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Adolescent development is the study of age-related change during the period between childhood and adulthood. Normally, this transition occurs between the onset of changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) that trigger puberty [1] and taking on adult roles, such as entering full-time work, marriage, and childrearing. [2] Adolescence can be defined biologically, as the physical transition marked by the onset of puberty and the termination of physical growth; cognitively, as changes in the ability to think abstractly and multidimensionally; or socially, as a period of preparation for adult role. The study of adolescent development often involves interdisciplinary collaborations. For example, researchers in neuroscience or bio-behavioral health might focus on pubertal changes in brain structure and its effects on cognition or social relations. Sociologists interested in adolescence might focus on the acquisition of social roles (e.g., worker or romantic partner) and how this varies across cultures or social conditions [3]. Developmental psychologists might focus on changes in relations with parents and peers as a function of school structure and pubertal status. [4]

Major biological changes that occur from during adolescence include changes in height, weight, and muscle mass as well as major changes in brain structure and organization. Pubertal changes include marked changes in the appearance and functioning of the genitals and secondary sexual characteristics (e.g., breast development and axial hair), all of which exaggerate differences between males and females. Cognitive advances include both increases in knowledge and in the ability to think abstractly and to reason more effectively. In almost all cultures, the second decade of life is accompanied by changes in adolescents’ relations with their primary caretakers (usually parents), increased time spent with same-age peers, and marked changes in relations with the opposite sex. In most industrial cultures, this includes onset of romantic and sexual relationships. In all cultures, adolescence is an age when youth are prepared to take on their adult roles in the family, workplace, and community.

Disambiguation/clarification

The article on adolescent development focuses on age-related change in human biological, cognitive, and social development occurring around the second decade of life. Adolescence focuses more broadly on stable characteristics of this age period. Puberty refers to the physical changes associated with the transition from childhood and adulthood, with a primary focus on reproduction-related changes. The article sexual development refers to pubertal changes in non-human animals. Although textbooks on child development sometimes include the adolescent period, child development is usually used more specifically to refer to the ages prior to puberty or, in the United States, leaving primary school. Youth development refers to programs meant to foster optimal youth development, as through mentoring programs. Emerging adulthood refers to the period encompassing the second and third decades of life during which individuals acquire adult roles and come to think of themselves as ‘adults’ within their culture.

Biological transitions

Some of the most significant parts of pubertal development involve distinctive physiological changes in individuals’ height, weight, body composition, and circulatory and respiratory systems [5] . These changes are largely influenced by hormonal activity. Hormones play an organizational role, priming the body to behave in a certain way once puberty begins, [6] and an activational role, referring to changes in hormones during adolescence that trigger behavioral and physical changes [7].

Adolescent growth spurt

The adolescent growth spurt is a rapid increase in individuals’ height and weight during puberty resulting from the simultaneous release of growth hormones, thyroid hormones, and androgens [8]. Males experience their growth spurt about two years later, on average, than females. During their peak height velocity (the time of most rapid growth), adolescents grow at a growth rate nearly identical to that of a toddler--about 4 inches (10.3 cm) a year for males and 3.5 inches (9cm) for females [9]. In addition to changes in height, adolescents also experience a significant increase in weight (Marshall, 1978). The weight gained during adolescence constitutes nearly half of one's adult body weight [10].

The accelerated growth in different body parts happens at different times, but for all adolescents it has a fairly regular sequence. The first places to grow are the extremities--the head, hands, and feet--followed the arms and legs, then the torso and shoulders [11]. This non-uniform growth is one reason why an adolescent body may seem to be out of proportion.

During puberty, bones become harder and more brittle. At the conclusion of puberty, the ends of the long bones close during the process called epiphysis. There are ethnic differences in these skeletal changes: bone density increases significantly more among African-American than white adolescents, which might account for decreased likelihood of African-American women developing osteoporosis and having fewer bone fractures [12].

