERE, which means ‘‘to grow up’’ or “to grow
into maturity”. It is the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood
and adulthood. The world health organization defines an adolescent as any person
between ages 10 and 19. It is the period following the onset of puberty during which a
young person develops from a child into an adult.
MEDICALLY, adolescence begins with the growth and a hormonal change associated with
sexual maturity and ends when there is no further growth.
legally, adolescence ends with the assumption of adult responsibility for voting, for the
draft , and for debts and contracts, including marriage.
Psychologically, adolescence is a period of transition during cognitive, physical,
personality and social changes occur . Adult roles are practiced and personal identity is
formed.
Adolescents are far from being a homogeneous group in terms of development, maturity
and lifestyle. Adolescents make up roughly 20 % of the world’s total population.
 DEFINITION :-
• NEBEL SCHWALM stated that , adolescence is a unique period of
transition marked by both physical and psychosocial changes.
Individuals in this development stage undergo dramatic pubertal
changes and are capable of increasingly abstract and complex
reasoning.
• WHO divided adolescence into three developmental stages on the
basis of physical, psychological and social changes.
1 Early adolescence, 10/13 – 14/15 years;
2 Mid adolescence, 14/15 – 17years;
3 Late adolescence, 17 - 21years.
 CHANGES :
• PHYSICAL CHANGES: INCREASE IN HEIGHT, CHANGE IN BODY SHAPE, BODY HAIR, CHANGE
IN VOICE, DEVELOPMENT OF REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS, BEGINNING OF MENSTRUAL CYCLE,
INCREASED ACTIVITY OF SWEAT AND OIL GLANDS.
• EMOTIONAL CHANGES: MOOD SWINGS, LONLINESS, INCREASE IN HORMONAL LEVEL,
MATURED THINKING, ATTRACTION TOWARDS OPPOSITE SEX.
• NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENT: DURING ADOLESCENTS THERE IS RAPID GROWTH OF
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL STATE OF PERSON BECAUSE OF WHICH NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENT
INCREASES.
• PERSONAL HYGIENE: A LARGE NUMBER OF ADOLESCENTS ARE AFFECTED BY ACNE
AND PIMPLES. SWEATING MAY BE MAJOR PROBLEM AT THIS STAGE.
• PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES: SELF ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE ISSUES, DEPRESSION,
POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, RESTLESSNESS AND CONFUSED BEHAVIOUR.
• BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES: FIGURE CONSCIOUSNESS, IMAGE CONSCIOUSNESS,
 PROBLEMS FACED BY
ADOLESCENTS

