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Essay on Essay on The Developmental Characteristics of Puberty
Puberty represents a period of dramatic physiological change that is unparalleled in development. Not surprisingly, this maturational process has a profound impact on the psychological functioning of youth. One of the most intense changes to occur at puberty involves body image, which refers to cognitive and emotional perceptions of one's body. The changes in body image are particularly striking because they involve marked gender differences. Body dissatisfaction is the most widely studied aspect of body image disturbances, which afflict a large segment of the population and appear to have adverse sequela including eating pathology, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and unnecessary cosmetic surgery.
The physiological changes that characterize puberty are mediated by the endocrine system and include an accelerated growth rate, increased muscle development (both skeletal and smooth muscle), growth of pubic and axillary (underarm) hair, and growth in genitalia. Other changes that occur include increased acne and the development of sebaceous (oily) and apocrine (sweat) glands. There are also several sex-specific changes: wherein boys experience facial hair growth, voice deepening, and the development of broader shoulders; girls experience breast development, menarche, and the development of broader hips. Perhaps most germane with regard to body image, these changes collectively result in a marked increase in adipose tissue for girls and in muscle mass for boys by the completion of puberty.
The physiological changes wrought by puberty are thought to differentially interact with the socially defined attractiveness ideals for the two sexes. The current attractiveness ideal is ultraslender for females but muscular for males. Thus, the dramatic increase in adipose tissue that occurs in puberty moves girls away from the sociocultural ideal of attractiveness. Theoretically, this divergence from the attractiveness ideal results in elevated body dissatisfaction for girls during adolescence.......
