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Adolescent Stages of Development

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Adolescent Stages of Development
Adolescence is probably the most difficult period in life of every individual since it is a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. In this period adolescents undergo significant changes in physiological, psychological and social aspects. Naturally, these changes produce a significant impact on their lifestyle, behaviour, psychology, etc.
Traditionally, adolescence is considered to start at preteens, mostly from around 9-10 years of age till 19-20 years of age. Basically, adolescence may be divided into three main stages middle childhood (8-11), early adolescence (11-14), and middle adolescence (15-18) while the last years of adolescence may be characterised as the last years when individuals completely grew into adults.
Adolescence is a time of great change for a child. It is a time where they begin to explore who they are as individuals and develop their own identities as they get closer into adulthood. Erik Erikson theorized that in adolescence “the main task is developing an identity” and that a healthy identity is developed when they try on alternate identities and reflect on these experiences (Pressley &ump; McCormick, 2007, p.147). Michael Nakkula says “identity is not the culmination of a key event or series of events, although key events can play an important role in the larger process. It is rather, the lived experience of an ongoing process-the process of integrating successes, failures, routines, habits, rituals, novelties, thrills, threats, violations, gratifications, and frustrations into a coherent and evolving interpretation of who we are. Identity is the embodiment of self-understanding” (Nakkula, 2008, p.11). The experience that adolescents go through daily and over time influences the identity they eventually form. Adolescence is a time when children start to reflect on what they are good at,

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