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0 Introduction

Adolescence is a transition between childhood and adulthood where there are

extreme growth and changes in life. According to Arnett, 2000; Kagan & Coles, 1972;

Keniston, 1970 and Lipsitz, 1977, social scientists usually divide adolescence in to three

categories which are early adolescence (10 through 13 years of age), middle adolescence

(14 through 17) and late adolescence (18 through 22). Nevertheless, the age range may

differ from books, authors and theorists. Therefore we decided to take the average age of

12 to 21 years old.

There are many theories that attempt to explain why adolescence seems to be the

fundamental point in an individual’s life. Different theorists come up with their own view

of the development of adolescence. We divide the developments in to three stages which

are the biological transition, cognitive transition and social transition.

With childhood days as memories and adulthood right in front, adolescence have

a short period of time to develop physically, mentally and most of all, psychosocially. The

various hardships faced by adolescence during these few years will help to discover their

own capabilities and as well as self-assets. Those who are unable to cope up will face

various problems in their lives. This is where the period of storm and stress begins to take

place.

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1.1 Definition

Before we begin, we need to define certain key points. Adolescence is derived

from the Latin word adolescere, which brings the meaning of “to grow in maturity” or

“to grow into adulthood” (Kimmel & Weiner, 1995; Kaczmarek & Riva, 1996). Lerner

(2001), on the other hand defines adolescence as a period of self-examination and

emerging identity that spans the second decade, during which individual changes from

being “childlike to adultlike”. According to Petersen (1988), adolescence is a phase of

life beginning in biology and ending in society.

Besides the definition of adolescence, we also need to know the meaning of

stress. Lazarus (1966); Lazarus & Folkman (1984); and Lazarus, Folkman & Kanner

(1980) defined stress as an individual’s psychological response to a situation in which

there is something at stake for the individual and where the situation taxes or exceeds the

individual’s capacity or resources. The psychological response in the above statement

contemplates emotions that occur as the situation is evaluated whether it is beneficial or

harmful. It is also a function of superior levels of information processing which focuses

on reviewing and dealing with the condition.

After being clear of the definitions, we will move on to the theories of

development which theorist form to explain the development of adolescence.

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2.0 Hall’s Interpretation of “Storm and Stress”

According to G. Stanley Hall’s (1904), the stage of storm and stress is

characterized as an inevitable turmoil, maladjustment, tension, rebellion, dependency

conflicts, and exaggerated peer- group conformity. This view was later taken up and

popularized by Anna Freud (1936) and other psychoanalysts (Blos, 1962).

Viewing from a Western perspective, the adolescence undergoes many distinct

changes that alter the structure of identity or self-concept is needed if the changes are to

be integrated into the individual’s personality. To further complicate matters, the

involvement of biological and hormonal changes are said to manipulate the adolescence

sense of well being and generate a considerable amount of mood swings, irritability and

restlessness (Buchanan, Eccles, & Becker, 1992).

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2.1 Biological Transition

The term puberty refers to the physical changes that occur in a growing girl or

boy during the transition from childhood to adulthood. According to Marshall, 1978,

puberty has five chief physical manifestations.

Firstly, is the rapid acceleration in growth, which results in dramatic increase in

body height and weight. Next is the development of primary sex characteristics that

includes further development of the gonad or sex glands. The gonads refer to the testes in

males and the ovaries in females. The third manifestation is the development of

secondary sex characteristics, which involve changes in the genitals and breasts, the

growth of pubic, facial and body hair, and the further development of the sex organs.

After that comes the changes in body composition, where it refers specifically to the

quantity and distribution of fat and muscles. Finally are the changes in the circulatory and

respiratory systems, which lead to an increase in strength and tolerance for exercise.

According to Brooks-Gunn, Graber & Paikoff (1994), puberty can affect the

adolescent’s behavior and psychological functioning in many different ways. The

following are the examples of the biological changes of puberty that can affect the

adolescent’s behavior. Firstly, the biological changes of puberty can have a direct effect

of behavior. For example, an increase of testosterone can be directly linked to an increase

of sex drives and sexual activity among adolescent boys (Halpern, Udry & Suchindran,

1996).

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 Besides that, the biological changes of puberty will cause the changes in

adolescent’s self image. As an example, “C” who undergoes puberty may seek more

privacy at home when he is dressing or bathing. “C” will tend to spend more time alone

in the room due to the need of privacy.

