OPENING SCENARIO
In some cultures, the transition from childhood
into adulthood is marked by a special event. For
example, Ma¯ ori boys receive a moko (tattoo) to
indicate the onset of puberty; in Africa, a wide
range of activities including singing, dancing and
use of masks mark this stage in a person’s life.
In remote Aboriginal Australian communities,many
male Aboriginal teenagers are segregated from
women’s society and are taught the secrets of
‘men’s business’. Similar initiations are carried out
for pubescent females, where girls are also segregated
and are acquainted with equally secret
‘women’s business’ (Orucu, 2006). The Jewish coming-of-age tradition is called bar mitzvah (for
13-year-old boys) and bat mitzvah (for 12-year-old girls), where they proclaim a commitment to their faith.
After such events, depending on the culture, the social roles and expectations of the individual in tribal
societies may change dramatically, with some communities treating the individuals as fully fledged adults
within the community (Nunez & Pfeffer; 2016; Weisfield, 1997), whereas other communities use it to mark
the time to guide the individual into the next stage of their life (Davis, 2011; Nunez & Pfeffer; 2016). For
example, in Africa, sexual and gender identity is confirmed and the expectations are that individuals can
now undertake adult activities. The Japanese tradition of Seijin no Hi, where 20 year olds wear traditional
dress on the second Monday in January, is when the Japanese believe their youth are mature enough
to contribute to society (Nunez & Pfeffer, 2016). In post-industrial societies, role changes happen more
gradually over the period of adolescence, with different ages marking eligibility to undertake particular
activities such as driving, drinking alcohol, having sex and leaving school. An example is the American
tradition of turning ‘sweet 16’.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Abbey turned 14 on her last birthday. Over the long summer holidays, the changes in Abbey were almost
breathtaking. Returning to school at a large private school for girls, her teachers notice that her appearance
and behaviour have changed dramatically. Abbey’s height has increased 5 centimetres over the past
6 months, a fact that her mother comments on with both pride and dismay — as most of her clothing no
longer fits her.
Sometimes, Abbey feels awkward when her mother brags about her in her presence. She would prefer
that these changes were unnoticeable to others. After all, she still feels she is the same person as she was
last year, perhaps with the exception that she is a lot more interested in boys now. But despite still feeling
like the Abbey of old, she notices that she is a little more clumsy now than she was a year or two ago,
often dropping things while assisting her mother around the house. This new clumsiness worries Abbey,
because she has always prided herself on her ability to be fairly inconspicuous.
Now, going on 14, she is very aware of her body shape changing. Worst of all, she is embarrassed by
the increased size of her breasts and the pimples that seem to break out on her face every week — they
make her feel as if everyone is ‘staring’ at her.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Is adolescence, as a unique developmental stage, helpful to teenagers and their families? How is it helpful
and how is it problematic? With no recognition of adolescence as a distinctive period of development,
what might your teenage years have been like?
526 PART 5 Adolescence
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Abbey feels quite optimistic about the changes in her body as she feels more womanly and, at last,
she has breasts like many of the other girls in her grade. However, going to the beach with her friends
during summer, she felt very self-conscious, even though she was able to wear a bikini for the first time.
She liked having a tanned body but the changes made her so aware of the body shapes of all of the other
girls her age; something she had never thought about before.
Due to being self-conscious, Abbey has focused on what her body looks like to the point that she is
consumed by it. She often skips meals to ensure that she looks as good as she possibly can. ‘Being thin’
is the most important thing in the world to her. She always brushes her teeth in the morning, and brushes
her hair 100 times to ensure that she is looking her best for school. So far, she has experienced no major
illnesses or accidents, although lately she has been feeling tired and lethargic.
She is currently not interested in anything except her looks, and this obsession is annoying her parents;
so much so that they are beginning to wonder if Abbey has an eating disorder due to her new eating
habits. Abbey has decided that if she takes up some exercise this may keep her parents quiet. While she
is exercising, her tiredness and lethargy disappear and she doesn’t feel hungry so she is getting even
thinner . . .
