THE CHALLENGES OF MIDDLE AND LATE ADOLESCENCE

MIDDLE ADOLESCENCE CHALLENGE

According to U.S. Department of Health & Human Service, young people tend to become more
interested in dating around their mid-teens and become more involved in dating relationships during
high school. Although dating does increase during this time, it is also normal for adolescents
not to be in a relationship. Nearly two-thirds of teens (ages 13-17) have not been in a dating or
romantic relationship. Thirty-five percent of teens (ages 13-17) have some experience with romantic
relationships, and 19 percent are currently in a relationship. Older teens (ages 15-17) are more
likely than younger teens to have experience with romantic relationships. Both male and female
youth value intimacy, closeness, and emotional investment in romantic relationships. These
relationships can be accompanied by extreme excitement and happiness, but also by
disappointment and sadness. However, some youth might go beyond the normal range of emotions
and may experience depression. Another factor poses challenge to an adolescent is the Parent-
child conflict increases as children move into adolescences cited by ACT for Youth Center of
Excellence (2002). Although this trend is not inevitable, it is common and can be quite
distressing for parents and adolescents. Both can feel baffled about what happened to the good
old days of family harmony. Adolescents may see their parents as having turned harsh,
controlling, and irrational. Parents may wonder why their formerly cooperative and responsible
children now seem hostile and destructive. These perspectives often feed on one
another, increasing misunderstanding on both sides. Many parents and adolescents report
a decrease in closeness during this time.