On the other hand, the biological change of puberty also will transform the

adolescent’s appearance, which in turn may elicit changes in how others react to the

adolescent. An adolescent girl who has recently matured physically may find herself

suddenly receiving a lot of attention from older guys who previously had not paid her any

attention. The girl might be confused and nervous because she does not know how to

react to the situation.

Adolescents who undergo different rates of physical developments will elicit

different sort of reactions. Due to the feelings of comparison among their peers on

physical differences, it will lead them in to becoming over aware of their level of

maturation (early or late maturation). Maturation are often treated and viewed differently

by others as well as themselves thus causing them to behave differently.

According to research on boy’s pubertal timing, early maturing boys feel better

about themselves and are more popular than late maturing peers (Graber, Lewinsohn,

Seeley & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Jones & Bayley, 1950; Mussen & Jones, 1957, 1958).

Boys who are mare physically mature than their peers are reported to have more frequent

feelings of the positive aspect, attention, strength and being in love. On the other hand,

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Boys with delayed puberty indicates the boy’s feelings of competing especially in the

realms of work and sports.

Girls on the other hand have more difficulties with emotion such as lowered self-

image and higher rates of depression, anxiety, eating disorder and panic attack. According

to Peterson, 1998, these difficulties seem to have great deal to do with girl’s feelings

about their weight, because early maturers are, almost by definition, heavier than their

late maturing peers. More over, early maturating girls may have heightened emotional

arousal, which in turn may make them feel more vulnerable to emotional problems.

2.2 Cognitive Development

2.2.1 Piaget’s Theory

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 Jean Piaget believed that thought develops in a sequence of stages. The first two

stages of cognitive thinking according to Piaget are sensorimotor and preoperational

thinking. It involves the period from infancy till 2 years old and from 2 till 6 years of age.

The children in the school- age stage which includes children aged 6 to 11 years old is

categorized as concrete-operational stage and the final stage in Piaget’s theory is the

formal-operational stage which is from 11 years onwards. Adolescence is included in the

formal-operational stage, which is stated by Piaget.

In this stage, adolescents expand their thinking beyond the concrete facts

according to Piaget. Adolescents are able to think hypothetically and reason abstractly as

their thinking matures. Their sophisticated thinking is also shown in their ability to make

appropriate conclusions from facts, what is know as deductive reasoning.

Stress results from a problem when adolescents are not able to process and

develop answers to certain questions. In their opinion, their cognitive level has already

developed fully and should be able to answer questions related to abstract and

hypothetical reasons. This is very normal in adolescents especially when they can not

understand or cope with their studies. All adolescents who are students will suffer from

stress of studies, which involves cognitive thinking.

2.2.2 Kohlberg’s Theory

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 Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is broken into three levels where the first

stage is the preconventional level, which is dominant during most childhood; their moral

reasoning is controlled by the effects of punishment and rewards. Conventional moral

reasoning is the next stage, which is dominant during late childhood and early

adolescence. Where else the final stage in Kohlberg’s theory is the postconventional

moral reasoning, which is also called the principled moral reasoning. This stage emerges

in late adolescence or young adulthood.

In the preconventional stage, thinking is characterized by reference to the external

and physical world. Children in this stage make decisions are not based on society’s

standards, rules or conventions.

We will be concentrating more on the second stage of Kohlberg’s theory.

Conventional level refers to adolescents and adults who look to society norm for moral

guidance. One behaves properly in order to receive the approval of others as well as to

maintain in the respecting social order. The correctness of the society rules however, is

not questioned. Moral issues will focus more on how they will be judged by acting in a

certain way. According to most studies of moral reasoning, majority of adolescents and

adults think primarily in conventional terms where they evaluate reasoning through a set

of rules which humans are suppose to follow.

The third stage is the postconventional level, which is relatively rare, social rules

and conventions are viewed as relative and subjective rather than a definitive. It is based

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on a personal moral code. In this stage what is right and wrong is based upon the

circumstances surrounding an action. Basics of morality are the foundation with

independent thought playing an important role.

2.3 Social Transition

2.3.1 Erikson’s theory

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 Erikson views a person development through a series of eight psychosocial crises

over the life span. In Erikson’s model, each psychosocial crisis defines an age or stage of

the life span. Besides that, he also describes that each of the eight crises as a continuum

with positive and negative poles. For example, the crisis of infancy is labeled as “Trust

versus mistrust”, early childhood is labeled as “autonomy versus shame, doubt”, play age

as “initiative versus guilt”, school age as “industry versus inferiority), adolescent as

“identity versus identity diffusion”, young adulthood as “generativity versus self-

absorption” and finally the mature age is “integrity versus despair”.