10.1 Adolescence and society
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.1 Explain the term adolescence and how it has become a developmental stage.
The period of development from about 12 to 18 years of age is known as adolescence. Adolescence was
not recognised as a distinctive period of development until fairly recently (1890s), and it materialised with
the advent of extended education. In the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century,
it was usual for teenagers and even younger children to be engaged in full-time work, resulting in an
abrupt transition from childhood to adult responsibilities. However, as education extended progressively
into the teen years and youth did not assume adult responsibilities until their early twenties, a long period
of transition emerged, leading more gradually from childhood into adulthood.
A general picture of adolescence has been built up through years of group-based research on teenagers.
However, for any individual, the behaviours exhibited during adolescence result from a combination
of their personal qualities, their chronological age and the unique roles and responsibilities that they
encounter within their particular culture and social environment. Thus, the culture they are born into and
the surrounding environment, in addition to biologically driven processes, have a profound influence on
the teenager’s journey into adulthood, which is essentially a biopsychosocial experience. In other words,
the developments during adolescence are the result of interactions between biological, psychological and
social–environmental factors.We discuss the physical and cognitive developments of adolescence in detail
in this chapter, and in the next chapter we explore psychosocial development. First, we will examine the
physical changes of adolescence and their effects on development.
10.2 Body growth and physical changes
during adolescence
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.2 Describe the differences in body height, weight and shape between boys and
girls during adolescence.
One of the most noticeable physical changes that Abbey experienced is the adolescent growth spurt, a
period when rapid increases in height and weight occur, and which is preceded and followed by years
of comparatively little augmentation. The growth spurt occurs between ages 10 and 14 in girls and
ages 12 and 16 in boys. During the three-year period of the growth spurt, girls gain on average about
28 centimetres in height and boys gain approximately 30 centimetres. These increases constitute about
17 per cent of total height (Abassi, 1998; Susman & Rogol, 2004). Although there is less overall gain in
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height during adolescence than in earlier developmental periods, there is significantly more irregularity
in the pattern and rate of growth compared to earlier periods, when gains in height are much smoother.
The maximum rate of growth occurs around age 12 for girls and about two years later for boys. In those
years, many girls grow 8 centimetres in a single year and many boys grow more than 10 centimetres, as
can be seen in figure 10.1 (Merenstein, Kaplan, & Rosenberg, 1997; Steinberg, 2007a). Indeed, over the
summer holidays, Abbey, aged 13, exhibited this very rapid increase in height, so her teachers saw a very
different young woman on her return to school.
Because of the staggered nature of the growth spurt in boys and girls, many girls are taller than their
same-aged male peers in early adolescence. Figure 10.1 shows that during the peak of their growth spurt at
age 12, girls’ mean height increase is greater than boys’ height increase at this age by about 3 centimetres,
and, on average, girls are several centimetres taller than their male counterparts. However, when boys
reach the zenith of their growth spurt at age 14, girls’ growth rate is already in decline; so, on average,
boys are taller than girls at this age. This height trend continues into late adolescence, with an average
height at age 18 of 175 centimetres for boys and 163 centimetres for girls, with boys having longer legs
than girls in relation to their bodies. In girls, full adult height is usually attained by age 16, and in boys
by 17.5 years.
FIGURE 10.1 Growth in (a) height and (b) weight from two to eighteen years
During adolescence, young people reach their final adult size. On average, young men are
significantly taller and heavier than young women, principally as a result of the time lag between
boys’ and girls’ growth spurts.
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Height (cm)
Age (years)
Weight (kg)
Age (years)
(a) (b)
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
80
90
100
Boys Girls
The adult height differential between males and females can be traced to the adolescent growth spurt.
Both males and females gain approximately the same total height increase of 28 to 30 centimetres, but
males experience about two years more preadolescent growing time compared to females, at a period
when legs are lengthening at a faster rate. Thus, males start the growth spurt with an additional height
advantage which is never lost.