Another set of significant physical changes during puberty happen in bodily distribution of fat and muscle. This process is different for females and males. Before puberty, there are nearly no sex differences in fat and muscle distribution; during puberty, boys grow muscle much faster than girls, although both sexes experience rapid muscle development. In contrast, though both sexes experience an increase in body fat, the increase much more significant for girls. Frequently, the increase in fat for girls happens in their years just before puberty. The ratio between muscle and fat among post-pubertal boys is around three to one, while for girls it is about five to four. This may help explain sex differences in athletic performance [13].

Pubertal development also affects circulatory and respiratory systems as an adolescents' heart and lungs increase in both size and capacity. These changes lead to increased strength and tolerance for exercise. Sex differences are apparent as males tend to develop “larger hearts and lungs, higher systolic blood pressure, a lower resting heart rate, a greater capacity for carrying oxygen to the blood, a greater power for neutralizing the chemical products of muscular exercise, higher blood hemoglobin and more red blood cells” [14].

It is important to note that, despite some genetic sex differences, environmental factors play a large role in biological changes during adolescence. For example, girls tend to reduce their physical activity in preadolescence [15] [16] and may receive inadequate nutrition from diets that often lack important nutrients, such as iron [17]. These environmental influences in turn affect female physical development.

Primary sex characteristics

Primary sex characteristics are those directly related to the sex organs. In males, the first stages of puberty involve growth of the testes and scrotum, followed by growth of the penis [18]. At the time that the penis develops, the seminal vesicles, the prostate, and the bilbo-urethral glands also enlarge and develop. The first ejaculation of seminal fluid generally occurs about one year after the beginning of accelerated penis growth, although this is often determined culturally rather than biologically, since for many boys first ejaculation occurs as a result of masturbation [19]. Boys are generally fertile before they have an adult appearance [20]

In females, changes in the primary sex characteristics involve growth of the uterus, vagina, and other aspects of the reproductive system. Menarche, the beginning of menstruation, is a relatively late development which follows a long series of hormonal changes [21]. Generally, a girl is not fully fertile until several years after menarche, as regular ovulation follows menarche by about two years [22]. Unlike males, therefore, females usually appear physically mature before they are capable of becoming pregnant.

Secondary sex characteristics

Changes in secondary sex characteristics include every change that is not directly related to sexual reproduction. In males, these changes involve appearance of pubic, facial, and body hair, deepening of the voice, roughening of the skin around the upper arms and thighs, and increased development of the sweat glands. In females, secondary sex changes involve elevation of the breast, widening of the hips, development of pubic and underarm hair, widening of the areolae, and elevation of the nipples [23].

The changes in secondary sex characteristics that take place during puberty are often referred to in terms of fiveTanner stages, named after the British pediatrician who devised the categorization system.

Changes in the brain

The human brain is not fully developed by the time a person reaches puberty. Between the ages of 10 and 25, the brain undergoes changes that have important implications for behavior. See Cognitive development below.

The brain reaches 90% of its adult size by the time a person is six years of age [24]. Thus, the brain does not grow in size much during adolescence. However, the creases in the brain continue to become more complex until the late teens. The biggest changes in the folds of the brain during this time occur in the parts of the cortex that process cognitive and emotional information [25].

Over the course of adolescence, the amount of white matter in the brain increases linearly, while the amount of grey matter in the brain follows an inverted-U pattern. Through a process called synaptic pruning, unnecessary neuronal connections in the brain are eliminated and the amount of grey matter is pared down. However, this does not mean that the brain loses functionality; rather, it becomes more efficient due to increased myelination (insulation of axons) and the reduction of unused pathways [26]

The first areas of the brain to be pruned are those involving primary functions, such as motor and sensory areas. The areas of the brain involved in more complex processes lose matter later in development. These include the lateral and prefrontal cortices, among other regions [27].