We will focus on the fifth stage of adolescent, which is the “identity versus

identity diffusions”. The maturational and social forces coverage at adolescent causes

adolescent to reflect their role in society. Besides that, adults often view adolescent as the

future leaders, which will create a pressure to them. They face difficulties in achieving a

balanced and coherent sense of identity. This is because they do not have a clear view

about what they plan to do. For example, their friends about what courses they plan to

take often influence them. Therefore, adolescent need to have the mental or emotional

capacity to tackle this task.

Apart from that, the key to resolve the crisis of identity versus identity diffusion

lies in the adolescent’s ability to interact with others. Through interaction, they will tend

to observe others reaction or behaviors towards certain issues in discussion and select

from among the many elements that could cohesively become a part of their adult

identity. Through the information collecting process, adolescent might be confused about

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the schemas they want to develop for themselves. This is because, during this period most

of them are confused about “What they want to do and how sure about the things they

choose to do”

People who the adolescents choose to interact with, often serves as the mirror that

reflects back to the adolescent “whom they are” and “who they ought to be”. Through

this environment, the responses of others will influence and shape adolescent’s

developing sense of identity. Through others reactions, adolescents will tends to compare

and think whether they are attractive or ugly, competent or clumsy or others. The

prolonged comparisons will develop an unhealthy psychological development. And thus

causing adolescence to feel stress and tense if there are some obvious deviations from the

people they observe. They will feel stressed up when the people they observe are the

dominant society. This is because the views they collect will make them feel confused

whether the behavior they carry is normal or abnormal.

On the other hand, Erikson placed a great deal of weight on the role of adolescent

in society in shaping the sense of self. The adolescent’s identity is the result of mutual

recognition between the young people and the society. The social context that the

adolescent develops also determines to a large extent whether the youngster’s search for

self-definition will take the form of a full-blown crisis or whether it will be a more

manageable challenge.

Erikson says that the complications in the inheritance of identity development in

modern society have created a need for psychosocial moratorium- a “time out” during

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adolescence from the excessive responsibilities and obligations that might restrict the

young person’s pursuit of self-discovery. During the psychosocial moratorium, the

adolescent can experiment with different roles and identities in a context that permits and

encourage explorations. The experimentations involve trying on different postures,

personalities and ways of behaving. Having a time to experiment with the roles is an

important prelude to establishing a coherent sense of identity. Without a period of

moratorium, full and thorough explorations of the options and alternatives available to

the young people can not occur, and identity development might be impended.

According to Erikson, establishing a sense of identity is a consciously feel

achievement. The experience of sense of well being, is a feeling of “being at home in

one’s body,” a sense of knowing where one is going, and an inner assuredness of

recognition from those who count. It is a sense of sameness through time; a feeling of

continuity between the past and the future. Establishing a coherent sense of identity is a

lengthy process.

There are different approaches in which adolescent take to resolve different crisis

of identity versus identity diffusions. Problems in identity development can lead to stress

when an individual has not successfully resolved early crises or when an adolescent is in

an environment that does not provide the necessary period of moratorium. Three sorts of

problems that received special attentions from Erikson are labeled as identity diffusion,

identity foreclosure and negative identity.

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 Identity diffusion or known as identity confusion is characterized by an

incoherent, disjointed, incomplete sense of self. It can vary in degree from a mild state of

not quite knowing why you are while in the midst of identity crisis to a more severe,

psychopathological condition that persists beyond a normal period of explorations. Next

is the identity foreclosure where some young people bypass either willingly or

unwillingly the period of exploration and experiments that precedes the establishment of

a healthy sense of identity. Instead of considering a range of alternatives, these adolescent

prematurely commit themselves to roles, and settle upon certain identification as the final

identity. Thirdly is negative identity where adolescents tend to select the identities that

are obviously undesirable to their parents and their community. For example, the child of

devoutly religious family who insist he or she is confirms atheist. Because of the

establishment of a healthy sense of identity is so intimately tied to the recognition of

adolescent by those who count in their life.