Weight also increases dramatically during adolescence, following a similar temporal trend as height
increases (see figure 10.1), with 50 per cent of adult body weight being gained during this period (Rogol,
Roemmich, & Clark, 2002). At the peak of the growth spurt, boys gain around 9 kilograms in a year,
while girls gain about 8 kilograms. Weight increases are more strongly influenced by diet, exercise and
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general lifestyle than are increases in height; therefore,
changes in weight during adolescence are less
predictable from earlier body size and growth patterns,
and more predictable according to current
dietary and exercise practices.
During early adolescence, girls are on average
taller than same-aged boys.
This phenomenon is due to the growth spurt
beginning earlier in girls than in boys.
The growth spurt and its concomitant increase in
weight also results in changes in the shape of boys’
and girls’ bodies. Skeletal changes in boys mean that
shoulder width increases relative to waist and hips,
making male bodies look more v-shaped as they get
older. The opposite occurs for girls, with increases
in hip width relative to the waist — the result of
the widening of hip and pelvic bones in preparation
for bearing children. These changes give adolescent
girls an hourglass shape (Wells, Treleaven, & Cole,
2007). As well, there are sex differences in the dispersal
of body fat, accentuating the distinctive male
and female shapes that emerge during adolescence. In
a cross-sectional study of subcutaneous fat distribution
using a sophisticated body scanner, New Zealand
researchers found that distinctive sex differences in
waist-to-hip ratio occurred during early adolescence,
with girls accumulating more fat around the hips and
buttocks, as well as having a greater proportion of
body fat to muscle than boys. As adolescence progresses,
the sex differences in body fat distribution
become wider, with the greatest divergence occurring
between late adolescence and early adulthood (Taylor,
Grant, Williams, & Goulding, 2010).
The growth spurt results in a pattern of physical development that is opposite to the proximodistal
development that children’s bodies have followed since birth. The extremities develop more quickly than
the torso does during adolescence. For example, males often experience a rapid enlargement of their feet,
which are out of proportion to the rest of their body. Hands and noses also enlarge before the arms and
the rest of the face follow. As well, the rapid elongation of the arms and legs may give adolescents a
gawky appearance, leading to a feeling of awkwardness.
The external bodily changes that are observed during adolescence are accompanied by internal changes
that are just as dramatic. For example, the size of many of the internal organs increases, with the heart
and lungs enlarging to a greater extent in boys than in girls. Additionally, the number of red blood corpuscles
increases in boys, while in girls there is no increase. These differences contribute to the athletic
differentials seen during adolescence, due to a greater capacity in boys for carrying oxygen to a larger
musculature (Rogol et al., 2002). Nonetheless, the internal organs that undergo the most profound changes
are the sex organs, which in turn bring about the secondary sexual characteristics that signal puberty, the
sexual maturation of the body discussed in the following section.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
How did you feel about the changes in your height, weight and shape during adolescence? What concerns
did you have with the changes? If you didn’t have any concerns, what concerns do you think some
adolescents would have and why?
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10.3 Puberty
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3 Define puberty and describe how it affects the bodies of boys and girls.
The word puberty derives from a Latin word meaning ‘to grow hair’. Puberty is a series of physical
changes culminating in the completion of sexual development and signalling reproductive maturity. The
modifications occurring at puberty lead to the development of the sex organs that are directly involved in
reproduction, and are therefore called primary sex characteristics. External changes in other organs are
called secondary sex characteristics such as breast and beard development. These transformations are
often used as a physical marker for the beginning of adolescence and make boys and girls appear more
adult and more typically masculine or feminine. The primary and secondary pubertal changes are usually
complete several years before the end of adolescence.
In both sexes, puberty involves the release of the hormone gonadotrophin from the pituitary gland.
