Adolescence and adulthood are marked by physical changes, including height, strength, and reproductive organ development, as well as changes in the brain that lead to a broader perspective and more realistic worldviews. The transition between the two stages is typically from mid to late teens to early to mid-twenties, with the brain not fully developing until at least 25 years old. Hormone levels and risk perception also change during this time.
There are several ways people change, quite significantly, between adolescence and adulthood. This includes physical changes in the body, as well as many changes in the brain that contribute to a broader perspective and more realistic worldviews, as well as views of oneself and others. Each individual person may develop at a slightly different pace and to varying degrees, but there are a number of common factors that can be seen in the transition between adolescence and adulthood. Some of the more basic physical changes include increasing height, improving strength, and developing reproductive organs.
Researchers typically divide childhood and adolescence into a number of developmental stages; some research even suggests that the brain isn’t fully developed until people are at least 25 years old. This implies a much longer “adolescence” than previously thought, although it clearly differs from the younger adolescence of early and mid-teens. In most cases, the transition between adolescence and adulthood is defined as the time period from the mid to late teens, early to mid twenties. This is when people change the most and mature the most.
Physical changes between adolescence and adulthood are to be expected. Most people will grow a little in their late teens and stop growing in their twenties. The reproductive organs will fully develop and adolescents will complete puberty, such as a change or deepening of the voice and growth of facial and pubic hair. Hormone levels will also change between adolescence and adulthood, although this varies more uniquely between individual people; in general, however, sex hormone production will increase during late adolescence and early adulthood.
Changes in the brain are also significant between adolescence and adulthood. Some areas of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex, are not fully developed in adolescents. As a result, their perception of risk is quite low, leading them to engage in riskier behavior than adults would; moreover, they often perceive themselves as more informed and more important than they really are. As individuals transition from adolescence to adulthood, they will be able to more accurately determine the risks involved in a situation and adjust behavior accordingly. They will also gain an additional perspective and often stop seeing themselves as the centers of their own worlds, but rather as participants in larger family units and community groups.
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