2.3.2 Sullivan’s Interpersonal Theory of Development

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 Harry Stack Sullivan was one of the first theorists to suggest that adolescence go

through a series of development. He emphasized on the importance of relationships and

communication for teenagers in The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry. His theory

explains that the principal forces in life are due to social and not biological as said by

Freud. According to Sullivan (1953), positive peer relationships will result in healthy

development while negative peer relationship will lead to unhealthy development such as

depression, delinquency and eating disorders.

Sullivan’s theory is categorized into three parts, which are preadolescence, early

adolescence and late adolescence. Preadolescence begins with an abrupt need to form an

intimate relationship with a same-sex playmate, and ends when they begin to experience

a yearning for genital sexuality. During this period of time, it only involves interpersonal

closeness but not genital contact. Best friends as what Sullivan refer to as “chums”, most

likely have the same characteristics and will share love, loyalty, intimacy and opportunity

for self-disclosure but will not encounter “lust dynamism”. This will help adolescence

gain insight into how others see the world, which will belittle their egocentric thoughts.

Genital maturation that occurs at the beginning of puberty will challenge the

adolescence previous intimate relationship with the same-sex playmate due to the

emerging need for sexual intimacy with opposite-sex partners. Three separate needs will

arise as a result of adolescence that had only experienced intimacy with someone of the

same sex. They will have a need for sexual satisfaction, a continued need for personal

intimacy and a need for personal security, which includes self-esteem, value as an

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individual and an absence of anxiety. Sullivan says that early adolescence leads to late

adolescence when they have found a way to satisfy the genital drive they have acquired.

Late adolescence begins once the individuals have established a method of

satisfying their sexual needs and ends with the establishment of an intimate and sexual

relationship. This combination of lust and intimacy will result in love that will lead to a

stable long-term relationship of adulthood.

From what we can see from Sullivan’s theory, the inability to form a healthy peer

relationship as well as intimate relationship will cause adolescence to have a negative

interpersonal relationship, thus bringing about stress and more complicating problems

such as depression and suicide.

3.0 Stress

3.0.1 Types of stress

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 There are a few types of stress which are mainly emotional stress, stress due to

illnesses, allergic stress, burnout stress, environmental and finally hormonal stress. All

these different kinds of stress involving adolescence can occur regardless of the time and

place.

To start of, emotional stress happens when arguments, disagreements, and

conflicts that can cause changes in your personal life. Next is the stress due to illnesses of

either catching a cold, breaking an arm, a skin infection, a sore back or any other

diseases. When we are sick, we often feel uncomfortable with our body because of the

impairment in our daily activities and thus causing a form of stress.

Allergic reactions are a part of your body's natural defense mechanism. When

confronted with a substance, which your body considers as toxic, your body will try to

get rid of it, attack it, or somehow neutralize it. If it is something that infects your nose,

you might get a runny, sneeze nose. If it infects your skin, you might get blistery skin. If

you inhale something, you might get wheezy lungs. If you eat something wrong, your

skin might break out in to itchy red hives all over your body. Allergy is a definite stress,

requiring the large changes in energy expenditure on the part of your body's defense

system to fight off what the body perceives as a dangerous attack by an outside toxin.

Another type of stress is the burnout stress where too much work is done in a

short period of time continuously and reduced the available time of rest. For example if

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you are working 16 hours a day, you will have limited time of rest. Sooner or later, your

energy system will be drained out and cause the body to fall behind in its repair work.

There will not be enough time or energy for the body to fix broken cells, or replace used

up brain neurotransmitters. Changes will occur in your body's internal environment. If the

situation continues, permanent damage may be done. The body's fight to stay healthy in

the face of the increased energy that you are expending is major stress.

Environmental stresses are the stress, which comes from the external world. A bad

situation or weather will also cause stress. Climates, which are too hot or cold, can be

stressful as well as high altitude. Each of these factors in the external world threatens to

cause changes in your body's internal environment thus causing stress.

Hormonal stresses are due to the various reasons in the hormonal changes. In

adolescence, puberty is the main cause of hormonal stress as the vast hormonal changes

of puberty are severe stressors. A person's body actually changes shape, sexual organs

begin to function, and new hormones are released in large quantities. Puberty, as we all

know, is very stressful.

3.0.2 Factors that cause stress

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 Stress is a serious and most common problem faced by adolescents. According to

a research that had been done in the Minnesota High School, at least 39% of the students

suffer from mild stress. The following are the Minnesota study of common events that

leads to stress in adolescents.