Gonadotrophin stimulates the male sex glands, the testes, and the female sex glands, the ovaries, to
produce sex hormones called androgens. Testosterone is the male sex hormone and oestrogen the female
sex hormone. This androgen release results in much higher levels of sex hormones in the bloodstream
than are found in childhood, and is responsible for the dramatic sexual development seen in puberty. Both
male and female hormones are produced in each sex, but in differing proportions. So, from this common
hormonal process, puberty is expressed somewhat differently in males and females.
In girls, oestrogen secreted by the ovaries promotes the enlargement of the ovaries themselves, the
uterus and the vagina, as well as the external parts of the sex organs, the labia and clitoris. Along with
progesterone, oestrogen stimulates the production of ova and regulates the menstrual cycle. The appearance
of the first menstrual period, called menarche, signals sexual maturity, usually around age 12 at the
time girls’ growth spurt peaks. After menarche, there may be a phase in which girls are not yet fertile
and are thus unable to become pregnant. During this time, the menstrual periods are scanty and irregular.
Nevertheless, menarche occurs rather late in a girl’s sexual maturation, and is preceded by a number of
secondary sexual changes brought about by increased oestrogen production. Breast buds appear at around
age 10, the fine fuzz of immature pubic hair develops a little later at age 11 and the hips start to broaden.
Underarm or axillary hair starts to grow between the ages of 12 and 13 years, and mature breasts with
full-sized nipples and areola (the dark circle around the nipple) as well as mature pubic hair are established
by age 14 or 15 (see figure 10.2). Girls’ voices deepen somewhat towards the end of puberty, so
that they sound more adult-like.
In boys, the increased production of the androgen testosterone brings about primary sex characteristics.
It stimulates the penis and the scrotum to enlarge, starting at around age 12. Inside the scrotum lie the
testes, which hold the seminal vesicles responsible for producing sperm. These also develop and begin to
produce semen, the fluid that carries and nourishes the sperm. Along with the enlargement of the prostate
gland that secretes and stores an alkaline fluid that also helps to sustain the sperm, the stage is set for
the first ejaculation. This is called spermarche, which occurs at the height of the male growth spurt
around age 13 to 14. Spermarche is the male equivalent of menarche and, like menarche, it signals sexual
maturity. Ejaculations occur during masturbation, as nocturnal emissions or ‘wet dreams’ during sleep,
and less frequently as spontaneous emissions during the waking hours. The first ejaculations contain few
sperm but the sperm count increases progressively with age, making reproduction possible. Boys also
experience unexpected erections during puberty.
Along with the primary sex characteristics, increased testosterone production also stimulates the
development of secondary sex characteristics that generally follow the initial enlargement of the penis
and testes. Immature pubic hair begins to appear around age 12, followed by underarm and facial hair at
about age 14. At this age, the voice begins to deepen as the larynx and vocal chords increase in size (see
figure 10.2). In the course of this process, there are frequent fluctuations in vocal pitch, which some adolescents
find embarrassing. During puberty, breast development occurs in boys, with the areola becoming
darker and larger. In some boys, breast tissue develops significantly, but recedes as puberty progresses.
Puberty is generally complete by about age 15, with adult-sized sex organs and mature pubic hair.
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FIGURE 10.2 Physical and sexual development during adolescence
This graph shows the average timetable for emergence of primary and secondary sex
characteristics superimposed on the adolescent growth curves for boys and girls. The timetables
for the two sexes reveal differences between males and females in the emergence of sex
characteristics, which also differ in relation to the peak of the growth spurt. Menarche appears late
in relation to the growth spurt, whereas spermarche appears early.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
9
8
8 10 11
Testes
enlarging
Breast
bud
First
ejaculation
Penis adult size;
mature pubic hair
Pubic hair appearing;
penis enlarging
Pubic hair
appearing
Underarm
hair appearing
Mature
pubic hair
Mature
breast
Underarm, facial
hair appearing;
voice deepening
Age (male)
Age (female)
First menstruation
Height increase (cm)
Height increase (cm)
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
10
8
6
4
2
10
8
6
4
2
Boys
Girls
Growth spurt
peak
Sex hormones are also primarily responsible for the development of male and female body shapes
described in the previous section. These hormones mediate the accumulation, metabolism and distribution
of adipose tissue in the body. Oestrogen facilitates the depositing of fatty tissue around the hips and
buttocks, while testosterone encourages fat deposits in the abdominal region. Testosterone is also responsible
for promoting muscle tissue growth. Higher levels of oestrogen than testosterone in pubescent girls
explain their greater accumulation of fat around the hips and buttocks; and lower levels of testosterone
are responsible for the overall higher fat to muscle ratio in females. The opposite hormonal pattern in
boys explains their higher ratio of muscle to fat and male sex-typed distribution of fat, giving them a
v-shaped torso (Wells, 2007).
