Life Span Development II School Age and Adolescence

Life Span Development II: School age and Adolescence 3 (2+1)

Lesson 17 : Pubertal changes and their effects on adolescent personality

Introduction

Sexual maturity is usually achieved shortly after the completion of growth spurt. In the normal population of adolescent boys and girls, some will differ strikingly from the majority of their peers due to early or late pubertal development.

Variation in the timing of physical maturation may result in behavioral differences among early or late matures. Maturational timing effects have been found in body image, deviant behaviour and school related behaviour depending on gender, age and social class of the individual. Early maturing individuals tend to have a more intensive adolescent growth spurt than do late maturing individuals who have a more increment of growth speed over a longer period of time. In early matures whole process goes more quickly, more intensely despite in a small amount of time.

Most teenagers tend to worry that they are not physically normal. Both early and late adolescents feel that they are least alike among their contemporaries.

Early maturation could be due to biological factors, favorable socio economic conditions, adequate or optimum nutrition and healthy body conditions etc. On the contrary late maturation could be due to biological factors, low SEC of the family, poor health conditions and lack of access to health care services etc.