1. Break up with boyfriend/ girlfriend

2. Frequent arguments with parents

3. Trouble with siblings relationships

4. Change in parent’s financial status

5. Serious illness in family members

6. Trouble with classmates

7. Trouble with friends

There are at least six factors that cause stress in adolescents. Firstly is the family

stress. Adolescents will tend to have problems communicating with their parents as they

have to work through age old struggle. They face difficulty in identifying three major task

which is the need to belong, independent need and confusion about the need of taken care

of. They feel that, they have already grown up and need more freedom, as adolescent

tends to misinterpret their parent’s behaviors in protecting as controlling their life. The

misunderstanding that occurs will develop stress feelings in themselves. Besides that,

parents often have strong views and comparison about the lifestyle that they had when

they were teenagers with their child. This will lead to pressure as the old day’s lifestyle is

different from the current lifestyle of adolescents. A part from that, adolescents might

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argue with their parent’s conservative thinking. They will tend to act ageist of what the

parents said due to the lack of understanding of parent’s backgrounds.

Besides that, biological factors also contribute stress in adolescents due to the

physical changes in them. For example, a girl whom have rapidly grown by the age of

twelve to fourteen will tend develop excessively self-conscious. The rapid changes in

their body will lead them to assume that everyone will stare at them. (Pimples on their

face), the prolonged self-conscious will lead them to stress and this will lead to low self-

esteem and confidence.

On the other hand, adolescents also face stress in schools. They are afraid of failing

in exams. They are too afraid of failing as their parents and relatives place high hopes in

their academic achievements. Besides that, some adolescents face problems in learning.

For example, when the message that is passes on by the teachers during class is well

received by their friends but not by him, he will feel stressed up as he will start to wonder

about his competency or ability to cope with their studies. Some of the students might

even feel that they are stupid. This kind of study environment will tend to discourage the

students from continuing to learn.

Apart from that, adolescents also face societal stress. They are confused about what

role they going to play in society as they are not belong to adult group. Adults often view

that adolescents are big enough to handle the “huge” problems. This will in turn cause

confusion and lead them to think that, they can inherent all society’s “huge” problems

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like wars, pollutions and others. The confusion they have will increase the stress levels in

themselves and sometimes, due to this reason, they will tend to act like adults when they

are not.

Adolescents also tend to face difficulties in their social activity. For example, if

the personality of the “A” adolescents is very passive, he will tend to have stress because

he does not know how to communicate effectively with his friends. If “A” was rejected

by his friends or does not achieve certain degree of acceptance at the very first time, this

will make him feel isolated, low self-esteem and will discourage him from meeting with

others. Some of them might act in a way they are not, for example smoking or acting cool

in taking drugs or alcohols in order to get the acceptance of their peer group. The stress

they have in social activity will therefore lead them to act abnormally.

3.0.3 Symptoms of Stress

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 There are several symptoms that you may notice when you are experiencing

stress. These symptoms are categorized in to four groups such as feelings, thoughts,

behavior, and physiology. For feelings you might feel anxious, scared, irritable and

moody. These feelings may change rapidly or have all the feelings at the same time.

The thoughts that you may experience when you are in stress mode are such as

having low self-esteem; you do feel not like socializing with others and lose confidence

in yourself. The fear of failure will inhibit you from giving another try on anything.

Inability to concentrate makes you not know what to do and where to begin. Being easily

embarrassed, worrying about the future, preoccupation with thoughts and task, and

forgetfulness also makes your life miserable.

When facing with stress, you might have these types of behavior; crying for no

apparent reason, acting impulsively, startling easily, laughing in a high pitch and nervous

tone of voice, grinding your teeth, increased frequency of smoking, increasing use of

drugs and alcohol, being accident prone, losing your appetite or overeating. Such

behavior will cause you to act in different ways that you normally would.

There also some physiological changes that occur when you are facing stress.

Those symptoms are perspiration or sweaty hands, increased heart beat, trembling,

nervous ticks, dryness of throat and mouth, tiring easily, urinating frequently, sleeping

problems (for example insomnia), diarrhea or indigestion, headaches, pain in the neck or

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lower back, and loss of appetite or overeating. These physiological changes will affect

your health if the stress is not taken under control.

