Adolescence, Theories of
B M Newman, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
P R Newman, Wakefield, RI, USA
ã 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Glossary
Autonomy: Achieving a state of self-reliance and self-
determination; not being dependent on others for
emotional regulation or decision-making.
Drive: A Freudian term describing an unconscious force
compelling some action to dispel the tension created by a
biological or intrapsychic need within the organism.
Ego: A component of the Freudian psychic system that
operates in both the unconscious and conscious realm,
charged with gratifying drives without encountering
recriminations from the world outside the unconscious self.
Equilibrium: A Piagetian term in which cognitive structures
that represent reality symbolically “inside one’s head” match
the reality they are attempting to describe.
Introduction
Adolescence is both universal and culturally constructed,
resulting in diverse views about its defining characteristics.
Across cultures, people experience a gradual physical transition
from childhood status to adult status including changes in
reproductive capacities, physical stature, body shape, strength,
endurance, and the maturation of the brain. The period of
pubertal development may begin as early as age 9 and continue
into the 20s. Cultures vary widely, however, in how young
people are treated including the timing of access to certain
rights and privileges, entry into specific settings, and expecta-
tions for assuming adult roles and responsibilities. Social
environments may accelerate the transition into adulthood
or delay it.
A theory is a logical system of concepts that helps explain
observations and contributes to the development of a body of
knowledge. Theories of adolescence help to define the bound-
aries of the period by pointing to essential features of one or
more aspects of adolescent functioning. Some theories provide
a framework for distinguishing stages or phases within adoles-
cence, offering concepts that differentiate the essential capaci-
ties that emerge over the years of pubertal maturation. Theories
distinguish adolescence from childhood and early adulthood,
placing this period into the context of the lifespan.
Theories of adolescence differ in their scope and range of
applicability. Some theories, sometimes referred to as grand
theories, offer concepts and hypotheses about multiple do-
mains, usually over a long period of the lifespan, and are ap-
plicable across multiple contexts. Psychosexual theory is an
example of a grand theory which encompasses ideas about the
dynamics of mental life, sexual and aggressive drives, morality,
family dynamics, personality, and psychopathology. The grand
theories are often stimuli for more focused, mid-level theories
that address a specific domain or process.
20
Ethologist: One who studies the relations between human
(or animal) organisms and their environments.
Id: An unconscious component of the Freudian psychic
system that is focused on gratifying all desires and needs of
the organism.
Social role: A status or position within an organization or
society with prescribed patterns of behavior.
Superego: An unconscious component of the Freudian
psychic system representing the child’s understanding of
parental/societal rules and expectations; thus, a person’s
“moral compass.”
Virtual community: A group of individuals who have
relationships strictly through the electronic media, not face-
to-face interaction.
In other instances, mid-level theories stand alone as models
for explaining particular aspects of behavior. For example,
social network theory focuses on the way individuals become
affiliated with one another, how allegiances are formed, and
the links and influences that occur across members of various
groups. This theory has relevance for understanding the social
and interpersonal experiences of adolescents and the spread of
antisocial or prosocial attitudes and behaviors in peer groups.
Finally, some theories are of emerging importance to the
study of adolescence. For example, biosocial theory which has
emerged from evolutionary theory, incorporates knowledge
about brain functioning into social cognition, the interaction
of emotion and cognition, and the impact of environmental
conditions on the expression of genetic predispositions.
Families of Theories
The following sections provide an introduction to 10 families
of theories that have guided scholarship in the field of adoles-
cent development. Families are identified by their link to a
shared intellectual tradition or theoretical foundation, and
their contribution to the understanding of a common set of
questions about adolescent development. For each family, we
provide an overview of the scope of the theory, that is, a
description of the theory’s range of applicability. We also
present basic assumptions about the nature of development,
and contributions to the field of adolescent development and
behavior.
Psychosexual Theories
Scope
Psychosexual theory is a grand theory that addresses the develop-
ment of mental life and personality, including drives, emotions,
memories, fantasies, dreams, logical and irrational thoughts.
Encyclopedia of Adolescence, Volume 1 doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373915-5.00003-6

The theory provides an analysis of the developmental origins of
mental life, the role of early experiences in shaping later psycho-
logical functioning, the nature of inner conflicts, and the causes
of symptoms associated with mental disorders.
Assumptions
Sexual and aggressive drives find unique modes of expression
in the individual’s psychological functioning through succes-
sive developmental stages. Childhood experiences have a
continuing influence on adult thoughts and behavior. All
behavior (except that resulting from fatigue) is motivated and
has meaning.
