What Is Adolescence?

- Definition, Stages & Characteristics

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Did you know that there are three stages of adolescence? Learn more about adolescence, its stages, and the
characteristics of each stage. Then test your knowledge with a quiz.

Defining Adolescence
Henry is a 12-year-old who has just entered junior high school. Henry has noticed that his body is
going through some physical changes. As a result, he has become self-conscious about his physical
appearance. He has also begun taking measures to insure more privacy at his home. For example,
he locks the door every time he enters the bathroom, and he always takes his phone calls in his
room with his door closed. Henry also values his relationships with his friends and has begun
spending more time with them. Henry's behaviors and physical changes are common during
adolescence.

Adolescence refers to the period of human growth that occurs between childhood and adulthood.
Adolescence begins at around age 10 and ends around age 21. Adolescence can be broken into
three stages: early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Each stage has its own
characteristics. Let's take a look at each stage in more detail below.

Early Adolescence
Early adolescence is the rst stage and occurs from ages 10 to 14. Puberty usually begins during
this stage. Like Henry, people in this stage become aware of their rapidly changing bodies and start
to worry about their physical appearance. They might experience shyness, blushing, modesty, and
a greater interest in privacy.

Early adolescents may feel invincible and start to engage in risky behaviors such as smoking and
alcohol use. This period is also characterized by sexual curiosity, which is usually expressed
through admiration of celebrities, teen idols, and musicians. Relationships with close friends
become more important than family relationships. Early adolescents start to realize that their
parents are not infallible and begin to identify their own faults. It is also common for early
adolescents to show acting-out behaviors.

Middle Adolescence
Middle adolescence is the second stage and occurs from ages 15 to 17. By this time, puberty has
passed. Teens in this stage are extremely concerned with how they look, and they think others are
concerned, too. They spend a large amount of time grooming, exercising, and modifying their
physical appearance.

Girls are especially preoccupied with their physical appearance and being sexually attractive.

Relationships are often changing during middle adolescence. There is also worry about sexual
attractiveness. Middle adolescents complain about their parents preventing them from becoming
independent, and they withdraw from them. They may try to assert their independence by refusing
to bathe, not cleaning their rooms, and picking up annoying habits. There is an intense focus on
peer groups during middle adolescence, and teens in this stage tend to con de in each other more
than they do their parents.

As with early adolescence, teens in middle adolescence may feel invincible. Risk-taking behaviors
are signi cantly increased during this stage. On the other hand, acting-out behaviors begin to
decrease, since teens in this stage have a better grasp on how to use words as a means of
expression.

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