3.0.4 How to overcome stress

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 Stress is associated with so many physical and psychological problems. Sometime

stressors are often outside of our direct control because you cannot prevent the death of a

valued friend from accident or illness. But techniques are available for coping with

stressors when they are present. We use coping strategies to manage conditions of threat

that tax our resources. Effective coping techniques include relaxation training, the use of

social support, and reappraisal.

The stress response is incompatible with relaxation. Relaxation training can help

lower components of the stress response, such as blood pressure and heart rate. In

progressive relaxation training, the client is taught to concentrate on specific muscle

groups in the body, note whether they seem tense, and then relax those specific group.

For example, you might begin with the muscle groups around the neck, then slowly

moving to the shoulders, and so on, first tensing and than relaxing each group. By this

way you learn to pay attention to how muscles in your body feel when tense or relaxed.

Sometime it is useful to provide biofeedback as well. Biofeedback is specific

physiological feedback that people are given about the effectiveness of their relaxation

efforts.

Social support is the resources received from other people who can help you cope

effectively with stress. Social support is a form of comfort, caring, or helps by having a

good friend or loved to lean on during a time of stress. If a person has social support with

them, he or she will not have irrational thoughts such as suicide. Example, if a person has

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very high social support from his or her friends, family or loved ones, he or she will not

have the thought of suicide. This is because friends and family help us maintain a healthy

lifestyle, boost confidence, or simply by providing a venue for us to open up and express

our feelings.

Stress depends on how you interpret the threatening or demanding situation, it can

often be managed effectively through cognitive reappraisal. Actually, there are many

instances of stress, which are caused by the little things, the daily hassles of life like

getting stuck in traffic, or in the wrong line at the supermarket, which makes us feel

stressed. In fact, it is not the delay that is creating the stress but the things we tell

ourselves about the delay that causes the problem. By identifying the kinds of situations

that creates stress, as well as the negative thoughts of those situations induce; you

become better prepared to reinterpret those situations and thoughts in a more adaptive

manner.

3.0.5 Effects of stress

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 Stress can be dangerous if it is prolonged. According to Taylor, stressful events

will reduce the body’s natural defenses against disease. More surprisingly, stress can lead

to life changes either good or bad. A person who is able to cope with a moderate level of

stress will encourage the person to perform better. But, if looked at the negative side of

stress, it will help to increase susceptibility to accidents or illness.

Chronic or repeated stress can damage physical health, as well as upset emotional

well-being. Prolonged stress reactions are closely related to a large number of

psychosomatic disorders which is an illness where psychological factors contribute to

bodily damaged or damaging changes in bodily functioning. For example, the most

common psychosomatics problems are gastrointestinal and respiratory (stomach pains

and asthma), eczema (skin rash), hives, migraine headaches, rheumatoid arthritis,

hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease. Besides that some muscles aches,

headaches, neck aches, backaches, indigestion, constipation, insomnia and sexual

dysfunctions will occur (De Benedittis ET al.1990).

Apart from that, stress also can affect our body’s immune system, which

mobilizes defenses (such as white blood cells) against invading microbes and other

disease agents. The immune system is regulated, in part by the brain. Because of this link,

according to Miller, Conen and Ratchey, 2002, stress and upsetting emotions can affect

the immune system in ways that increase susceptibility to disease. For examples, studies

show that the immune system weakens in students during major examination period.

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According to (Binodiand Zannino, 1997), lowered immunity explains why the “double

whammy” of getting sick when you are trying to cope with prolonged or severe stress is

so common. Stress can cause the body to release substances that is high in inflammation

as the body’s self-protective responds to threats, but it can also prolog infections and

delay healing.

4.0 Crisis That Arises From Stress

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4.0.1 Substance Use and Abuse

Mixed messages are being sent to adolescence about drugs and alcohol.

Television programs urge us to avoid and say no to drugs and alcohol but the televised

football games and adult comedies state the opposite. Research shows that cigarette

marketing does in fact lead adolescence to become smokers, and that they are especially

drawn to advertisements aimed at them (Arnett, 2001; Biener & Siegel, 2000).

Many psychologists believe early experimentation with drugs is more harmful

than at a later age (Fergusson, Lynskey & Horwood, 1996). This is because younger

adolescents may lack the psychological maturity of judgment to use drugs in moderation

and will be faced with unique developmental changes (Baumrind &Moselle, 1985;

Hingson, Heeren, Jamnka & Howland, 2000). A heavy drug use may hurry adolescence

through the psychosocial tasks of adolescence at too fast a pace thus interfering with the

normal developmental timetable (Newcomb & Bentler, 1988).

