CampusDownWiki CampusDown ↗
English

Theories of Adolescent Development

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated
Quick answer: adolescent development theories explain the changes from puberty to early adulthood, centring on identity formation and abstract thought.
Contents
  1. 1. Main theories
  2. 2. Current view
  3. 3. References

Main theories

  • G. S. Hall (1904): adolescence as a period of 'storm and stress'.
  • Erikson: stage five, identity vs role confusion, where answering 'who am I?' is the key task.
  • Piaget: formal operations bring abstract, hypothetico-deductive thinking.
  • Marcia (1966): four identity statuses - achievement, moratorium, foreclosure and diffusion - based on exploration and commitment.
  • Elkind (1967): adolescent egocentrism through the imaginary audience and the personal fable.
  • Lewin: the adolescent as a 'marginal man' between child and adult.

Current view

Modern research does not see adolescence as necessarily turbulent. Brain studies suggest reward and emotion systems mature before the prefrontal cortex, raising risk-taking, while ecological approaches stress family, school, peers and media.

References

  1. Hall, G. S. (1904). Adolescence. Appleton.
  2. Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3(5), 551-558.
  3. Elkind, D. (1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38(4), 1025-1034.
  4. Steinberg, L. (2017). Adolescence (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

There are no materials dedicated to this theory yet, but you can search related reports in the CampusDown library (Korean).

Find more reports · Search '청소년 발달 이론' on CampusDown →
Erikson's Psychosocial Development TheoryErikson's eight psychosocial stages explained: crises and virtues from trust vs. mistrust to integrity vs. despair, identity, comparison with Freud, criticisms, and report examples.🧠 PsychologyMaslow's Hierarchy of NeedsMaslow's hierarchy of needs explained: definition, the five levels, deficiency vs. growth needs, the pyramid myth, empirical criticisms and limitations, report examples for social work, nursing and business, and references.🧠 PsychologyCognitive Dissonance TheoryFestinger's cognitive dissonance theory explained: definition, dissonance reduction, the $1/$20 experiment, effort justification, free choice, criticisms, and report examples.🧠 PsychologyFreud's Psychoanalytic TheoryFreud's psychoanalytic theory explained: definition, the conscious, preconscious and unconscious, the id, ego and superego, psychosexual stages from oral to genital, defense mechanisms, criticisms such as falsifiability, report examples and references.🧠 Psychology

You may also like

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)Brown v. Board of Education (1954) summary: the case, Chief Justice Warren's unanimous ruling, why 'separate but equal' fell, and what happened after.⚖️ LawIntestate SuccessionWho inherits when someone dies without a will: how U.S. intestacy statutes rank spouses, children and other relatives, how per stirpes works, and how Korea's Civil Act sets heirs, shares and representation.⚖️ LawThe Rule of LawWhat is the rule of law? Its meaning and history from Magna Carta to United States v. Nixon, Dicey and Fuller's principles, and how it differs from rule by law.⚖️ LawCommon Law vs. Civil LawCommon law vs. civil law: how the two legal families differ on sources of law, precedent, trials and judges, and where Korea's mixed system fits between them.⚖️ Law

This article was last updated on October 15, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.