Some of the most developmentally significant changes in the brain occur in the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in decision-making and cognitive control, as well as other higher cognitive functions. During adolescence, myelination and synaptic pruning in the prefrontal cortex increases, improving the efficiency of information processing, and neural connections between the prefrontal cortex and other regions of the brain are strengthened [28]. This leads to better evaluation of risks and rewards, as well as improved control over impulses. Specifically, developments in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex are important for controlling impulses and planning ahead, while development in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is important for decision making. Changes in the orbitofrontal cortex are important for evaluating rewards and risks.

Two neurotransmitters that play important roles in adolescent brain development are glutamate and dopamine. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter. During the synaptic pruning that occurs during adolescence, most of the neural connections that are pruned contain receptors for glutamate or other excitatory neurotransmitters [29]. Because of this, by early adulthood the synaptic balance in the brain is more inhibitory than excitatory.

Dopamine is associated with pleasure and attuning to the environment during decision-making. During adolescence, dopamine levels in the limbic system increase and input of dopamine to the prefrontal cortex increases [30]. The balance of excitatory to inhibitory neurotransmitters and increased dopamine activity in adolescence may have implications for adolescent risk-taking and vulnerability to boredom (see Cognitive development, below). Development in the limbic system plays an important role in determining rewards and punishments and processing emotional experience and social information. Changes in the levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin in the limbic system make adolescents more emotional and more responsive to rewards and stress. The corresponding increase in emotional variability also can increase adolescents’ vulnerability. Citations: Steinberg pages 69-72

Cognitive development

Biological changes in brain structure and connectivity within the brain interact with increased experience, knowledge, and changing social demands to produce rapid cognitive growth. See Biological transitions above. The age at which particular changes take place will vary between individuals, but the changes discussed below generally begin at puberty or shortly thereafter and some skills continue to develop as the adolescent ages.

Theoretical perspectives on adolescent thinking

There are two perspectives on adolescent thinking. One is the constructivist view of cognitive development. Based on the work of Piaget, it takes a quantitative, state-theory approach, hypothesizing that adolescents’ cognitive improvement is relatively sudden and drastic. The second is the information-processing perspective, which derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth of specific components of the thinking process.

Improvements in cognitive ability

By the time individuals have reached age 15 or so, their basic thinking abilities are comparable to those of adults. These improvements occur in five areas during adolescence:

  1. Attention. Improvements are seen in selective attention, the process by which one focuses on one stimulus while tuning out another. Divided attention, the ability to pay attention to two or more stimuli at the same time, also improves.
  2. Memory. Improvements are seen in both working memory and long-term memory.
  3. Processing speed. Adolescents think more quickly than children. Processing speed improves sharply between age five and middle adolescence; it then begins to level off at age 15 and does not appear to change between late adolescence and adulthood.
  4. Organization. Adolescents are more aware of their own thought processes and can use mnemonic devices and other strategies to think more efficiently.
  5. Metacognition.

Hypothetical/abstract thinking

Adolescents’ thinking is less bound to concrete events than that of children: they can contemplate possibilities outside the realm of what currently exists. One manifestation of the adolescent’s increased facility with thinking about possibilities is the improvement of skill in deductive reasoning, which leads to the development of hypothetical thinking. This provides the ability to plan ahead, see the future consequences of an action and to provide alternative explanations of events. It also makes adolescents more skilled debaters, as they can reason against a friend’s or parent’s assumptions. Adolescents also develop a more sophisticated understanding of probability.

The appearance of more systematic, abstract thinking is another notable aspect of cognitive development during adolescence. For example, adolescents find it easier than children to comprehend the sorts of higher-order abstract logic inherent in puns, proverbs, metaphors, and analogies. Their increased facility permits them to appreciate the ways in which language can be used to convey multiple messages, such as satire, metaphor, and sarcasm. (Children younger than age nine often cannot comprehend sarcasm at all). [31] This also permits the application of advanced reasoning and logical processes to social and ideological matters such as interpersonal relationships, politics, philosophy, religion morality, friendship, faith democracy, fairness, and honesty.