STORM AND PROBLEMS OF HEALTH

PROBLEMS IN PROBLEMS OF STRESS, Adolescents
THE FAMILY SUBSTANCE PROBLEMS AND
SEXUALITY DELINQUENT and accidents
ADOLESCENT ABUSE ADOLESCENTS
 IN THE FAMILY
1) INDEPENDENCE : A child enters the adolescent period is completely dependent on his o r her family for
emotional as well as financial support. But during adolescence , there is always a pulling away as the
teenager looks outside the home. As the individual achieves independence, this produce a change not only
in individual but in the entire family structure.
2) PERSONAL IDENTITY: The process of achieving personal identity can also change the relationship
between the teenager and the family. During this period, part of identity formation process may require
differentiate of the self from the parents.
3) LESS IMPORTANCE OF KINSHIP: During adolescence, people prefer to isolate from their kin . Modern
Youth grew up seeing few, if any, of their relatives.
4) PEER GROUP: The parents prime competitors , seem to be their children’s non-familial peers. Adolescence
spend more time taking reference from peers than taking to adults.
5) ADOLESCENT SUB-CULTURE- During this period, adolescents are no longer an instinct part of their
parents home and nor do they formed their own family. They are suspended between two membership
groups.
 OF SEXUALITY
1)CHANGE: The norms, attitudes, patterns concerning sex are never static.
Adolescents have shown steady interest in pre marital sex in modern times which lead to HIV /
AIDS.
2)AGE AT MARRIAGE: Increase in age at marriage for women and high
education of women provided female’s equal standing and provided her freedom in choosing a
male.
3)EARLY ONSET OF PUBERTY: Sanitation , nutrition lead to earlier
onset of puberty. It leads to longer span of adolescence due to which youth is characterized by
fully developed sexual needs which our society does not recognize.
4)ROLE OF MEDIA: Social media renders negative effects on mental
health, cyberbullying, dangers of sexual solicitation , exposure of problematic content,
privacy violations etc.
5)VALUE SHIFT: The emphasis on sex and too much physical expressions of
love makes it difficult to handle sexual arousals. This results in unwillingness to differ
STORM AND STRESS : Adolescents consider world as
complex and ambiguous. They have difficulties in seeing just where and
how they fit in. This situation held them in stress and storm . That’s
why they adopt confused behavior at this stage and feel depressed.
Feeling of sadness, tension, frustration, worry etc. are the result that an
adolescent is feeling to be in a storm of thoughts and feelings.
THE DELINQUENT ADOLESCENT : Adolescents, who indulge
in illegal behavior are called delinquent adolescents. Adolescence is a delinquency-prone
period. Juvenile delinquency is considered to be the participation in illegal behavior
by minors. Delinquent adolescents breaks law. For e.g. going for a joyride in a stolen
car or trying to draw attention by misbehaving.
The reasons for delinquent behavior of adolescents are : attention seeking, excessive
aggression, improving one’s social condition, product of broken homes, imitation of
aggressive role models etc.
 OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE
ALCOHOL- Though a small proportion of alcoholics are
teenagers, teenage alcohol consumption is widespread and
prelude to alcoholism in later life. Boys are particularly vulnerable
to alcohol because it is related to masculine image. In addition in
the eyes of peers it confers prestige on young, intrepid drinker.
However, girls now reproach the boys’ drinking habit.

OTHER DRUGS- Family problems, adolescent

pressures, social ills, rebellion, curiosity, sub-cultural inducement
etc. are more frequent reasons for adolescents to contract drug
addiction. These essentially boys and girls go along with the gang
to be acceptable. After addiction to the drugs, their dependence
on the drugs leads them to commit crimes to continue its use.
1)AIDS is taking toll on young lives . More than 2 million
adolescents are living with HIV. In sub-Saharan African only 10%
of young women aged 15 to 24 and 15% of men are unaware of
their HIV status
2)Adolescents are at high risk of acquiring STDs as they are
more likely to have multiple sexual partners.
3) Depression is the top cause of illness and disability and
suicide among adolescents.
4)Teenage girls restrict their energy intake out of a desire to be
thin, leads to health risk.
5)Pregnant adolescents are more likely than adults to have
unsafe abortions.
Accidents are the greatest cause of
mortality among adolescents: There are leading
cause of death among adolescents aged 10-19, accounting for 4 lakh
deaths each year . Boys are more prone than girls to injury and death
from such accidents as well as violence stemming from chance
encounters or organized gang conflicts.

CONSUMERISM AND ADOLESCENTS: The

tendency to give undue importance to materialistic things is very much prevalent
among adolescents. Credit culture is also a reason of consumerism. Shopping malls
are dynamic business centres that attract youth to purchase branded products.
Thus young people in order to show off and to be in limelight prefer to buy branded
products. This is also a problem of adolescent which is to be dealt with.
CONCLUSION : IN CONTEMPORARY ERA , ADOLESCENT
IS A CRUCIAL PART IN WHICH ADOLESCENTS ARE EXPECTED TO MAKE
THEIR CAREER AND NOT TO INDULGE IN ANTI SOCIAL ACTIVITIES.
THOUGH IT LEADS TO CERTAIN PROBLEMS AND CHANGES IN LIFE, YET
SELF CONFIDENCE AND MENTAL STABILITY IS THE BEST WAY TO GO
THROUGH THIS PERIOD EASILY. IT IS THE TIME FOR TEENAGERS TO
MAKE THEIR FUTURE OR TO DESTROY THEIE LIVES.