Mid-adolescence

Moderating Risks from Mid-Adolescence Providing Loyal Opposition... 

Mid-adolescence (typically occurring between the ages of thirteen and sixteen) is about the shell of self-centeredness. As securing social independence from family becomes more of a preoccupation, the adoles-... 

Late adolescence (typically occurring between the ages of sixteen and eighteen) is about the unreadiness for independence. As the negativity of early adolescence and the conflict of mid-adolescence start subsiding, a new emotional energyanxzetybegins to take their place. 

During the only child s mid-adolescence, "being friends" with their son or daughter should not necessarily be the highest priority for parents. To maintain harmony in the relationship at the expense of teaching the child safety or... 

Each assertion of parental authority can be an invitation into conflict for the independence-minded child. It is also an opportunity, however, to let the mid-adolescent know that parents are committed to keeping a protective family structure around the boy or girl at this impetuous and impatient period of growth. They will not be backed away from this responsibility by the intensity of his or her objections. 

Parents typically overreact to mid-adolescent conflict out of inexperience with serious argument with their only child. Unpracticed from not having conflict with older children, they feel unprepared for the adolescent boy or girl now... 

For the preadolescent child (up to about age nine), there is usually grief at the loss, anxiety about the future, and a question that he or she finds frightening to ask "If my parents can lose love for each other, can they also lose love for me " For the early to mid-adolescent child (about ages nine... 

According to recent studies growth suppression or delay is a possibility with stimulant use in children however, results are mixed. Some studies indicate that effects are temporary, with normalization in height and weight occurring through mid-adolescence. 

This Key explores several emotional receptors built into the larger phases of adolescence. The four following Keys look more closely at additional receptors specific to each stage of adolescenceEarly Adolescence, Mid-Adolescence, Late Adolescence, and Trial Independence. 

Three strategies for preserving freedom of immediacy tend to characterize mid-adolescence, each creating its own kind of problem for parents evasiveness, explosiveness, and impulsiveness. 

The intent of evasion is to free the mid-adolescent to follow the dictates of urgency by creating no good time to talk. Thus, parents have to understand a bad time is often going to he the best time to talk, and that s okay. 

Instead of operating within a framework of responsibility that connects time present to past commitments and future obligations, the mid-adolescent would rather be ruled by a sense of spontaneity. This is particularly true when in the company of friends, where life is governed by group decisions made on the spur of the moment. 

In contrast to the child, who was more able to make and stick to plans, the mid-adolescent wants to go with the flow, living unrestricted and unrehearsed. To protect this freedom for immediacy, vagueness is often used with parents to keep options from being closed down. 

Once the early adolescent has challenged the justice of old restraints, freedom in pure form of immediacy becomes what the mid-adolescent craves. Unfortunately, the risks of this appeal create a powerful vulnerability to the use of substances. In addition to their mood- and mind-altering effect, most substances create an intense in-the-moment experience, much to be desired. 

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