Description
If we wish to continue using the metaphor that defines adolescence as a bridge from childhood to adulthood, it is useful to emphasize that this bridge is a long one with many pillars. Each of these pillars represents developmental domains and their subdomains. Beginning with puberty, when primary and secondary sexual characteristics start to emerge, adolescence continues
with changes and advances in the physical, sexual, cognitive, moral, personality, emotional, and social domains. As stated in the basic principles of development, progress in one developmental domain also affects other domains. In the case of adolescence, this impact can be considered even stronger.
The fact that this impact is so powerful may have led Stanley Hall, who first conceptualized adolescence, to describe this period as one of “storm and stress.” Although today the characterization of adolescence as “stormy and stressful” is scientifically criticized, many parents experience considerable difficulty when their children enter adolescence and they attempt to rely on their old patterns of communication. In this period of life, it is extremely important for parents to reconsider their own attitudes and to find ways to maintain healthy modes of communication with their adolescent children, as this has a crucial role for the adolescent’s psychosocial well-being. Therefore, we may speak not only of the need for adolescents themselves to adapt to this period, but also of the necessity for the parents of adolescents to adapt to this process.
With the hope that this book, which examines adjustment problems and disorders in adolescence in a comprehensive manner, will contribute to mental health professionals working in the field of adolescence.
Prof.Dr.Diğdem M. Siyez
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