Emergent Emotions in Adolescence
This chapter discusses the causes and effects of changing patterns of emotional experience and expression in adolescence. Previously labeled the age of “storm and stress,” adolescence is often considered a period of emotional turmoil. Although this label
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This chapter discusses the causes and effects of changing patterns of emotional experience and expression in adolescence. Previously labeled the age of “storm and stress,” adolescence is often considered a period of emotional turmoil. Although this label appears to overstate the difficulties of most adolescents, adolescence is nonetheless a critical period for emotional development, with emotional reactivity becoming more frequent and more intense. Changes can be understood, in part, as a response to anatomical, neurological, physiological, and cognitive developments occurring during this period. Both gender- related and environmental factors also considerably impact emotion expression and regulation. Despite the predominate focus in popular media on negative emotions in adolescence, there is also evidence of increases in positive emotions and of opportunity for emotional growth and regulation. This chapter explores various factors that help shape the positive and negative changes in emotion regulation and expression during adolescence.
S. J. Coe-Odess (*) · R. K. Narr · J. P. Allen University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA e-mail: [email protected]
The period of adolescence—defined broadly as lasting from the onset of puberty until the transition into adult roles—ranges longer today than it has in the past, as puberty typically begins earlier than before, and individuals obtain jobs and form families later than previously (Steinberg, 2016). Adolescence is a time in which individuals undergo significant changes, including—but not limited to—biological, social, economic, and psychological developments. Between physiological changes, increased autonomy and peer pressure, and increased stressors at school and at home, adolescents often face situations that put them at risk for emotion dysregulation and dysfunction. They also experience increases in self-awareness and cognitive reasoning abilities that equip them for handling these situations better as adolescence progresses. The timing and fluidity of these transitions vary both within and between persons, and the trajectories of increasing maturity are not always linear or smooth. Even amidst the variety in adolescent experiences and transitions, there are three characteristics of adolescence that are pervasive, universal, and likely to impact emotional regulation and expression: the onset of puberty, advances in cognitive capacity, and newly emerging roles and responsibilities (Hill, 1983). To date, substantial research has focused on the negative outcomes associated with the adolescent transition. Below, we consider various changes that occur during adolescence and consider the positive and negative contributions of these changes to emotions in adolescence.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 V. LoBue et al. (eds.), Handbook of Emotional Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17332-6_23
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Theories of Emotions in Adolescence G. Stanley Hall’s “storm and stress” hypothesis (Hall, 1904)—one of the earliest theories of the role of
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