Middle adolescence is the age range of 14-16 years. During middle adolescence, emotions tend to be calmer compared to early adolescence. There is deeper cognitive development, impulsive thinking decreases, and thinking becomes more careful and logical. Adolescents can adapt to situations and are more flexible. They begin to explore themselves, take pride in themselves, recognize their strengths, develop their weaknesses, and seek their identity and needs in order to grow into more mature adults.
What are the emotions like in middle adolescence?
Emotions become calmer, with thoughts focused on self-improvement and development, including socialization. There is still a strong desire for friends, wanting to have close friends and be part of a group. There may be conflicting opinions and resistance toward parents, which is because adolescents want to create their own space, seek independence, and gain acceptance from those around them.
Psychological changes in middle adolescence
They are curious and observant, watching the reactions of people around them to judge the outcomes of their actions. As their abilities and bodies grow, interesting and challenging things around them begin to appear, testing their capabilities. Supporting and encouraging children to maintain their curiosity, desire to see, try, and have opportunities to experiment with new and strange things within appropriate limits according to their age helps them enter adolescence with pride in their past experiences.
Therefore, it can be seen that training and giving children opportunities to try doing the right things should start from childhood. They should be gradually taught about the dangers of many things in society and how to solve problems, learning both good and bad. Training children to try things that are worth trying but teaching them to restrain themselves from dangerous things is an important method from school age. On the contrary, adolescents who have never been trained to think or try first will experience confusion, turmoil, lack of knowledge, lack of skills, lack of practice, and lack of trial and error experience. This group is therefore at high risk. Adolescents whose parents neglect or never teach them self-control tend to do whatever they want without disappointment or concern about how their actions affect those around them.
Correctness and fairness are important for middle adolescents
At this age, fairness is often considered a characteristic of adulthood. Adolescents take correctness and fairness according to their own views very seriously and want to do many things to demand and respond to fairness, both personally and socially. Therefore, it is common to see adolescents debating and expressing opinions about various things happening around them and in daily life.
Dr. Chonnipa Kaewpoolsri
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist
Child and Adolescent Health Center, Phyathai 2 Hospital