Contributions of psychosexual theory for adolescence
Psychosexual theory views adolescence as the beginning of the
final stage in the development of mental life and personality.
During this period, the person develops sexual interests and
seeks to find ways of satisfying sexual impulses in mature,
dyadic relationships. The onset of puberty brings about a rea-
wakening of Oedipal or Electra conflicts (in which individuals
have a close, emotional, somewhat sexualized bond to the
other-sex parent and a competitive feeling toward the same-sex
parent) and a reworking of earlier childhood identifications.
Sigmund Freud introduced the concept of ego and its exec-
utive functions in managing the expression of impulses, nego-
tiating between the id and the superego, striving to attain goals
embedded in the ego ideal, and assessing reality. Building on
this conceptualization, several mid-level theories emerged
which highlight aspects of ego functioning and the nature of
ego development from adolescence into adulthood.
Anna Freud outlined new ego capacities that emerge from
infancy through adolescence. She highlighted the various
threats that id poses to ego at each stage of development, and
provided a classification of defense mechanisms that ego uses
to protect itself from unruly and unacceptable impulses. She
gave special attention to the period of adolescence as a time of
increased sexual and aggressive energy which is linked to the
biological changes of puberty. At this time, children are likely
to be overwhelmed by libidinal energy and ego is more or less
fighting for its life. Anger and aggression become more intense,
sometimes to the point of getting out of hand. Appetites
become enormous. Oral and anal interests resurface, expressed
as pleasure in dirt and disorder, exhibitionistic tendencies,
brutality, cruelty to animals, and enjoyment of various forms
of vulgarity. Adolescents may vacillate in their behavior from
loving to mean, compliant to rebellious, or self-centered to
altruistic, as ego tries to assert itself in the midst of conflicting
and newly energized libidinal forces.
Peter Blos expanded the concept of ego and the mechan-
isms of defense by theorizing about coping mechanisms that
emerge in adolescence as young people find ways of adapting
psychologically to the physical transitions of puberty. By the
end of adolescence, ego conflicts present at the beginning
of puberty are transformed into more manageable aspects of
identity construction. Blos noted five major accomplishments
of ego development for young people who navigate adoles-
cence successfully:
1. Judgment, interests, intellect, and other ego functions
emerge which are specific to the individual and very stable.
Adolescence, Theories of 21
2. The conflict-free area of ego expands, allowing adolescents
to find satisfaction in new relationships and experiences.
3. An irreversible sexual identity is formed.
4. The egocentrism of childhood is replaced by a balance
between thoughts about oneself and thoughts about others.
5. A boundary between one’s public and private selves is
established.
A number of other scholars expanded the theoretical analy-
sis of ego development, highlighting the creative and adaptive
nature of ego functioning in adolescence and the ego’s role in
shaping individuality and identity.
Cognitive Developmental Theories
Scope
Cognition is the process of organizing and making meaning
of experience. Cognitive developmental theory focuses on how
knowing emerges and is transformed into logical, systematic
capacities for reasoning and problem solving. Perhaps the most
widely known and influential cognitive theorist is Jean Piaget.
Assumptions
Humans strive to achieve equilibrium, a balance of organized
structures within motor, sensory, and cognitive domains. When
structures are in equilibrium, they provide effective ways of
interacting with the environment. Whenever changes in the
person or in the environment require a revision of the basic
structures, they are thrown into disequilibrium.
Contributions of cognitive developmental theory for
adolescence
Cognitive developmental theory hypothesized a unique stage
of thinking that emerges in adolescence, formal operational
thought. According to Inhelder and Piaget, at this stage a
person is able to conceptualize about many variables interact-
ing simultaneously. Formal operational reasoning results in
the creation of a system of logical principles that can be used
for problem solving. Thought becomes reflective, so that ado-
lescents can think about their thinking, evaluate logical infer-
ences of their thoughts, and form hypotheses about the
relationships among observations. Formal operational rea-
soning is propositional and probabilistic; the person can
hypothesize about possible outcomes and evaluate the likeli-
hood of one outcome over another. This is the kind of intelli-
gence on which science and philosophy are built.
Theoretical work outlining stages of cognition and the pro-
cesses that bring about changes in reasoning led others to
explore whether this same quality of thought might apply in
domains other than scientific reasoning. Two mid-level the-
ories emerged, one focusing on moral development led by
Lawrence Kohlberg, and one focusing on social cognition,
with work by Robert Selman, William Damon, and others.