Studies have shown that adolescents, who have not experimented with alcohol or

marijuana by the age of twenties, will be unlikely to ever use any other drugs (Chen &

Kandel, 1996; Kandel & Logan, 1984). Alcohol and marijuana are considered gateway

drugs because it forms a gate through which individuals pass before trying harder drugs.

Six groups of users can be identified which are the nonusers, alcohol

experimenters, low escalators, early starters, late starters and finally high escalators.

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Nonusers rarely experimented with substance during any period of adolescence while

alcohol experimenters are those who first tried alcohol early in adolescence and continue

to drink occasionally but do not try other drugs. If they began using substances early in

adolescence and increase their use slowly over time, they are called low escalators. Early

starters show very high use of substance in their adolescence that develops to frequent

use. Late starters on the other hand used substances infrequently during adolescence but

increased their use rapidly. Lastly, high escalators showed moderate use in adolescence

and continue throughout high school (Zapert et al., 2002).

Factors that causes adolescents to be drug users can be summarized in to four sets

of risk factors which is psychological, familial, social and contextual (Hawkins, Catalano,

& Miller, 1992; Newcomb and Felix-Ortiz, 1992; Ritchey, Reid & Hasse, 2001; Petraitis,

Flay & Miller, 1995; Shoal & Giancola, 2003).

Individual with certain personality characteristics such as anger, impulsiveness

and inattentiveness are more likely to result in drug abuse (Chassin et al., 2004; Scheer &

Unger, 1998; Tapert, Baratta, Abrantes & Brown, 2002; Wills, Sandy, Yaeger & Shinar,

2001). In the familial context, distant, hostile or conflicted family relationship will also

drive them to substance abuse. As for socially factors, it involves the influence from

peers. Contextual issues are the availability of drugs, the degree of law enforcement and

many others.

4.0.2 Depression and Suicide

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 Adolescence is a time of emotional gloomy introspection, great drama and

heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and behavioral experimentation. Depressed

individuals may also fail to live up to their potential, doing poorly in school and staying

on the social margin.

Depression often occurs when the adolescents feel helpless to control the

situation. The breaking up of a relationship or a poor evaluation in class can lead to low

spirits. Sometimes sadness comes on for no apparent reason. The lack of social support

and the absence of avenues for fulfillment also predispose some to the dangers of

depression.

Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general

population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatric

clinics suffer from depression. The suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than

200% over the last decade. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in

youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Despite this, depression in

this age group is greatly under diagnosed, leading to serious difficulties in school, work

and personal adjustment that often continue into adulthood.

Each year in the United States, approximately five thousand individuals between

the ages of 15 and 24 take their own lives. A major cause of suicide is mental illness, very

commonly depression. Most of those who die could have been helped. An individual

considering suicide frequently confides in a friend, who may be able to convince the

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person to seek treatment. When the risk is high, concerned friends and relatives should

seek professional guidance.

Suicidal acts are generally associated with a significant acute crisis in the

teenager's life and may also involve depression. The loss of a boyfriend or girlfriend, a

drop in school marks or a negative thought by an adult, especially a parent or teacher,

may be precipitant to a suicidal act. Suicidal ideation and acts are more common among

children who have already experienced stress in their lives. There some common signs

for a person to revert to suicide such as threats of suicide, preoccupation with death,

change in eating or sleeping habits, loss of interest in activities that were once important,

marked changes in personality, persistent feelings of gloom and helplessness and giving

away valued possessions.

Treating depression or suicide relies on medications that correct the levels of

neurotransmitters and on therapy designed to improved social skills and restructure

adolescent’s interpretation of life events. Suicidal individuals often try to convince others

that the "worst" thing would be to let anyone know of their plight. Friends put in this

position should consider the possible consequences of failing to obtain professional help.

It is a sign of caring to bring a person to treatment that may alleviate suffering and save a

life.

5.0.2 Analysis

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 For our research purposes, we were very fortunate to have recruited 20

participants to help us with our interview. Overall, we are able to get 15 male participants

and 5 female participants (Please refer to appendix - Figure 1.1).