Metacognition

A third gain in cognitive ability involves thinking about thinking itself, a process referred to as metacognition. It often involves monitoring one’s own cognitive activity during the thinking process. Adolescents’ improvements in knowledge of their own thinking patterns lead to better self-control and more effective studying. It is also relevant in social cognition, resulting in increased introspection, self-consciousness, and intellectualization (in the sense of thought about one’s own thoughts, rather than the Freudian definition as a defense mechanism). Adolescents are much better able than children to understand that people do not have complete control over their mental activity. Being able to introspect may lead to two forms of adolescent egocentrism, which results in two distinct problems in thinking: the imaginary audience and the personal fable. These likely peak at age fifteen, along with self-consciousness in general [32].

Related to metacognition and abstract thought, perspective-taking involves a more sophisticated theory of mind. Adolescents reach a stage of social perspective-taking in which they can understand how the thoughts or actions of one person can influence those of another person, even if they personally are not involved. [33]

Relativistic thinking

Compared to children, adolescents are more likely to question others’ assertions, and less likely to accept facts as absolute truths. Through experience outside the family circle, they learn that rules they were taught as absolute are in fact relativistic. They begin to differentiate between rules instituted out of common sense--not touching a hot stove--and those that are based on culturally-relative standards (codes of etiquette, not dating until a certain age), a delineation that younger children do not make. This can lead to a period of questioning authority in all domains.

Wisdom

Wisdom, or the capacity for insight and judgment that is developed through experience [34], increases between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five, then levels off. Thus, it is during the adolescence-adulthood transition that individuals acquire the type of wisdom that is associated with age. Wisdom is not the same as intelligence: adolescents do not improve substantially on IQ tests since their scores are relative to others in their same age group, and relative standing usually does not change--everyone matures at approximately the same rate.

Adolescent risk-taking

In light of the fact that most injuries sustained by adolescents are related to risky behavior (car crashes, alcohol, unprotected sex), much research has been done on adolescent risk-taking, particularly whether and why adolescents are more likely to take risks than adults. Behavioral decision-making theory says that adolescents and adults both weigh the potential rewards and consequences of an action. However, research has shown that adolescents seem to give more weight to rewards, particularly social rewards, than do adults [35].

During adolescence, there is an extremely high emphasis on approval of peers as a reward due to adolescents’ increased self-consciousness. There may be evolutionary benefits to an increased propensity for risk-taking in adolescence--without risk-taking, teenagers would not have the motivation or confidence necessary to make the change in society from childhood to adulthood. It may also have reproductive advantages: adolescents have a newfound priority in sexual attraction and dating, and risk-taking is required to impress potential mates. Research also indicates that baseline sensation seeking may affect risk-taking behavior throughout the lifespan.

Social development

Identity development

Among the most common beliefs about adolescence is that it is the time when teens form their personal identities. Empirical studies suggest that this process might be more accurately described as identity development, rather than formation, but confirms a normative process of change in both content and structure of one’s thoughts about the self [36]. Researchers have used three general approaches to understanding identity development: self-concept, sense of identity, and self-esteem.

Self-concept

See also: Self-concept

Early in adolescence, cognitive developments result in greater self-awareness, greater awareness of others and their thoughts and judgments, the ability to think about abstract, future possibilities, and the ability to consider multiple possibilities at once. As a result, adolescents experience a significant shift from the simple, concrete, and global self-descriptions typical of young children.