These theories described qualitative shifts in reasoning from
childhood to adolescence, hypothesizing about the ability of
adolescents to step back from their own point of view, and to
take multiple perspectives into account as they evaluate moral
and social scenarios.
The theoretical characterization of formal operational
thought led to extensive empirical investigation. Although
research generally finds that adolescents are better able than
22 Adolescence, Theories of
younger children to solve problems involving multiple vari-
ables and problems in which they have to inhibit the impulse
to reach an answer before processing all the information, these
abilities are not universally well developed in adolescence.
They are strongly influenced by culture and schooling, and
they do not emerge as a clearly coordinated ‘package’ of new
capacities at a specific time associated with puberty. As a result,
recent theorists have focused on specific aspects of reasoning.
This work is converging with studies in neuroscience on the
maturation of the prefrontal cortex, and focuses on features of
executive functioning and meaning making.
Work by scholars such as Deanna Kuhn and Paul Klaczynski
point to the role of mental representations and the awareness
of alternative interpretations in adolescents’ ability to solve
specific reasoning problems. Klaczynski identified two comple-
mentary processes that improve in adolescence. One results
in increased speed of processing, automatic recognition of
patterns that have been experienced in the past, and quick,
well-rehearsed responses. The other increases a person’s ability
to allocate attention and manage the controlled execution of a
task. Klaczynski argues that what develops in adolescents is
a greater capacity to inhibit the reliance on first impressions,
stereotypes, and overly simplistic solutions as they review and
evaluate information. Kuhn suggests that the trajectory of cog-
nitive development in adolescence is especially sensitive to the
person’s self-directed engagement with cognitive challenges.
The range and diversity of cognitive abilities observed among
adolescents are products of the differences in interest, motiva-
tion, and values that adolescents invest in specific types of
problems and their solutions.
Identity Theories
Scope
Erik Erikson introduced psychosocial theory, which addresses
patterned changes in self-understanding, identity formation,
social relationships, and worldview across the lifespan.
A major contribution of psychosocial theory is the identifica-
tion of adolescence as the period of life when a person for-
mulates a personal identity, a framework of values and
commitments that guide major life choices in the transition
to adulthood. The construct of personal identity has stimulated
many theories that consider the process of identity formation
and the relationship of identity to subsequent developmental
goals, especially intimacy, academic attainment, career paths,
and ideological commitments.
Assumptions
Development is a product of the ongoing interactions between
individuals and their social environments. Societies, with their
structures, laws, roles, rituals, and sanctions, are organized to
guide individual growth toward a particular ideal of mature
adulthood. However, every society faces problems in attempt-
ing to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of
the group. All individuals face some strains as they seek to
express their individuality while maintaining the support of
their groups and attempting to fit into their society. Attaining
maturity involves reduced reliance on the expectations and
plans of others. These are replaced by new levels of self-
determination and focus on one’s own aspirations and goals.
Contributions of identity theory for adolescence
The psychosocial crisis of adolescence, personal identity versus
identity confusion, highlights the need for individuals to find
self-definition and a sense of meaning and purpose as they
move into adulthood. The achievement of personal identity
requires reworking the self concept, including an integration of
past identifications, current talents and abilities, and a vision
of oneself moving into the future. Identity formation is widely
adopted as a central developmental challenge of adolescence.
The concept captures the spirit of a push toward individuality,
societal values of self-determination and agency, and expecta-
tions that young people will begin to take ownership of their
path toward adulthood by making commitments to specific
roles and values, and by rejecting others.
One of the most widely used frameworks for assessing
identity status was devised by James Marcia. Erikson concep-
tualized identity as a tension between two states: identity
achievement and identity confusion. In contrast, Marcia differ-
entiated four states based on two criteria: crisis and commit-
ment. Crisis consists of a period of role experimentation and
active decision making among alternative choices. Commit-
ment consists of demonstrations of personal involvement in
occupational choice, religion, political ideology, and interper-
sonal relationships. Identity status is assessed as identity
achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, or confusion. People
who are classified as identity achieved have experienced a
period of questioning and exploration, and have made occu-
pational and ideological commitments. Those classified as
foreclosed have not experienced a period of exploration, but
demonstrate strong occupational and ideological commit-
ments. Their occupational and ideological beliefs are often
close to those of their parents. People classified as being in a
state of psychosocial moratorium are involved in ongoing
crisis and questioning. They have postponed their commit-
ments, but are comfortable with experiencing a period of
open exploration. Those classified as identity confused are
unable to make commitments, and experience anxiety and
distress about their uncertainty.
