Topic Overview
How does my teenager grow and develop between ages 15 and 18?
The ages between 15 and 18 are a time of discovery for both teens and parents. However, these years can be as challenging as they are exciting. Many teens have periods of fluctuating emotions, as they have a tendency to base their worth on unrealistic comparisons, such as media images of the ideal body. Self-image is also influenced by success in sports and school, peer relationships, and how well they are meeting the expectations of their parents.
For parents, the teen years are a time to adapt to this growing young person. Teens, although maturing, still need a parent's love and guidance. Fortunately, most teens tackle these years with few problems, especially those who have done well up to this time and have had good support from their parents.
The main areas of development between ages 15 and 18 can be grouped into four general categories:
- Physical development. By age 15, most teens have entered puberty, and girls are near their adult height as they usually have completed the phase of rapid growth that precedes the first menstrual period. Boys, however, usually continue growing taller and gaining weight.
- Cognitive development. Teens gradually develop the ability to think in more sophisticated, abstract ways—perceiving issues in shades of gray instead of black and white, and gaining a better understanding of concepts like morality, consequence, objectivity, and empathy. It can sometimes be difficult to deal with teens during this time because, although they understand that others have differing viewpoints, they often firmly believe their perception is the most true or valid.
- Emotional and social development. The questions "Who am I?" and "How do I fit in?" guide much of teens' emotional and social development. It is normal for teens' emotions to shift frequently with good and bad days.
- Sensory and motor development. After puberty, boys' strength and agility continues to develop, while that of teen girls tends to level out. However, regular physical activity helps improve strength and coordination in both sexes.
When are routine medical visits needed?
Your teenager should have a routine physical examination each year. During these visits, the health professional assesses your teen's physical well-being and asks questions to determine his or her social, academic, relationship, and mental health status. Your teen will also be given needed immunizations. Consider allowing your teen time during the visit to talk with the doctor privately.
Teenagers should also have annual dental checkups.
When should I call my health professional?
Call your health professional any time you have a concern about your child's physical or emotional health, such as delayed growth or puberty, changes in appetite, body image problems, behavioral problems, school absenteeism, or suspected substance abuse.
How can I help my teenager during these years?
Your teen still needs your guidance, even though it may not always be openly welcomed. According to one study, being attentive and staying involved in your teen's life makes your teen less likely to be involved in risky behavior.1 Likewise, another large national study revealed that teens who feel connected to their families are at reduced risk for engaging in a wide variety of risky behaviors.2
It is important for adolescents and teenagers to know that you will honestly communicate your feelings about their actions or behavior but will love them unconditionally.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What to Expect
Teens grow and develop at different rates. But general teen growth and development patterns can be grouped into 4 main categories.
- Physical development. By age 15, most teens have entered puberty. Most girls are close to their adult height and have completed the phase of rapid growth that precedes the first menstrual period. Boys, however, often continue to grow taller and gain weight. The growth spurt in boys tends to start about 2 years after puberty begins and reaches its peak about 1½ years later. Also, gender characteristics continue to develop in both sexes.
- Cognitive development, which is the ability to think, learn, reason, and remember. Teens gradually develop the ability to think in more sophisticated, abstract ways. They begin to perceive issues in shades of gray instead of black and white, as they gain a better understanding of concepts like morality, consequence, objectivity, and empathy. Although they may understand that people can see the same issue in different ways, they often are convinced their personal view is the one that is most correct.
- Emotional and social development. Attempts to answer the questions, "Who am I?" and "How do I fit in?" guide much of teens' emotional and social development. This can be a painful process full of anxiety. In response, teens may behave unpredictably as emotions fluctuate seemingly at random. At times teens may seem mature; other times, they may act as if they are still in elementary school, especially with parents and other close family members. Socially, teens form new friendships, often with members of the opposite sex.
- Sensory and motor development. After puberty, boys' strength and agility continues to develop, while that of teen girls tends to level out. However, both sexes can increase strength, coordination, and athletic skill through regular physical activity.
Growth and development does not always occur evenly among different categories. For example, your teen may have a tremendous growth spurt and look almost like an adult, but may seem socially and emotionally young for his or her age. Eventually, most teens mature in all areas of growth and development, especially if given the right tools and parental guidance.