Adolescents can now conceptualize multiple “possible selves” they could become [37] and long-term possibilities and consequences of their choices [38]. Exploring these possibilities may result in abrupt changes in self-presentation as the adolescent chooses or rejects qualities and behaviors, trying to guide the actual self toward the ideal self (who the adolescent wishes to be) and away from the feared self (who the adolescent does not want to be). For many, these distinctions are uncomfortable, but they also appear to motivate achievement through behavior consistent with the ideal and distinct from the feared possible selves. [39] [40]

Further distinctions in self-concept, called “differentiation,” occur as the adolescent recognizes the contextual influences on their own behavior and the perceptions of others, and begin to qualify their traits when asked to describe themselves [41]. Differentiation appears to be fully developed by mid-adolescence [42]. Peaking in the 7th-9th grades, the personality traits adolescents use to describe themselves refer to specific contexts, and therefore may contradict one another. The recognition of inconsistent content in the self-concept is a common source of distress in these years (see Cognitive Dissonance) [43], but this distress may benefit adolescents by encouraging structural development.

Differentiation results in organization and integration of the self-concept. [44] [45] The multifaceted self is understood to include several stable, if inconsistent, sets of traits applicable when the individual with different people and circumstances. This includes negative traits and weaknesses, which adolescents can now recognize and qualify: “consistent with this, adolescents who have more complex self-conceptions are less likely to be depressed.” [46] [47] Moreover, although only true in some circumstances, differentiated traits are contrasted with “false-self behavior,” which is not representative of the “real” self. [48] Recognition of the inauthentic indicates that the adolescent is gaining a sense of continuous, overlapping, coherent sense of identity.

Sense of identity

Unlike the conflicting aspects of self-concept, identity represents a coherent sense of self stable across circumstances and including past experiences and future goals. Everyone has a self-concept, whereas Erik Erikson argued that not everyone fully achieves identity. Erikson’s theory of stages of development includes the identity crisis in which adolescents must explore different possibilities and integrate different parts of themselves before committing to their beliefs. He described the resolution of this process as a stage of “identity achievement” (see Fig. 1) but also stressed that the identity challenge “is never fully resolved once and for all at one point in time” [49].

Researcher James Marcia developed the current method for testing an individual’s progress along these stages [50] [51]. His questions are divided into three categories: occupation, ideology, and interpersonal relationships. Answers are scored based on extent to which the individual has explored and the degree to which he has made commitments. The result is classification of the individual into a) Identity Diffusion in which all children begin, b) Identity Foreclosure in which commitments are made without the exploration of alternatives, Moratorium, or the process of exploration, or Identity Achievement in which Moratorium has occurred and resulted in commitments [52].

Research since reveals self-examination beginning early in adolescence, but identity achievement rarely occurring before age 18 [53]. The freshman year of college influences identity development significantly, but may actually prolong psychosocial moratorium by encouraging reexamination of previous commitments and further exploration of alternate possibilities without encouraging resolution [54]. For the most part, evidence has supported Erikson’s stages: each correlates with the personality traits he originally predicted [55]. Studies also confirm the impermanence of the stages [56] there is no final endpoint in Identity Development.

Self-esteem

The final major aspect of identity formation is self-esteem, one’s thoughts and feelings about one’s self-concept and identity. Contrary to popular belief, there is no empirical evidence for a significant drop in self-esteem over the course of adolescence ” [57]. ‘Barometric self-esteem’ fluctuates rapidly and can cause severe distress and anxiety, but baseline self-esteem remains highly stable across adolescence [58]. The validity of global self-esteem scales has been questioned, and many suggest that more specific scales might reveal more about the adolescent experience ” [59]. It is also important to note that the patterns of change in self-esteem differ significantly by gender.

Relationships with parents

Adolescence marks a rapid change in one’s role within a family. Young children tend to assert themselves forcefully, but are unable to demonstrate much influence over family decisions until early adolescence [60], when they are increasingly viewed by parents as equals. When children go through puberty, there is often a significant increase in parent-child conflict and a less cohesive familial bond. Arguments often concern minor issues of control, such as curfew and acceptable clothing [61], which adolescents may have previously viewed as issues over which their parents had complete authority. [62] Parent-adolescent disagreement also increases as friends demonstrate a greater impact on one another, new influences on the adolescent that may be in opposition to parents’ values.