We decided to find out about the adolescent’s family financial status as well as

their family constellation because we think it does influence in the adolescent’s

development in one way or another. Our emphasis on the family constellation also shows

its importance in the development of adolescence. The child’s position in the family can

and will cause stress if not properly handled. Rivalry between siblings, comparison made

by parents on adolescents can lead to burnout. Besides that, the number of siblings will

also effect the child’s growth as it determines how much attention they got from their

parents (Please refer to appendix – Figure 1.2).

We relate the storm and stress of adolescents with the family income because it

will indirectly influence the adolescent’s emotions. As we are living in a world where

money comes as a very important aspect, the family income has become one of the

factors that can lead to stress not only to adults but adolescents as well. Refer to appendix

– figure 1.3 to review the income of the families of our participants.

Adolescents who are working part time are partly due to the financial instability

of the family. This will in turn lead the adolescence to greater responsibility than they are

supposed to cope with. It will pressure the adolescent to meet with the society standards

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thus refuse them from their actual life and finally stress seeps in. (Refer to appendix –

figure 1.4)

Next, we found out whether are the adolescents nowadays satisfied with their

lives. From the information we got, (refer to appendix – figure 1.5) it seems that there are

still adolescents who are unsatisfied with their lives although new technologies have

eased our lifestyle. Then again, the society is evolving and the need for comfort, love and

others have also escalated together.

There are a few main problems which are faced by adolescents during their

growing up days. We have divided the tribulations in to four major groups which are

financial, academic, self performance and relationship problems. Under the relationship

group are family, peers as well as love relationships. (Refer to appendix – figure 1.6)

The main problem which is clearly shown from our interviews is the trouble with

their academic performances. Adolescents nowadays are very aware of the importance of

education, therefore the pressure to perform well in their studies have become sort of a

burden to them. From the feedback we got, some adolescents say that their lives are too

packed with studies that they are not able to enjoy life. This building up of burden in

adolescents adds to the tension and conflicts of their lives.

From our interviews, we found out that more than 50% of adolescents are

currently experiencing stress due to their daily lives. Refer to appendix – figure 1.7 to

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view the statistics of our respondents. Out of the 20 participants, 14 of them are reported

to having stress. To further specify the level of stress faced by adolescents, we asked the

respondents to rate their level of stress from 1 to 10, where 10 being the highest. (Refer to

appendix – Figure 1.8)

Adolescents are not really sure whether all the stress and tension are benefiting or

likewise. Some have the opinion that all the pressure will lead them to destruction and

emotional problems where else others think that stress is useful to motivate them.

Appendix – figure 1.9 shows the rough figure of whether adolescents think of stress as

beneficial or not.

Next up is the reactions we got from our respondents on how stress affects their

behavior. By referring to appendix – figure 1.10, we have categorized the effects in to 3

main groups which are physical, emotional and mental effects. The physical effects

include aggressive behaviors plus with isolation of self while emotional consequences

involve mood swings, emotional instability and impulsive anger. Motivation and mental

breakdown are categorized under the mental aspect.

At last, we discussed on how adolescence cope with stress. From the 20

respondents, we got a variety of coping strategies which can be put together in to 5

approaches. Refer to appendix – figure 1.11 to view a chart based on our findings. Most

adolescents choose to cope with stress by entertaining themselves. A number of them

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reside to sports whereas the rest either socialize with others, smoke or drink, or sleep

their way out of stress.

As of conclusion, we can say that quite a large number of adolescence is suffering

from stress and other problems in life. Storm and stress in not something that can be

avoided but rather an issue that needs to be coped with. This situation needs to be

balanced in order for adolescence to live a healthy and complete life.

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6.0 Conclusion

To conclude, there are many theories of human development that tries to explain

the occurrence of certain events that happen in life. This does not exclude adolescence’s

period of life. Numerous theorists such as Erikson, Piaget and Kohlberg have explained

how adolescents develop according to their own theory. Some may be true but on the

other hand, some are not that accurate.

The development of adolescence includes a whole lot of challenges and hardship.

These tribulations often include conflicts with parents, mood disruptions and risky

behaviors which are called the storm and stress of adolescence. Within this period of

time, adolescence tends to act more rebelliously and have a certain tension in life.

All these problems will later on cause the stress levels to be high which will then

trigger a string of all other problems such as substance use and abuse, antisocial behavior

and depression. The tendency of teenage suicide is also high if the adolescent cannot cope

with the intended difficulty.

In conclusion, the developmental process of adolescence is highly connected to

the level of storm and stress that is occurring nowadays.