Few people suspect that a person has his own ontogenesis - the story of his own development as an individual. It originates from the moment of fertilization of the mother's egg and ends with the death of a person. The main periods are childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age. Of particular interest from the point of view of anatomy, physiology and psychology is the so-called juvenile period.
Periodization of the human life cycle
Age-related features determine the peculiar periods of the formation and development of the mental and anatomical and physiological qualities of a person.
The following periods are distinguished in human ontogenesis: 1st — intrauterine or prenatal: from the moment of conception to birth; 2nd — postnatal: from birth to death of the individual. Each of them includes special, very important cycles of development of the human individual.
This is a complete periodization of development, and a partial one includes the part of it that interests a particular science. Any of the human sciences is based on scientific data, determining the boundaries of a particular life cycle of an individual. The discrepancies are explained by the peculiarities of the subject of periodization: in psychology it is the development of mental processes, in pedagogy it is the process of socialization of an individual, taking into account the stages of its psychophysiological maturation.
Postnatal developmental stage
This long segment of the life cycle includes:
- The juvenile period of development is up to 21 years for women, up to 22 years for men, that is, it lasts from birth to puberty of the individual.
- Mature - the period of adulthood, puberty.
- Old age - from 55 years for women and from 60 for men.
The development of any organism is individual, since it is influenced by hereditary factors and living conditions: the quality of nutrition, care, features of the natural and educational environment, etc. Therefore, people born at the same time differ in psychophysiological indicators. Therefore, if any processes in human organisms proceed with individual intensity and duration, then the biological age of a person may not substantially correspond to the calendar.
Growth and Ripening Phase
So we can confidently call the juvenile period of human development. Each of its stages is the formation and improvement of psychophysiological qualities that serve as a preparatory step for the emergence and development of the following, more complex:
- 1st month of life - the neonatal period: the adaptation of all body systems to a new environment based on innate reflexes;
- from 1 month to a year - thoracic: intensive psychophysiological development. With the development of brain functions, babbling appears, and then the first words, hearing, vision, and motor skills are improved;
- 1-3 years - pre-school age, early childhood: the growth of all body systems, rapid speech, psycho-emotional development;
- 3-6 years old - preschool age: the main activity is play, active knowledge of the environment;
- 6-17 years old - school age: study is the main occupation, social rules and norms are actively assimilated, spiritual and moral development takes place.
By the end of the juvenile period, sexual (physiological), psychological and social maturity is achieved. An individual must have self-control and resistance to external negative influences, the desire for self-improvement, readiness for social interaction and responsibility to society for his actions.
Features and signs of puberty
The characteristic of the juvenile period will be incomplete if you do not pay attention to such an important part of it as puberty. This word refers to the puberty of the body. In boys, it lasts from about 10-11 to 16 years, and in girls from 9 to 15-16. External signs of puberty appear later than the hormonal restructuring of the body begins. In this case, significant individual fluctuations in children of both sexes are possible, which is often the subject of their serious experiences when comparing themselves with their peers.
The most typical is the following sequence of manifestations of puberty.
In boys:
- An increase in the size of the testicles and scrotum.
- Start pubic hair growth.
- Penis lengthening.
- Coarsening of the voice.
- The appearance of armpit hair.
- Nocturnal emissions due to the intensive production of sperm.
- A sharp increase in growth.
- The growth of the size of the prostate gland.
- Peak growth in physical strength.
In girls:
- A sharp increase in growth.
- The appearance of pubic hair (fluff).
- Changes in breast size, rounding of the hips, the appearance of armpit hair.
- The growth of the genital organs (uterus, vagina, clitoris, labia).
- Growth and darkening of pubic hair.
- Breast growth, darkening of the nipples, armpit hair.
- Slowing down body growth.
- The beginning of menstruation (menarche).
- Completion of breast formation, pubic hair growth, in armpits.
- About a year after the onset of menstruation, the girl's body is capable of conception.