Relationships with siblings

During childhood, siblings are a source of conflict and frustration as well as a support system [63]. Adolescence may affect this relationship differently, depending on sibling gender. In same-sex sibling pairs, intimacy peaks during early adolescence, then steadily declines. Mixed-sex siblings pairs act in the opposite way; siblings drift apart during early adolescent years, but experience an increase in intimacy starting at middle adolescence [64]. Sustaining positive sibling relations can assist adolescents in a number of ways. Siblings are able to act as peers, and may increase one another’s sociability and feelings of self-worth. Older siblings can give guidance to younger siblings, although the impact of this can be either positive or negative depending on the activity of the older sibling.

Relationships with peers

Peer groups are especially important during adolescence, a period of development characterized by a dramatic increase in time with peers [65] and a decrease in adult supervision [66]. Adolescents also associate with other-sex friends much more than in childhood [67] and tend to identify with larger groups of peers based on shared characteristics [68].

Cliques

During early adolescence, adolescents often associate in cliques, exclusive, single-sex groups of peers with whom they are particularly close. Towards late adolescence, cliques often merge into mixed-sex groups as teenagers begin romantically engaging with one another [69]. These small friend groups break down even further as socialization becomes more couple-oriented. Despite the common notion that cliques are an inherently negative influence, they may help adolescents become socially acclimated and form a stronger sense of identity.

Crowd identities

On a larger scale, adolescents often associate with ‘’crowds,’’ groups of individuals who share a common interest or activity. Often, crowd identities may be the basis for stereotyping young people, categorizing them as jocks, nerds, and so on. In large, multi-ethnic high schools, there are often ethnicaly-determined crowds as well [70]. While crowds are very influential during early and middle adolescence, they lose salience during high school as students identify more individually [71].

Negative peer influences

While peers may facilitate social development for one another, they may also hinder it. Both physical and relational aggression are linked to a vast number of enduring psychological difficulties, especially depression, as is social rejection [72]. Because of this, bullied adolescents often develop problems that lead to further victimization [73].

Romantic relationships

Romantic relationships tend to increase in prevalence throughout adolescence. By age 15, 53% of adolescents have had a romantic relationship that lasted at least one month over the course of the previous 18 months. [74] The typical duration of relationships increases throughout the teenage years as well. This constant increase in the likelihood of a long-term relationship can be explained by sexual maturation and the development of cognitive skills necessary to maintain a romantic bond (e.g. caregiving, appropriate attachment), although these skills are not strongly developed until late adolescence. [75] Long-term relationships allow adolescents to gain the skills necessary for high-quality relationships later in life [76] and develop feelings of self-worth. Overall, positive romantic relationships among adolescents can result in long-term benefits. High-quality romantic relationships are associated with higher commitment in early adulthood. [77] and are positively associated with self-esteem, self-confidence, and social competence [78]; [79].

Adolescents often date within their demographic in regards to race, ethnicity, popularity, and physical attractiveness. [80] However, there are traits in which certain individuals, particularly adolescent girls, seek diversity. While most adolescents date people approximately their own age, boys typically date partners the same age or younger; girls typically date partners the same age or older. [81]

Sexual activity

As adolescence marks a time of sexual maturation, this manifests in social interactions as well. While adolescents may engage in casual sexual encounters (often referred to as hookups), most sexual experience during this period of development takes place within romantic relationships [82]. Kissing, hand holding, and hugging signify satisfaction and commitment. Among young adolescents, “heavy” sexual activity, marked by genital stimulation, is often associated with violence, depression, and poor relationship quality. [83] [84] This effect does not hold true for sexual activity in late adolescence that takes place within a romantic relationship. [85]

Abuse in romantic relationships

Dating violence is fairly prevalent within adolescent development. When surveyed, 10-45% of adolescents reported having experiencing physical violence in the context of a relationship while one-third to a quarter of adolescents reported having experiencing psychological aggression. This reported aggression includes hitting, throwing things, or slaps, although most of this physical aggression does not result in a medical visit. Physical aggression in relationships tends to decline from high school through college and young adulthood. By their early twenties, many fewer romantic couple engage in physical aggression, and aggressors tend to be much more deviant (Archer). In heterosexual couples, there is no significant difference between the rates of male and female aggressors, a surprising finding considering the common assumption that males are more aggressive overall [86] [87] [88]. Despite these jarring statistics, nurturant parenting style is associated with lower rates of relationship violence [89].

