Young People

Challenges for adolescents

• Accepting changes in body
• Adjustment to changes in sexuality
• Changes in relationships
• Becoming emotionally independent
• Achieving a useful social role
• Achieving economic independence
• Choosing values and morals by which to live
• Choosing a lifestyle & finding a place to belong
• Independent Decision making and problem solving

Factors which can make adolescence difficult:

• Changes from childhood to adulthood
• Hormonal: sexual and aggressive feelings
• Decreasing trust in adults and authority
• Pressure to be like friends
• Questioning identity; who am I?
• Loss: death, divorce of parents etc
• Feeling of being different
• Experimentation & risk taking
• Unemployment & poor education
• Conflict with parents
• Feeling lonely
• Homelessness (DV, CSA, child abuse or neglect etc)
• Physical illness