Adolescence is one of those periods when significant physiological changes occur in the body of an individual. Firstly, adolescence is a time of sexual maturity. Adolescent girls experience the beginning of menstruation, different changes in their body. Boys experience their voice changes, and also, there are some changes in their appearance. Teenager’s body can have an unpleasant smell due to the development of new sweat glands. Teens begin to experience sexual desire and increasing interest about individuals of the opposite sex. During this period, there are significant hormonal changes, which can affect the emotional state, behavior and well-being of adolescents.
Rapid changes in the body, height, associated with hormonal changes may lead to increased appetite, to the awkwardness of teenagers, etc.. Craig indicates that hormonal changes that affect the development of the body may also affect the nervous system. However, studies show that there is a very low link between hormonal changes and different types of behavior (depression, aggression, etc.). Therefore, adults should not treat teenagers as "victims" of their hormonal “explosions” (Craig & Baucum, 1999, p. 498).
Drastic changes in appearance can become the reason of the variety of teen`s feelings and emotions. For example, girls are sometimes ashamed of their sexuality, or, conversely, suffer because they are not as attractive as their peers. If menarche and breast growth occurs on time, it can raise the status of teenage girls among peers and have a positive influence on their body image and self-esteem. However, girls who experience early onset of puberty, whose breast growth and menarche occurs earlier compared to their female peers, may suffer from their body changes. As a rule, if sexual maturity begins early, the young girls are not prepared for it. For example, they may not understand why they start "bleeding". Also, girls with early onset of puberty can survive tease from others (Gullotta, Adams& Markstrom, 1999, p.131).
If teenage girls have a problem because of early maturation, the boys early puberty on the contrary, is desirable. At the same time, if a boy becomes sexually mature later than his peers it can produce significant difficulties in the process of his socialization. Late maturing male teenagers, at first, can seem weaker and less courageous than their peers. It is hard for these boys to compete in sports with more physically developed peers. Other people relate to them as to a kid, and their status in the group may be low (Craig & Baucum, 1999, p. 503).
Adolescents` body-image is associated with self-esteem. On the one hand, high self-esteem can positively influence body-image of teens. On the other hand, if adolescents are satisfied with their appearance, their self-esteem also becomes higher. If teens have low self-esteem they will be more vulnerable to others people`s critique about their appearance and, consequently, they will be more prone to suffer from eating disorders, etc. That`s why, if adults want help teens to form positive body-image, they must strengthen teens` self-esteem (Tiunova, 2015, p. 84).
Gatti et al. identified that male teens are more positive about changes of their body, of increasing the height and lean body mass. At the same time, an increase in weight, a width of hips and other changes of adolescent girls’ bodies can cause girls` body dissatisfaction. While body dissatisfaction of female teens can result in eating disorders, boys` dissatisfaction with appearance can lead to delinquency behavior (Gatti, Ionio, Traficante& Confalonieri, 2014, p.312).
I remember well my experience of the adolescence period. I was highly prepared for the onset of menarche because I had elder female cousins, who could speak with me about issues regarding sexual maturity. Also, I had the friendly relationship with my mother, and I could simply ask her about questions regarding sex, menstruation, etc. When the changes of my body had begun, I felt joy and even pride in the fact that I'm getting older. My secondary sexual characteristics started to develop earlier than characteristics of my classmates because I was older by a year than most of them. I remember that because of the changes in some of my peers teased me, but I was not offended by it. On the contrary, I knew that I was in the center of peers` attention.
However, over time, I began to experience negative feelings about my body. When my female peers`, friends` puberty had the onset, I started to feel own inferiority in comparison with them. Due to the low height and low weight, I looked younger than them. Boys pay attention to me less than to girls with more developed secondary sexual characteristics.
I remember that I suffered because I was not so "popular" in school, how I would like to be. At that time, it seemed to me that to be "popular" is very significant.
References
Colleen Stiles-Shields, E., Labuschagne, Z., Goldschmidt, A. B., Doyle, A. C., & Grange, D. L. (2012). The use of multiple methods of compensatory behaviors as an indicator of eating disorder severity in treatment-seeking youth. International Journal Of Eating Disorders, 45(5), 704-710.
Craig, G. J., & Baucum, D. (1999). Human Development. ADOLESCENCE
Gatti, E., Ionio, C., Traficante, D., & Confalonieri, E. (2014). "I Like My Body; Therefore, I Like Myself": How Body Image Influences Self-Esteem--A Cross-Sectional Study on Italian Adolescents. Europe's Journal Of Psychology, 10(2), 301-317. doi:10.5964/ejop.v10i2.703
Gullotta, T. P., Adams, G. R., & Markstrom, C. A. (1999). Adolescent Experience (4th Edition). Burlington, MA, USA: Academic Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Tiunova, A. (2015). Relationship of body image and self-esteem in adolescents with different types of constitutional development: preliminary results. Activitas Nervosa Superior, 57(2), 81-86.
