PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

IN ADOLESCENCE
 ADOLESCENCE: BIOSOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
…the body changes of early
adolescence rival those of
infancy in speed and drama…the
difference however is that
adolescents are aware…

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 WHAT IS ADOLESCENCE?
• Time period
Adolescence: transitional period
between childhood and adulthood
• It is a biological and cultural
phenomenon experienced
differently across time and culture.
• Adolescence ≠ Puberty
 WHAT IS ADOLESCENCE?

Adolescence is defined by the World

Health Organization (WHO) as the
period of life between 10 to 19 years of
age.
 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:
ADOLESCENCE

 Beginning: Pubertal changes

 Developmental differences between

boys and girls
Pubertas- age of manhood/womanhood
Note: Puberty brings forth the most rapid
increases in growth since infancy.
 Adolescent Growth
Spurt and Puberty
 Events and timing of sexual maturation differ
for boys and girls

 Timing of puberty is regulated by genes,

nutrition, and health
 PUBERTY BEGINS
• Puberty
• menarche
• a girl’s first menstrual period,
signaling that she has begun
ovulation. Pregnancy is
biologically possible, but
ovulation and menstruation are
often irregular for years after
menarche

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 PUBERTY BEGINS
• Puberty
• spermarche
• a boy’s first ejaculation of
sperm. Erections can occur as
early as infancy, but ejaculation
signals sperm production.
Spermache occurs during sleep
(in a “wet dream”) or via direct
stimulation

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 PUBERTY INVOLVES…
• Growth spurt
• Weight gain
• Adult body composition
• Secondary sexual development
(breasts, pubic hair, genital
development)
• Menstrual periods and sexual maturity
 PUBERTY BEGINS
• When will puberty Start?
• …the average age of onset
varies…
• the average age is between
11 and 12
• but is still considered normal
between the ages of 8 and14

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 THE TRANSFORMATIONS
OF PUBERTY
• Growing Bigger and Stronger
• GROWTH SPURT
• the relatively sudden and rapid
physical growth that occurs
during puberty… each body part
increases size on a schedule;
weight usually precedes height,
and the limbs precede the torso

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 12

THE TRANSFORMATIONS
OF PUBERTY
Sequence: Weight, Height,
Muscles
◦when, where, and how much
weight depends on heredity, diet,
exercise and gender
◦girls gain much more fat than boys
◦weight and height increase before
the growth of muscles and internal
organs
 THE TRANSFORMATIONS
OF PUBERTY
• Other body changes
• organs grow and become more efficient
• lungs triple in weight
• adolescents breathe more deeply and
slowly
• the heart doubles in size and beats more
slowly
• blood pressure and volume both increase
• weight and height increase before the
growth of muscles and internal organs

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 PUBERTY BEGINS
• Sex Hormones
• gonads
• paired sex glands (ovaries in females,
testicles in males) that produce hormones
and gametes
• estradiol
• a sex hormone, considered the chief
estrogen. Females produce more estradiol
than males do
• testosterone
• a sex hormone, the best known of the
androgens (male hormones); secreted in
far greater amounts by males then by
females

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 THE TRANSFORMATIONS
OF PUBERTY
• Sexual Body Changes
• primary sex characteristics
• the parts of the body that are directly
involved in reproduction, including the
vagina, uterus, ovaries, testicles, and
penis
• secondary sex characteristics
• physical traits that are not directly
involved in reproduction but that
indicate sexual maturity, such as a
man’s beard and a woman’s breasts

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 NORMAL PUBERTAL
DEVELOPMENT
Age
Characteristic Range
Breast development begins 8-13 years
Breast development complete 12-18 years
Pubic hair appears 8-14 years
Growth spurt begins 9-14 years
Menarche 10-16 years
WHAT CAUSES PUBERTY?
 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
IN PUBERTY
◦ Pubertal with rapid physical changes
involving hormones
◦ Genetic factors are involved in
puberty
◦ Puberty involves the interaction of the
hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and
gonads
◦ The onset of puberty varies among
individuals
 THE HYPOTHALAMUS
Small structure at the
base of the brain
Regulates many body
functions
Regulates the pituitary
gland
THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
 THE PITUITARY GLAND
• The Master Gland
• Hypophysis
• Secretes the most number of
hormones
 HORMONES

• Powerful chemicals secreted by the

endocrine glands; carried through the
body by the bloodstream

Androgens: The main class

of male sex hormones.

Estrogens: The main class

of female sex hormones.
 SEX HORMONES
Sex hormones are secreted by the gonads
and by the adrenal glands

Androgens
Masculinizing hormones
Estrogens
Feminizing hormones
 GROWTH HORMONE
Cells of body in response to growth hormone
During childhood GH is at maximum
1. Too little and we have dwarfism
2. Too much and we have gigantism
Makes hands, feet, jaw, nose, and eye
sockets (orbits) enlarged
often accompanied by acromegaly
(continued growth of extremities of bones)
 ACROMEGALY
• Abnormal growth of the hands and feet, and face,
caused by overproduction of growth hormones by the
pituitary gland.
 OVARIES
• Functions:
• Pair of reproductive organs found in
women that produce eggs.
• Also secrete estrogen and
progesterone, which control ovulation
and menstruation.
 TESTES
• Functions:
• Pair of reproductive glands that
produces sperm.
• Also secrete Testosterone to give the
body its masculine characteristics.
• Figure 6.10 Hormonal influences on physical development.
•End for now!