Common Concerns
The word "teenager" to many people brings up an image of a wild and reckless young person whose main purpose in life is to rebel against his or her parents. Most teenagers do not fit this description. Of course, there are times when any teenager may be hard to deal with. But many teenagers are trying their best to please parents while they work toward some level of independence.
Parents of teenagers between ages 15 and 18 are often most concerned about whether the teen will be able to make good decisions. Parents know that the choices children make during the teen years can impact much of their adult lives. It is normal to worry. But remember that your child has grown up with your example and your advice for many years. Even if your child has momentary lapses in judgment, the chances are that he or she is going to be okay.
Know that you are not alone in these types of concerns. For example, many parents worry about whether their teenager will:
- Resist using drugs and alcohol. Many teens are exposed to these and other substances throughout their teen years. Offer strategies to avoid tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. Set firm, fair, and consistent limits for your teen. Help him or her understand the immediate and long-lasting results of substance use, such as falling grades and poor health during adulthood. Help your teen practice how to respond when a harmful substance is offered, such as simply stating "No, thanks" and moving on to another subject.
- Focus enough on doing well in school. Typically, teenagers have many distractions. Friends, clubs, sports, and jobs can all compete for time that could be spent completing homework. Show your teenager how to set goals. For example, talk about and write down a goal for the week, month, and year. Help your teen think about the steps that need to be taken to reach the goal. Work with your teen to make a schedule for when to do each step and set rewards for when the goal is achieved.
- Drive safely. You can help teach your teen about safe driving. But what a teen does when parents are not around is the unknown. Remind your child often that driving is a huge responsibility that should not be taken lightly.
- Feel pressured to have sex. Talk about dating and sex early, before the information is needed. Offer information gradually, rather than overwhelming your teen with too many facts at one time. Help your teen focus on what makes a relationship healthy, such as trust and respect for each other.
Try to understand the issues your teen faces. Although you may remember some struggles from your own teen years, the issues your teen faces are likely quite different. Stay involved in your teen's life, such as by going to school events and encouraging your teen to bring friends to your house while you are home. You can better see the world from his or her perspective when you are familiar with it. Also, learn to recognize your teen's stress triggers and offer guidance on how to manage the anxiety they may cause. But be careful not to get too caught up in your teen's world. If you try to take too much control, it will likely only make things harder for him or her.
Promoting Healthy Growth and Development
You can help your teen between the ages of 15 and 18 years by using basic parenting strategies. These include offering open, positive communication while providing clear and fair rules and consistent guidance. Support your teen in developing healthy habits and attitudes, help him or her make wise choices, and offer guidance in how to balance responsibilities.
The following are examples of ways to promote healthy growth and development in specific areas. But remember that many growth and development issues overlap. For example, having a healthy body image is important for physical development and emotional development. Use these ideas as a starting point to help your teen make good choices that will help him or her grow into a healthy and happy adult.
Promote your teen's physical development by doing the following:
- Be aware of changing sleep patterns. Rapidly growing and busy teens need a lot of sleep. The natural sleeping pattern for many teens is to go to bed later at night and sleep in. This can make it hard to get up for school. Help your teen get enough rest, such as by discouraging talking on the phone or using the computer after a certain evening hour.
- Help your teen manage acne if it is a concern. Most young people get at least mild acne. Keeping the skin clean helps control acne. Also, your teen should avoid skin products that clog skin pores. Look for products that say "noncomedogenic" on the label. Suggest that your teen wash his or her skin once or twice a day with a gentle soap or acne wash. Discourage scrubbing or picking at pimples, which makes them worse and can lead to scarring. If your teen has a few pimples, an acne cream you can buy without a prescription may work. Look for one that has benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. These work best when used just the way the label says. If your teen's pimples are really bothersome or are scarring the skin, see a doctor. A prescription gel or cream for the skin may be all he or she needs. For more information, see the topic Acne.
- Talk about body image. What teens think about their bodies significantly influences their feelings of self-worth. Stress that healthy eating and exercise habits are most important for the short and long-term. Help your teen recognize that television and other media often produce unrealistic images of the ideal body that are not healthy. For more information, see the topic Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, or Depression in Childhood and Adolescence.