This framework of identity formation and identity status
has led to mid-level theories about specific aspects of identity,
including gender identity, career identity, ethnic identity, and
multicultural identity. In each of these areas, scholars have
recognized the dynamic interaction between personal qualities
and the social roles, opportunities, and demands that may exist
at the time.
Theorists such as Michael Berzonsky and Wim Meeus have
provided micro theories to explore differences in how young
people process identity-relevant information. For example,
some adolescents are very close-minded, rejecting experiences
that disconfirm their strongly held beliefs. Others are open
to diverse experiences, seeking new ideas and information to
widen their view of what might be possible in life. These
theories focus on daily experiences that provide information
which may confirm or modify the sense of identity.
Evolutionary And Biosocial Theories
Scope
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how diverse and
increasingly more complex life-forms come to exist.

Assumptions
Natural laws that apply to plant and animal life also apply to
humans.
Contributions of evolutionary theory for adolescence
A major implication of evolutionary theory for adolescence is
that the future of a species depends on the capacity of indivi-
duals to find a mate, reproduce, and rear their young. Factors
that contribute to the health of individuals as they reach repro-
ductive age, characteristics of environments that promote or
discourage mate selection, and capacities of sexually mature
partners to protect and rear their offspring are highlighted.
Since adolescence is the period when mature sexual and repro-
ductive capacities flourish, and when attitudes toward marriage
and childbearing crystallize, the quality of life for adolescents
has essential implications for the future of the species.
Ethologists ask about behavioral systems that serve adaptive
functions. Among those, one of the most robust is the ability of
infants to signal distress in order to engage caregiving behaviors,
and the ability of caregivers to comfort, soothe, and protect their
infants from harm. Attachment theory explores these abilities,
suggesting that as result of sensitive, responsive caregiving,
infants form mental representations of self and other, and an
expectation about whether or not they can rely on their caregivers
to provide safety and comfort. When caregiving is indifferent,
harsh, or unpredicatable, infants form an insecure, anxious, or
disorganized mental representation of their caregivers. These
mental representations generalize to other significant close rela-
tionships, especially friendships, romantic relationships in ado-
lescence, and parenting as adults. According to attachment
theory, there is the possibility of continuity or revision of the
attachment relationship in adolescence. Attachment to parents
in later adolescence and adulthood has been characterized as
reflecting one of three orientations:
1. autonomous, which is reflective of an open, confident nar-
rative about parent–child relationships;
2. dismissive, which is reflective of minimizing the parent–
child relationship, accompanied by an inability to recall
many details of the relationship; or
3. preoccupied, which is reflective of continuing anger toward
parents and a confused, vague, or passive narrative.
Older adolescents who have a secure relationship with their
parents can begin to explore the ideological, occupational, and
interpersonal alternatives that provide the content for their
own identities. Those who are still emotionally dependent on
their parents and require constant reassurance of their affection
show a greater tendency to experience identity confusion.
Contemporary applications of evolutionary theory focus
on the integration of biological and social forces to create a
biosocial analysis of development. The concept of pheno-
type reflects this integration– the expression of genetic struc-
ture in a specific environment. The work of Jay Belsky and
Lawrence Steinberg provide examples of this biosocial
approach. Studies that combine biological mechanisms such
as endocrinology, immunology, or genetics and behavior have
contributed to our understanding of the establishment of
gendered behavior, sexual interest, strategies of mate selection,
and the relationship of harsh or rejecting parenting and the
onset of puberty.
Adolescence, Theories of 23
Family Theories
Scope
Family theories focus on the dynamic interactions among
family members, describing changes in typical patterns of
parent–child relationships, and the characteristics of family
interactions that enhance or disrupt development. From an
evolutionary perspective, families have evolved as the social
context to support human development. Human infants have
few innate reflexes, but they have a wealth of sensory and
motor capacities to engage in social interactions, and an enor-
mous capacity to learn. Families have evolved as contexts
within which infants and children are protected from harm,
nurtured, educated, and socialized into their cultures.
Assumptions
Development in families is reciprocal. The changing abilities,
roles, and needs of each family member influence the devel-
opment of other members of the family group, and the
family’s level of functioning has consequences for develop-
ment of each individual member.