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10.4 Variations in pubertal development
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.4 Explain how and when puberty occurs, and describe the effects of
non-normative puberty development in girls and boys.
The timetable for the emergence of the primary and secondary sex characteristics described in the previous
section is based on average ages of large numbers of boys and girls. However, within any group, there
can be wide individual differences in the age of puberty, from 9 to 17 years for girls’ menarche; and from
10 to nearly 14 years for boys’ spermarche. Thus, in a class of high school students of similar age, there
might be individuals who have not even begun puberty while others are completing this developmental
milestone. Variations in the age of onset of puberty have been found to approximate the normal curve.
Within the large variations seen in populations of children, delayed puberty and precocious puberty are
identified by an age of onset that is 2 to 2.5 standard deviations either above or below the mean age
for puberty in any population (generally 13 years for girls, and 14 years for boys). On this basis, only
about 2 per cent of children are considered to be significantly precocious, and a further 2 per cent significantly
delayed, in attaining sexual maturity (Merck Serono Australia, 2012; Palmert & Boepple, 2001).
For example, the presence of secondary sexual characteristics in seven-year-old girls is considered by
clinicians to be precocious. Within the small number of children who experience such clinically defined
early or delayed puberty, some are identified as having specific disease processes that have contributed
to their condition; for example, endocrine pathology. However, according to Palmert and Boepple, no
underlying pathology can be identified in the majority of cases. This data has been confirmed by Merck
Serono Australia (2012) who are a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science
and performance materials. The Hormones and Me booklet series provides detailed yet simply presented
information on a range of common childhood endocrine disorders.
As well as individual differences in the timing of puberty, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic differences
have been noted. For example, in many developing African nations, the average age of menarche
for girls is between 14 and 16 years. Moreover, within these nations, significant age differences in puberty
onset have been found in girls of different socioeconomic classes, with girls from economically advantaged
backgrounds experiencing menarche up to eighteen months earlier than their poorer counterparts
(Parent et al., 2003). Within developed nations, ethnic differences in puberty onset have been found. For
example, African-American adolescents experience earlier menarche and spermarche than either Angloor
Asian-American adolescents (Freedman et al., 2002; Sun et al., 2002).
Secular trends have been long recognised in the onset of puberty, with an increasingly lower age
observed in Europe and the United States between the late nineteenth century and 1970 (Ong, Ahmed,
& Dunger, 2006). A continuation of this downward trend over the past 40 years has been more difficult
to establish. In a review of the literature, Walvoord (2010) points out methodological difficulties
that make comparisons across time and across studies problematic. For example, some studies have been
less rigorous than others in definitively establishing puberty by palpation of breast tissue, and objectively
measuring testicular development and blood hormone levels. More rigorous large-scale menarche studies
have indicated that the age onset of puberty in fact increased for girls born in the late 1960s and 1970s,
findings that have been replicated across different countries (Nichols et al., 2006). For example, New
Zealand research revealed that girls were reaching menarche at 13 years and 4 months in the 1980s, a
significantly later age than observed in New Zealand during the 1960s (Coope et al., 1984). This evidence
suggests that the trend of decreasing age of puberty is not linear, and that the lower limits of puberty onset
might have been reached (Delemarre-van de Waal, 2005).