Family
As stated by Healthy Families (2014), Most young people and their families have some
ups and downs during these years, but things usually improve by late adolescence as
children become more mature. Family relationships tend to stay strong right through. For
teenagers, parents and families are a source of care and emotional support. Families
give teenagers practical, financial and material help. And most teenagers still want to spend
time with their families, sharing ideas and having fun. Young people may experience any
number of significant losses in their lives, for example, parental separation, loss of friends when
there is a move or death of a family member. There may also be less tangible but devastating
losses, such as the loss of innocence in the case of abuse, and loss of trust and safety
in relationships. Have grown up in difficult or abusive homes, may have
experienced many losses, including loss of their self-worth and confidence, loss of the 'family' or
'parent' they may have hoped for, or loss of 'being taken care of’. Loss leads to grief
reactions. People deal with grief in a variety of ways. Some people react strongly at the
time, others have feelings that surface over time. Traumatic experiences will often involve
loss. Young people often benefit from being supported to identify and grieve their losses, so
that they don't continue to impact on current health and wellbeing. Helping a young person
to identify the family experiences that were unsatisfactory and why their family did not
have the capacity to help them at the time can be a helpful place to start. You may be able to
support the young person to find other ways to meet their needs in relationships, for example,
by facilitating the involvement of other caring, reliable and committed adults who may support
them appropriately.
Substance Abuse
The following are the possible reasons for middle adolescents’ drug use and alcohol use by A
Better Today Recovery Services (2020),
1.Legality-Nicotine and Alcohol are legal and loosely regulated to prevent addiction. An
estimated 88,000 people die from Alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third
leading preventable cause of death in the United States.Those who tend to abuse these
substances use them to self-medicate for anxiety, trauma and/or stress
.2.Prescribed Medication-Some people think that because their doctor gives them a
prescription, the medication they are taking is safe to consume without consequences.
Unfortunately, Opiate-based prescriptions are extremely addictive and can act as a
gateway to other drugs, like Heroin. 30% of emergency room admissions from prescription
abuse involve Opiate-based substances.
3.Fitting in-Peer pressure causes people to do things they would not have done to either
impress their friends, or trying to feel valued. Receiving a text message from a friend asking to
come drink is difficult to say no to.
4.Depression-Many people who struggle with depression do not get proper treatment or
diagnosis for this problem. Those struggling with depression tend to self-medicate to handle the
symptoms of depression with Alcohol, Marijuana, Cocaine, and various other mind-altering
substances.
5.Peer Pressure-This is most common reason among young adults and teenagers. They
start to use drugs because they want to fit in. Being rebellious as a teenager or young
adult is very common. In a lot of cases, young adults and teenagers don’t fully understand the
severity of drug use and addiction.
6.To Feel Good-People start to abuse drugs and Alcohol because they want to feel
better than they do. Whether it is stress, anxiety or enhancing their fun when going out
on the weekends, using drugs or alcohol to feel better is a gateway to a severe addiction.
7.Availability-Prescription drugs, Nicotine, and Alcohol are easy to acquire because they
are readily available. Raiding a persons medicine cabinet or running to the store afor a
pack of smokes and a bottle of vodka is the quickest way to develop a life consuming
addiction
.8.Gateway-In many cases, substances like Alcohol, Marijuana and prescription
painkillers act as a gateway to drugs that have a more intense and mind-altering effect.
Currently, the Opioid epidemic is forcing people to turn to street drugs, like Meth or
Heroin, when their doctor stops writing refills for their prescriptions.
9.Experimenting-mind-altering substance, like Cocaine and Alcohol, promise to heighten
experience and that experience is worth exploring. Unfortunately, there are drugs like
Heroin, Ecstasy, and Meth, that are so addictive that the person will begin a pattern of
abuse, which can eventually lead to an addiction.
10.Self-Medicating-Self-medicating is the top reason people abuse drugs and Alcohol.
Stress, anxiety, reoccurring pain, undiagnosed mental illnesses, severe depression,
loneliness, trauma; these are all reasons why people would self-medicate with mind-
altering substances to cope with what they are feeling or what they do not want to feel.
School
According to Marin, Pilar M.P.P. and Brown, Brett Ph.D. (2008), major health issues facing
adolescents include obesity, drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, and emotional health.
Schools seek to affect student’s health in a number of ways including: teaching (health
classes); exercise via physical education classes and extra-curricular sports; nutrition
through school lunch content, off-campus eating policies, and vending machine content; and,
in some cases, the provision of direct medical services. In addition, academic pressures
can produce levels of stress for certain students that can have negative effects on their
mental health. Schoolis also a primary cultural milieu for students which can influence drug,
alcohol, and cigarette use among students, and risky sexual activities.Particular school
problem include fear of going to school, absenteeism, and dropping out and academic
underachievement. Bullying is another problem that can negatively affect academic
performances. Bullying is the act of unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged
children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the
potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may
have serious, lasting problems. Studies show that students who are bullied can experience
negative physical, social, emotional, academic, and mental health issues. Kids who are
bullied are more likely to experience:Depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness
and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patterns, and loss of interest in activities
they used to enjoy. These issues may persist into adulthood.Health complaintsDecreased
academic achievement—GPA and standardized test scores—and school participation. They
are more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school.
Sex
Early adolescences defined by Morelli, Angela Oswalt MSW (2020), isa precarious period
in youths' sexual development because of the inter-relationship between sexual
development, cognitive development, and emotional development. Youth at this age
lack the cognitive and emotional maturity that is necessary to make wise and healthy
decisions regarding their sexuality and are ill-prepared to cope with consequences of sexual
activity. This is particularly unfortunate as today's adolescents are becoming sexually active
sooner than previous generations.
LATE ADOLESCENCE
CHALLENGEAs cited byZarrett,Nicoleand Eccles,Jacquelynne(2006)by emerging adulthood,
youth are increasingly independent, acquire and manage greater responsibility, and take on
an active role in their own development. Eccles and Gootman go on to specify some primary
challenges in this last stage of adolescence when youth begin to take on more
demanding roles: (1) the management of these demanding roles, (2) identifying personal
strengths and weaknesses and refining skills to coordinate and succeed in these roles,
(3) finding meaning and purpose in the roles acquired, and (4) assessing and making
necessary life changes and coping with these changes. Successful management of all
these challenges depends on the psychosocial, physical, and cognitive assets of the
individual; the social supports available; and the developmental settings in which young
people can explore and interact with these challenges.
1.Physical and biological changes
During early adolescence, youth experience dramatic changes in the shape of their bodies, an
increase in gonadal hormones, and changes in brain architecture. Another major biological
change during this period between puberty and young adulthood is in the frontal lobes of
the brain, responsible for such functions as self-control, judgment, emotional regulation,
organization, and planning. Thesechanges in turn fuel major shifts in adolescents’
physical and cognitive capacities and their social and achievement-related needs. During
early adolescence, the primary task consists of managing these biological and cognitive
shifts and the subsequent influences these have on behavior, mood, and social
relationships. How youth cope with these changes will ultimately influence their well-being
in later adolescence as multiple additional tasks are imposed on them.
2.Cognitive development
Cognitive skill development over the adolescent years enables youth to become
increasingly capable of managing their own learning and problem solving while also
facilitating their identity formation and maturation of moral reasoning. There are distinct
increases in adolescents’ capacities to think abstractly, consider multiple dimensions of
problems, process information and stimuli more efficiently, and reflect on the self and life
experiences. The successful development of these cognitive skills relates to youth’s ability to
be planful, an important skill for successful pursuit of educational and occupational goals. It has
also been linked with adolescents’ greater investments in understanding their own and
others’ internal psychological states and the resulting behavioral shift in focus on their
developing close and intimate friendships. As young people consider what possibilities
are available to them, they are more capable of reflecting on their own abilities,
interests, desires, and needs. Overall, youth are able to come to a deeper understanding of the
social and cultural settings in which they live. In fact, research has found an increase in
youth’s commitments to civic involvement when such cognitive developments are coupled with
prosocial values and opportunities to think and discuss issues of tolerance and human
interaction with others.
Pregnancy
According to the World Health Organization (2020), Adolescents who may want to avoid
pregnancies may not be able to do so due to knowledge gaps and misconceptions on
whereto obtain contraceptive methods and how to use them. Adolescents face barriers to
accessing contraception including restrictive laws and policies regarding provision of
contraceptive based on age or marital status, health worker bias and/or lack of
willingness to acknowledge adolescents’ sexual health needs, and adolescents’ own
inability to access contraceptives because of knowledge, transportation, and financial
constraints. Additionally, adolescents may lack the agency or autonomy to ensure the
correct and consistent use of a contraceptive method. At least 10 million unintended
pregnancies occur each year among adolescent girls aged 15-19 years in developing
regions.
Legal Issue
Stangor, C. (2014), believes that no one thinks that adolescents are similar to toddlers in their
reasoning and judgment, dependency, or vulnerability. The empirical assumptions about
developmental immaturity that shape the legal images of childhood do not fit comfortably
with conventional notions of adolescence. As compared with younger children,
adolescents are close to adulthood. They are physically mature, and most have the cognitive
capacities for reasoning and understanding necessary for making rational decisions." Yet,
adolescents are not fully formed persons in many regards; they continue to be dependent on
their parents and on society, and their inexperience and immature judgment may lead them
to make poor choices, which threaten harm to themselves or others.
Substance Abuse
According to Kulak,JA (2019), Adolescent use of illicit substances imposes an enormous
burden on individuals, families, and communities. Substance use has correlations with
violence, including adolescent homicides and relationship victimization. Adolescence (typically
encompassing youth 10 to 19 years of age) is a time of development, including ongoing
maturing of the brain; therefore, it is essential to consider the pathophysiology of substance
use. Adolescent brains are more vulnerable to the temptation to use substances and to
the effects of these substances because reward pathways develop before prefrontal cognition.
Sustained substance use can affect neuropsychological functioning, resulting in attention
deficits, memory problems, and decreased cognitive flexibility.
Parents
As cited by Ma, Ying, Siu, Angela, & Tse, Vincent (2018) as adolescents face
multifarious types of stressors, depressive symptoms may occur if they are unable to
adequately cope with such stressors. When high parental expectations cannot be
fulfilled, parents may respond critically to their children’s failures, which in turn may
induce stress and depression in adolescents. Studies have demonstrated that high
parental expectations are associated with high parental criticism, which may result in
adolescents’ negative emotions, such as depression. Overall, high parental expectations may
be a double-edged sword in terms of adolescents’ development. On the one hand, high
parental expectations are positively associated with adolescents’ academic performance.
High parental expectations may serve as a stressor and induce depression of adolescents.
Siblings
According to Huisman’s, Twan(2018),relative developmental differences between siblings
may diminish over the course of adolescence, so that different-age siblings become more
alike as they get older. Moreover, warmth and intimacy within the sibling relationship
may increase, and conflict and rivalry decrease when siblings get older. In sum, an
increase in similarity between siblings and more warmth and intimacy in the sibling
relationship would imply that the association between the delinquent behavior of one
sibling and the delinquent behavior of the other strengthens over the course of adolescence.
Teachers
Mary Ann Ware and Jodi Rath(2019), believes that being different can be particularly
challenging as a teen. Teachers can facilitate prosocial behavior and illuminate the value
of multiple perspectives while teaching diverse student populations. Teachers may
inadvertently foster competition in the classroom, creating a hierarchy of power in which high-
achieving students are perceived as more respected than students who are struggling.
Such a hierarchy can affect struggling students' self-esteem and decrease teacher
influence with the students who may need it most. By focusing on growth rather than
achievement, the teacher creates an equal playing field, giving each student's hard work equal
value. This both shows respect and garners it.
Community Leaders
According to Price-Mitchell, Marilyn PhD(2018),adolescence said that the behaviors most
likely to build character came from adults who:

-Supported and encouraged

-Listened
-Set high expectations
-Showed interest in them as individuals, separate from academics, sports, or civic activities
-Fostered self-decision making
-Provided another perspective during problem-solving
As they described the adults who helped them become confident, caring, and
compassionate young people, they talked about coaches, clergy members, camp
counselors, after-school program leaders, dance teachers, and others who took a special
interest in who they were as individuals.
ADOLESCENT AS A LOVABLE AND CAPABLE PERSON
The desire to feel capable as defined by Day, Jennifer (2009), is probably as strong in its
own way as the desire to love and be loved; all a part of the need to belong and to matter that
is such a significant part of the human experience. The desire to be capable never
diminishes throughout life; picture a toddler proclaiming his ability to be self reliant; ―I want
to do it! Le’ me do it!‖ is a cry we have all heard from a two-year old. Teenagers are of
course notorious for wanting to demonstrate that they are capable, and if you visit a nursing
home, you frequently witness residents saying to the staff, ―Let me do it myself!‖Positive self-
esteem for teens is important according to Reach Out Australia (2020),as it allows them to
try new things, take healthy risks and solve problems. In turn, their learning and
development will be productive and will set them up for a healthy and positive future.
Adolescent with high self-esteem from Exploring your mind (2019)...
1)Feel loved and accepted by those around them. In addition, they are motivated to
learn, try new things, and experience new places.
2)Tend to be optimistic about their future and can see problems from different points of
view
.3)Create goals for the short-and long term. They are capable of taking responsibility for
their own behavior and decisions.
4)Know their strengths and weaknesses. Just like how they know how to accept criticism,
they can slow self-criticize and face their problems.

5)Have emotional stability and show empathy

.6)Are sensitive to others’ needs. They communicate easily and have a healthy social circle.