UT Extension | Family and Consumer Sciences

Understanding Adolescents

According to Webster . . .

Adolescence is the state or process of growing up . . . development from childhood to maturity.
Adolescent relates to being in adolescence . . . emotionally and intellectually immature . . . usually in their teens.

There are two stages of life: Childhood and Adulthood. However the mid stages of an adolescence is the stage that greatly shapes who and what the adolescence is going to be for the rest of their life. The early adolescent falls in the age range of 11-14 years, the mid adolescent age range is 15-18 years, and the late adolescent age range is 19-24 years.

During the transitional years, adolescents establish patterns of behavior and make lifestyle choices that affect both their current and future health. Adolescents are adversely affected by serious health and safety issues such as motor vehicle crashes, violence, substance use, and sexual behavior. They also struggle to adapt behaviors that could decrease their risk of developing chronic diseases in adulthood—behaviors such as eating nutritiously, engaging in physical activity, and choosing not to use tobacco. Environmental factors such as family, peer group, school, and community characteristics also contribute to the challenges that adolescents face.

To have the most positive impact on adolescent well-being, we must work together in a comprehensive approach. We must provide safe and nurturing environments in order to ensure that adolescents will be healthy and productive members of society.

National Trend in Adolescents

Research conducted by CDC (Center for Disease Control), National Alcohol and Drug Prevention, National Safety Council and National Council on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, etc. have identified some of the major national trends in adolescents. A summary of the top areas of concern related to adolescents are listed below.

Alcohol & Drug Use

Adolescence is a time for trying new things. Experimentation with alcohol and drugs during adolescence is common. Unfortunately, teenagers often don't see the link between their actions today and the consequences tomorrow. Teens use alcohol and other drugs for many reasons, including curiosity, because it feels good, to reduce stress, to feel grown up or to fit in. It is difficult to know which teens will experiment and stop and which will develop serious problems.

Teenagers abuse a variety of drugs, both legal and illegal. Legally available drugs include alcohol, prescribed medications, inhalants (fumes from glues, aerosols, and solvents) and over-the-counter cough, cold, sleep, and diet medications. The most commonly used illegal drugs are marijuana (pot), stimulants (cocaine, crack, and speed), LSD, PCP, opiates, heroin, and designer drugs (Ecstasy). The use of illegal drugs is increasing, especially among young teens. The average age of first marijuana use is 14, and alcohol use can start before age 12. The use of marijuana and alcohol in high school has become common.
Drinking often leads to car crashes, fights, violence, unwanted or unplanned sex, and poor grades in school. Cocaine use is linked with eating disorders, disability and death from heart attacks and strokes. Marijuana can damage your lungs. Hallucinogens can affect brain chemistry and cause problems with learning new information and with memory.

Injury, Violence, and Suicide

Injury and violence is the leading cause of death among youth aged 5–19 years: motor vehicle crashes (31% of all deaths), all other unintentional injuries (12%), homicide (15%), and suicide (12%).

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of teen fatalities, accounting for 44% of teen deaths in the U.S. The National Safety Council sees the issue as a national crisis. They segmented the problem into three distinct areas, and have adopted strategies to address each of them: (1) Reduce teen drivers' exposure to risk, (2) Modify risky driving behavior and (3) Develop driver skills and experience.
There is a great concern about the incidence of violent behavior among children and adolescents. This complex and troubling issue needs to be carefully understood by parents, teachers, and other adults. Children as young as preschoolers can show violent behavior. Parents and other adults who witness the behavior may be concerned, however, they often hope that the young child will "grow out of it." Violent behavior in a child at any age always needs to be taken seriously. It should not be quickly dismissed as "just a phase they're going through!" Range of Violent Behavior - Violent behavior in children and adolescents can include a wide range of behaviors: explosive temper tantrums, physical aggression, fighting, threats or attempts to hurt others (including homicidal thoughts), use of weapons, cruelty toward animals, fire setting, intentional destruction of property and vandalism.
Each year suicide claims more lives of Tennesseans than homicide. Yet most suicides are preventable. Within the state of Tennessee, suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24, and the rate for this age cohort exceeds the national rate in one-third of the state’s counties.

Tobacco Use

Every day about 4,000 American youth aged 12–17 years try their first cigarette. It is estimated that smoking causes 435,000 deaths each year in the United States.

Ninety percent of smokers begin smoking by the age of 19. Nicotine is considered the number one entrance into other substance abuse. Adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who smoke daily are 15 times more likely to use illicit drugs than their peers. Substance abuse is a learned behavior. Teens who begin smoking learn to use the substance. The earlier youth begin using tobacco, the more likely they will continue use into adulthood.
Teens who are addicted to tobacco have several common experiences. A number of them tried their first cigarette in the sixth or seventh grade. Smokers often do not perform well at school. They do not feel they are a part of school and are isolated from those students who are active in sports. Most of the smokers feel they have little hope of going to college or getting a good job after high school. They also report addictions to other substances, such as alcohol.

Sexual Behaviors

Each year, there are approximately 19 million new STD infections in the United States, and almost half of them are among youth aged 15 to 24.Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20.

The United States still has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth among industrialized nations. Each year, almost one million teenagers in the U.S. become pregnant. In addition, overall teen pregnancy and birth decline rates obscure significant disparities among racial and ethnic groups, as well as among communities. For instance, the teen birth rate for Hispanics, the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation, has declined more slowly than for other groups and has increased in a number of states.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that oral sex is a growing trend among adolescents. Studies show how health behavior; family, peer and partner relationships; school and community connectedness; media consumption as well as religious and spiritual beliefs influence teens attitudes and perceptions on sex.
The research brief, which focuses on those aged 15-19, reveals that oral sex is now more common than sexual intercourse among that group. Other findings which resulted from the analysis show that just over half of teens have had oral sex and that one in about four teens who have not had sexual intercourse report having had oral sex; for older teens, the proportion is even higher. Moreover, teen boys and girls are equally likely to have had oral sex.
Although there is a positive trend of less sexual activity – especially among teen boys – and increased contraceptive use among teens in general, most teens have sex by the time they graduate from high school and about one in seven have sex before age 15. In addition, less than half of sexually active teens used condoms each time they had sex in the past 12 months.
Moreover, very few teens (only 2%) say they are getting enough information about abstinence and contraception. Research shows most teens have a positive relationship with their parents, think highly of them, and want to spend time with them. However, even though teens say their parents understand the “realities” of teen sex, a lot of them say their parents have never discussed such topics as how to say no to sex, STDs, or contraception.
There are enormous personal and financial costs associated with teen pregnancy including that children born to teen mothers are more likely to have a low birth weight, to be raised in single parent households, and fully two-thirds of families begun by a young unmarried mother are poor. Teen mothers are also more likely than other teens to have dropped out of school and face employment barriers.

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