Cultural Differences in the Adolescents’ Social Development

The definition and development of adolescents varies widely by generation, country, culture and socio-economic standing. One of the most varied differences is the length of the transition period between childhood and adulthood (one way of defining adolescence). While in some countries, such as the United States, adolescence can last nearly a decade, in others the transition--often in the form of a ceremony--can last for only a few days [90]. There are also varied forms of transition. In the US, while there are no marked ceremonies, there are popular social and religious traditions that tend to mark this transition, such as Bar Mtizvahs, Quinceañeras, cotillions, and debutant balls. In other countries, initiation ceremonies play an important role, marking the transition into adulthood or the entrance into adolescence. The transition is usually accompanied by obvious physical changes, which can vary from a change in clothing to tattoos and scarification [91].

Social role transitions

This transition period can also be linked to the passage from schools to work. Many countries, such as Germany, have implemented programs early in schools to help teens “apprentice” while in high school, so that can be ready to enter the workforce at a relatively high and secure level [92]. In the United States, it is widely accepted that college is the primary option adolescents have in order to find training for a successful career, leaving many adolescents for whom college is not a viable option out of the competitive career market [93].

Sexuality

There are many cultural and socio-economic differences which influence how adolescents’ sexuality develops. Menarche (the first menstrual period of a female-bodied person’s life) is, for many cultures, the defining point for the beginning of a transition into adulthood. The age of menarche varies form culture to culture. Girls from countries where menarche/menstruation is seen as an important event, or where there is an ambivalence towards it, tend to have more negative opinions about it [94] [95].

An adolescent’s sexual socialization is highly dependent upon the society they live in, and how restrictive or permissive that society is when it comes to sexual activity. Highly restrictive societies tend to prohibit and highly regulate all forms of contact between genders that could lead to sexual contact. The United States is considered semi-restrictive because, while sex is prevalent in the media and a substantial number of teenagers are sexually active, there are restrictions on the amount of sexual exploration and expression teens can engage in openly [96] . There are many sexually permissive societies, such as the Pukapukans of Polynesia and the Trobrianders, who allow their children and teens to openly explore their sexuality and even encourage it [97].

Autonomy

Recognition of autonomy and the age at which an adolescent is deemed responsible enough to make their own decisions is determined by the expectations of parents, society, and peers. These age-associated expectations vary by culture and ethnicity. White adolescents tend to expect to be granted autonomy at a younger age [98]. Gender and birth order do not affect the age at which autonomy is granted, except in Black American households, where boys are generally granted more freedom than girls [99] [100]. Conflict over autonomy is best avoided when teens and parents agree on age expectations for autonomy. This presents a problem for immigrant families in which the parents come from a culture in which autonomy is granted later than it is in the society to which they have emmigrated [101]. In these cases, adolescents are more likely to acculturate and will have different expectations for autonomy than their parents are comfortable granting [102].

Leisure time

American teenagers spend more time on leisure than many other countries. The average American adolescent spends about five hours a week on homework, while Indian, Taiwanese, and Japanese students spend an average of five hours a day. This is most likely due to the amount of emphasis and pressure that is placed on adolescents’ education in those countries. Americans tend to spend more time playing sports, socializing, caring for their appearance, and working after-school jobs (an American phenomenon) [103]. Differences in how American teens use their leisure time tend to be influenced by their amount of involvement in various activities rather than ethnicity or socioeconomic background. Busier, more well-rounded teens tend to be better-adjusted and more goal-oriented than their peers who engage in only one activity (such as sports) or none [104].

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