- Offer strategies to avoid tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. Set firm, fair, and consistent limits for your child. Help him or her understand the immediate and long-lasting results of substance use, such as falling grades and poor health during adulthood. Practice how to respond when a harmful substance is offered, such as simply stating "No, thanks" and moving on to another subject. If you believe your teenager is using drugs or alcohol, it is important to talk about it. Discuss how he or she gets the alcohol, tobacco, or drugs and in what kind of setting it is used. Seek advice from a health professional if the behavior continues. For more information on tobacco, drugs, or alcohol problems, see the topic Teen Substance Abuse.
Promote your teen's healthy emotional and social development by doing the following:
- Address problems and concerns. Build trust gradually so your teen will feel safe talking with you about sensitive subjects. When you want to talk with your teen about problems or concerns, schedule a "date" in a private and quiet place. Knowing when and how to interfere in a teen's life is a major ongoing challenge of parenthood. Parents walk a fine line between respecting a teen's need for independence and privacy and making sure that teens do not make mistakes that have lifelong consequences.
- Understanding the confusion about sexual orientation. Hormones, cultural and peer pressures, and fear of being different can cause many teens to question themselves in many areas, including sexual orientation. It is normal during the teen years to develop same-sex "crushes." Consider mentioning to your teen that having such an attraction does not mean that he or she is destined to be a homosexual. However, it is helpful to acknowledge that in some cases, these feelings grow stronger over time rather than fade.
Promote your teen's mental (cognitive) development by doing the following:
- Encourage mature ways of thinking. Involve your teen in setting household rules and schedules. Talk about current issues together, whether it be school projects or world affairs. Listen to your teen's opinions and thoughts. Brainstorm different ways to solve problems, and discuss their possible outcomes. Stress that these years provide many opportunities to reinvent and improve themselves.
- Offer to help your teen set work and school priorities. Make sure your teen understands the need to schedule enough rest, carve out study time, eat nourishing foods, and get regular physical activity.
- Be goal-oriented instead of style-oriented. Your teen may not complete a task the way you would—this is okay. What is important is that the task gets done. Let your teen decide how to complete work, and always assume that he or she wants to do a good job.
- Expose your teen to music and art. Listening to a variety of music or playing a musical instrument helps your teen to think in new ways. Looking at or creating art, such as drawing or pottery, can also help stimulate your teen. Also encourage reading or creative writing as a way to learn new concepts. Remind your teen that he or she doesn't need to be an expert. Simply learning about and experimenting with art can help your teen to think in more abstract ways and pull different concepts together.
Promote your teen's sensory and motor development by doing the following:
- Encourage daily exercise. Vigorous exercise, such as running, biking, or playing soccer or basketball, helps your teen to stay lean and to have a healthy heart.3 Vigorous exercise also helps your teen feel good. If your child is not used to exercise, be careful about expecting too much too soon. Overdoing it at first can make your teen feel tired and discouraged. Help your teen to build up an exercise routine slowly. For example, plan a short daily walk to start. This approach can help your teen gain confidence and make him or her more likely to keep exercising. For more information on exercise, see the topic Fitness.
Violence and teens
- Prevent teen violence by being a good role model. For example, talk calmly during a disagreement with someone else. Help your teen come up with ways to defuse potentially violent situations, such as making a joke or acknowledging another person's point of view. For more information on teen violence, see the topic Violent Behavior or Bullying.
- Reduce the risk of teen suicide and recognize the warning signs. If your teen shows signs of depression, such as withdrawing from others and being sad much of the time, try to get him or her to talk about it. Call your health professional if your adolescent or teen ever mentions suicide or if you are concerned for his or her safety.
When to Call a Doctor
Call a health professional if your teen has health problems or issues that may need treatment. Such problems or issues may include:
- A significant delay in physical or sexual development—for example, if sexual development has not begun by age 15.
- Becoming sexually active. Teens who are sexually active need to be educated about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Also, females will usually have a Pap test.
- Being overweight. A health professional can help guide weight loss and proper nutrition.
- Severe acne that may be helped by medication. For more information, see the topic Acne Vulgaris.
Call a health professional or a mental health professional if your teen develops behavioral problems or signs of mental health problems. These may include:
- Expressing a lack of self-worth or talking about suicide.
- Acting physically aggressive.
- Regularly experiencing severe mood swings, such as being happy and excited one minute and sad and depressed the next.