At the beginning of puberty, some of the boys may begin to round their hips. Or changes in the breast will become visible: approximately in the middle of this period, it may increase, a darkening of the paralosal circle is observed. Over time, these processes slow down and disappear.
The difficulties of the psychological maturation of girls
Juvenile and pubertal periods of ontogenesis are characterized not only by physiological, but also psychological problems. Hormonal changes can cause emotional instability, negative behavioral reactions to external events.
A girl in her teens, as a rule, tries to look and behave like a real woman. Therefore, the appearance of the first menstruation is a symbol of a pass to this adult life. She has a sense of self-worth, fullness, equality with friends who have already had this event. The desire for adulthood can lead to the alienation of girls from parents, increases conflict with the mother. She strives for personal autonomy, wants to be independent.
Others can perceive changes in their bodies with fear, squeamishness if others (mother, sisters, friends), by their own attitude, form such an idea about this natural physiological process in them. Psychological discomfort is caused by back pain, lower abdomen and other unpleasant sensations.
The early onset of puberty, external changes (rapid body growth, weight gain) can cause stress in some girls, shame, and others, on the contrary, pride and superiority over their peers. Hence, changes in behavior: isolation and irritability or uncontrollability, close relations with boys with psychological immaturity.
Features of the psychological development of boys
Anxiety and a state of self-doubt are also characteristic of boys in the juvenile and puberty periods, when the first nocturnal ejaculations, erotic dreams and fantasies appear, growth sharply increases, and the voice breaks. On the one hand, this is an occasion for teenage pride, and on the other, for shame and uncertainty: “Is everything all right with me?” Sudden, uncontrolled erections can lead to isolation, the desire to avoid situations when a teenager is in front of other people (speaking to an audience, parties, meetings).
Compared to late-ripening, early-ripening boys, as a rule, are more physically developed, feel more confident among their peers and seniors, tend to actively participate in solving adult problems, begin to communicate with girls faster. Peer companies often become leaders.
Scientists have determined that boys who mature late are psychologically more vulnerable: they tend to have internal tension, self-doubt, anxiety, and impulsive behavior. They compensate for external shortcomings (short stature, weight, lack of physical strength) by striving to be in the spotlight, popular by all means among peers and among adults.
Boys in the puberty, as well as girls, experience alienation from their parents, increased conflict of relations (especially with their mother). Teenagers are prone to rash decisions and actions because of the desire to prove to others their adulthood and independence.
Endogenous factors
The uneven, non-synchronous development and growth of various organs of the human body and individual individuals in the juvenile period are due to several reasons:
- gender dependence of the individual;
- heredity;
- the influence of the natural and social environment.
Hereditary factors, or endogenous, determine the appearance (family similarity, national characteristics) of a person, his physique, and the rate of ontogenetic development. Signs of genetic heredity can occur at different stages of ontogenesis, but decrease in the puberty period.
External conditions of ontogenesis
Exogenous factors, that is, the environmental conditions of the growth and development of the individual, are subject to a large extent to conscious regulation by the family and society:
- social and material conditions;
- psychological;
- environmental.
Climate as another factor of ontogenesis does not depend on the will of people, but also affects the timing of the puberty period. For example, puberty in northern people occurs later than in those who live in temperate climates.
The better the nutrition, care, sanitary conditions, material support of a person in the juvenile period, the higher the rate of his psychophysiological development. In this regard, children from low-income families noticeably more often lag behind peers from the rich.
The production of growth hormone in a child’s body can be somewhat inhibited if the child experiences frequent stresses, disrespectful, neglectful attitude towards himself and his needs. Its physical development may be lower than that of children from families with a favorable psychological climate.
The most important for normal development and human health, including in the juvenile period, are the environmental conditions of its existence. Pollution of soil, water, food, air by industrial and household waste, excessive use of chemicals, inability or unwillingness of people to take care of a healthy domestic climate - these are the causes of distortions of the natural processes of human development.