Both individual and group-based variations in the timing of puberty have been explained by
genetic factors, with some researchers suggesting that puberty onset is largely biologically determined
(e.g. Mustanski, Viken, Kaprio, Pulkkinen, & Rose, 2004). In terms of lifespan development, the
timing of puberty is contained within a relatively narrow temporal window, suggesting a strong genetic
blueprint for its emergence. As well, the genetic basis for puberty onset is demonstrated by menarche
occurring in identical twins within a month or two of each other, whereas for fraternal twins there
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might be as much as twelve months’ difference in the timing of menarche (Palmert & Boepple,
2001).
Nonetheless, recent research has revealed that environmental factors can also have a significant influence
on the timing of puberty, and both individual and group-based variations may be explained to a
large extent by nutritional status, which has been found to both accelerate and delay sexual maturation.
Researchers have established that body weight and adiposity (the amount of body fat) have a profound
effect on the onset of puberty, with undernutrition delaying puberty in both boys and girls, and obesity
accelerating it (Anderson, Dallal, & Must, 2003; Mandel, Zimlichman, Mimouni, Grotto, & Kreiss, 2005;
Susman, Dorn, & Schiefelbein, 2003). This finding may shed light on the racial, socioeconomic and ethnic
differences observed in the timing of puberty, with an all-important factor of body size and adiposity
mediating these broad group-based differences. As well, progressive improvements in nutritional status
over the early decades of the twentieth century might explain much of the historical variation seen in the
age of puberty onset, and its apparent plateau in the late twentieth century.
It is now thought that menarche can only be sustained as long as body fat constitutes 17 per cent of
body weight, and that a minimal body weight triggers menarche at the end of the adolescent growth
spurt. Indirect evidence for this stance comes from the observation of amenorrhoea or absence of the
menstrual period in girls who have lost a great deal of weight or who are chronically undernourished.
Furthermore, direct evidence has come from endocrine studies, which suggest that the hormone leptin
may act as a chemical indicator of the adequacy of fat storage in girls, sufficient to maintain pregnancy
(Misra et al., 2004).
Despite these recent advances in knowledge, the specific processes that govern the timing of puberty are
not yet fully understood. It is clear, however, that they involve a complex interplay between biogenetic
factors and environmental influences. It appears that the timing of puberty occurs within a genetically
determined developmental window, and that the influence of adiposity and body mass is constrained by
the genetic blueprint that ultimately governs the delimited age range in which puberty can occur.
THEORY IN PRACTICE
Education and adolescent social and emotional wellbeing issues
Helen Partridge is the coordinator of Social and Emotional Wellbeing, an undergraduate initial teacher
education unit in the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania.
Interviewer: In your experience, what are the
main social and emotional wellbeing issues that
research shows are prevalent in adolescents?
Helen: From an educator’s perspective the
issues are antisocial behaviour, which may manifest
itself in criminal behaviour; early uptake of
substance use; and signs of certain mental illnesses,
such as anxiety and depression. The
Hunter Institute of Mental Health in Newcastle
has undertaken research in this area over a long
period of time and has developed a number of
resources to support teacher educators.
Interviewer: How do these issues manifest
themselves in adolescent school students?
Helen: There are four main areas that can act as warning signs to teachers:
- poor school engagement and learning
- poor social and emotional competence
- indications of emotional and behavioural problems
- less capacity for problem solving and resilience.
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Each of these areas can be further delineated to specific activities that teachers may notice—for example,
decline in academic performance, changes in behaviour at school and neglecting responsibilities.
Interviewer: What can a teacher do if they are concerned that an adolescent is showing signs of poor
social and emotional wellbeing?
Helen: The Hunter Institute of Mental Health has developed the GRIP framework, which asks teachers to
undertake the following activities when they are concerned:
G — gather information
R — respond by speaking to the student, their friends and parents, if necessary
I — involve others such as the principal, counsellor, and so on
P — promote wellbeing.
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