- A significant change in appetite or weight. These may signal an eating disorder.
- Dropping out of school or failing classes.
- Having serious relationship problems with friends and family that affect home or school life.
- Showing a lack of interest in normal activities and withdrawing from other people.
For more information, see the topics Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Depression, or Depression in Childhood and Adolescence.
Routine Checkups
Your teen needs routine yearly checkups. These checkups are important to detect problems and to make sure your teen is growing and developing normally. The health professional will do a physical examination and ask questions about his or her social, academic, relationship, and mental health status. Your teen's immunization record will be reviewed; any needed immunizations should be given at this time. For more information on immunizations, see the topic Immunizations or the childhood immunization schedule
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Beginning in adolescence, most health professionals like to spend some time alone with your child during the visit. Although many state laws are vague about adolescents' and teens' rights to medical confidentiality, most health professionals will clarify expectations. Ideally, you will all agree that anything your adolescent or teen discusses privately with the health professional will remain confidential, with few exceptions. This gives your adolescent or teen an opportunity talk to the health professional about any issue he or she may not feel comfortable sharing with you.
Teens also need to have regular dental checkups and to be encouraged to brush and floss regularly. For more information about dental checkups, see the topic Basic Dental Care.
Other Places To Get Help
Online Resource
| Adolescent Health Online Home Page | |
| American Medical Association | |
| Web Address: | http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1947.html |
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This Web site, sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA), provides parents and teens with useful information about issues such as injury prevention, nutrition, teen violence, physical fitness, and tobacco use and links to other resources. You can contact the AMA's department of adolescent health through e-mail at gaps@ama-assn.org. |
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Organizations
| Children's Defense Fund | |
| 25 E Street NW | |
| Washington, DC 20001 | |
| Phone: | (202) 628-8787 |
| E-mail: | cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org |
| Web Address: | www.childrensdefense.org |
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This organization produces information on many youth-related issues, such as education, child care, health care, and juvenile justice. The organization's Parent Resource Network (PRN) can help you find the resources you seek to become a more effective parent. |
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| Healthy Teen Network (formerly the National Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention) | |
| 509 Second Street, Northeast | |
| Washington, DC 20002 | |
| Phone: | (202) 547-8814 |
| Fax: | (202) 547-8815 |
| E-mail: | Healthyteens@HealthyTeennetwork.org |
| Web Address: | http://www.noappp.org |
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The Healthy Teen Network addresses the issues of adolescent sexuality, pregnancy, and parenting at local, state, and national levels in the United States. The Network's vision is for all adolescents to make responsible decisions about sexuality, pregnancy, and parenting. It provides information, resource-sharing opportunities, and technical assistance and fosters the development of innovative adolescent pregnancy care, prevention programs, and public policy initiatives. |
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| National Families in Action | |
| 2957 Clairmont Road Northeast | |
| Suite 150 | |
| Atlanta, Georgia 30329 | |
| Phone: | (404) 248-9676 |
| Fax: | (404) 248-1312 |
| E-mail: | nfia@nationalfamilies.org |
| Web Address: | http://www.nationalfamilies.org |
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National Families in Action was founded in 1977 in the United States. Its mission is to help families and communities prevent drug use among children by promoting policies based on science. |
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References
Citations
Feigelman S, et al. (1999). Psychosocial and environmental correlates of violence perpetration among African-American urban youth. Pediatrics, 103(Suppl): 911.
Joffe A (2000). Why adolescent medicine? Medical Clinics of North America, 84(4): 769–785.
Gutin B, et al. (2005). Relations of moderate and vigorous physical activity to fitness and fatness in adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 81(4): 746–750.
Other Works Consulted
Bashe P (2003). American Academy of Pediatrics: Caring for Your Teenager. New York: Bantam.
Dixon SD, Stein MT (2006). Encounters With Children: Pediatric Behavior and Development, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby Elsevier.
Ford CA, Coleman WL (1999). Adolescent development and behavior: Implications for the primary care physician. In MD Levine et al., eds., Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, 3rd ed., pp. 69–79. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.
Credits
| Author | Amy Fackler, MA |
| Editor | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman |
| Associate Editor | Terrina Vail |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics |
| Last Updated | May 4, 2006 |
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