Emotional And Social Development Of Adolescents

Emotional and Social Development

Adolescence is also characterized by the development of emotional and social competence. Emotional competence relates to the ability to manage emotions, whereas social competence focuses on one’s ability to relate effec￾tively with others. During this process, adolescents become more aware of being able to identify and label their own feelings and the feelings of others.

The rate of emotional and cognitive development does not parallel the rate of physical maturation. Dr Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, director of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroimaging at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, compared magnetic resonance images of adults and teenagers to demonstrate how cognitive development does not occur simultaneously with emotional development in adolescents. Unlike in the adult brain, where both the limbic area of the brain (emotion center) and the prefrontal cortex (judgment and reasoning center) are enhanced when viewing images that expressed fear, in the adolescent brain, after seeing the same images,the limbic area is enhanced, with almost no activity in the prefrontal cortex. Such emotional-cognitive asynchrony can result in adolescents misinterpreting other’s feelings and emotions, whereas emotional-physical asynchrony can result in adolescents being treated as older than their emotional stage of development.

Early rapid pubertal development in girls and boys may significantly affect body image and social performance. Early maturing boys are often perceived as older and more responsible. In general, they perform better on team sports than boys who mature late and, as a result, may be more popular and seen as class leaders. However, timing and duration of puberty appear to matter. In a study by Ge et al, boys who were physically more developed in seventh grade, compared with their less physically developed peers, manifested more externalized hostile feelings and internal￾ized distress symptoms in grades 8 through 10. Early maturation may predispose girls to social disadvantage. Early maturation has been identified as a risk factor for conduct problems, depression, early substance use, poor body image, pregnancy, and early sexual initiation. Management or self-regulation of emotions is an important process in any adolescent.

Research has found that an increased level of testosterone during puberty can result in swelling of the amygdala, the area of the brain critical in emotional regulation. Health care professionals can help adolescents recognize triggers and symptoms of out-ofcontrol emotions and use reasoning skills to step back, examine emotions, and consider long-term consequences of behavior.