What Changes During Adolescence?

Find a therapist to support kids and teens

Distinguishing normal teen moodiness from concerning behavior or affect can be challenging for caregivers.

Youth mental health concerns continue, with high rates of sadness, anxiety, and suicide risk in teens.

The maturing teen brain renders this period one of both vulnerability and opportunity.

Attuned and reliable caregivers can have a significant buffering effect during adolescence.

A key role of the pediatrician is surveillance of growth and development. At routine well-child visits in the first two years of life, height, weight, and head circumference are measured and plotted on normative growth charts, and standardized questions assess cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development. Tracking comparable milestones in later years—particularly adolescence—can be more elusive, but it is just as important.

A common concern among parents of early adolescents is whether certain behaviors are “normal” and how best to respond. Parents may wonder whether a teen who spends hours behind a closed door, alternates between argument, silence, and strong opinions, or seems easily irritated is showing typical development or something more concerning. Teen moodiness can reflect a normally developing brain under stress rather than pathology or parental failure—but the difference can be........

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