Contributions of family theories for adolescence
Introduced by Evelyn Duvall and Ruben Hill in the 1940s,
family development theory offered a conceptualization of
families changing in a systematic pattern from family forma-
tion to widowhood. In the most well-known version of family
development theory, two stages are of particular relevance
for adolescence, when children enter adolescence, and when
the children are leaving the family, called the launching
stage. In the first of these stages, parents need to find ways
to help adolescent children establish their separate identities.
Adolescents are thought to be able to contribute in new ways
to the tasks of the family, and at the same time, parents are
challenged to accommodate adolescents’ desires for more
space, resources, and personal freedom. Maintaining open
communication during this period may be difficult due to
the increased activity of adolescents coupled with the involve-
ment of parents in the labor market. The second stage is
the first phase of family contraction. As children leave home,
families adapt by changing patterns of communication and
reallocating resources. Relationships between children and
their parents may become more ambiguous, and parents may
be less clear about how to support their children who are
striving to achieve a new level of self-sufficiency.
The concept of differentiation, which emerged from Murray
Bowen’s conceptualization of family systems theory, is asso-
ciated with psychosocial maturity and a healthy emergence of
individuality in adolescence. Within the family context, iden-
tity exploration is facilitated by an open exchange of ideas and
a certain level of challenge. Adolescents require opportunities
to express their separateness within the boundaries of the
family. This takes place as parents encourage their children to
express new ideas and differing points of view without making
them feel guilty when they disagree. Ideally, individuality is
achieved in a context of mutual caring and emotional support.
Olsen’s circumplex model of family systems emphasizes
the importance of a balance among three dimensions: cohesion,
flexibility, and communication for preserving adaptive function-
ing in families. Adolescence presents new challenges in each of
24 Adolescence, Theories of
these domains as adolescents’ efforts to establish an expanded
voice in decision making and new levels of autonomy may dis-
rupt earlier patterns of family interactions, boundaries, and rules.
Differentiation requires an age-appropriate balance between
autonomy and connection. Laurence Steinberg has conceptua-
lized the nature and development of autonomy. Autonomy is
the ability to regulate one’s behavior and to select and guide
one’s own decisions and actions without undue control from or
dependence on one’s parents. In optimal parent–child relation-
ships, within the context of emerging autonomy, the sense of
connection is still preserved. Built on a history of nurture and
care, parents and children strive to preserve a continuing close,
supportive relationship into adulthood. However, those bonds
are reworked in later adolescence and early adulthood through
a process of self-definition. Adolescents who achieve autonomy
can recognize and accept both the similarities and the differ-
ences between themselves and their parents, while still feeling
love, understanding, and connection with them. Adolescents
who experience high levels of parental control and frequent
exposure to parental conflict are likely to have difficulties in
achieving a comfortable sense of autonomy.
Parenting practices are theorized to have a substantial impact
on adolescents’ behavior, including academic achievement, peer
relationships, capacity for self-regulation, and emerging identity.
The theoretical construct of parenting styles has been described in
various ways by Baumrind, Hoffman, Darling and Steinberg, and
Maccoby and Martin. Theories of parenting typically consider the
ways that parents coordinate warmth and control, closeness and
flexibility, reciprocity and bidirectional communication, and
power. Parenting styles have been characterized as authoritarian
(high control, low warmth), authoritative (high control, high
warmth), permissive (low control, high warmth), and neglectful
(low control, low warmth). Other theories of parenting use the
term ‘democratic parenting’ to refer to the willingness to involve
children in decision making while still communicating clear and
high standards for behavior. Parenting styles that combine emo-
tional warmth, high standards, and open communication are
thought to be optimal for supporting emotional maturation
and emerging identity in adolescence. Recent theories by
Meeus, van Doorn, and Branje focus on the context of the adults’
marital relationship as it impacts the parent–child relationship
and the effectiveness of parenting practices. High levels of marital
conflict and unresolved tensions in the marital dyad are trans-
mitted to the adolescent–parent relationship and undermine the
effectiveness of authoritative parenting.
Interpersonal Theories
Scope
Interpersonal theories highlight the social nature of humans and
the central role of belonging, connection, and social or group
identity for well-being in adolescence. George Herbert Mead and
Charles Cooley provided a framework for thinking about the
social construction of the self which takes shape as other people
respond to our gestures and actions. With increasing maturity,
one begins to anticipate the reactions of others, thereby forming
a social self, a set of expectations about how one’s behavior will
evoke reactions in others. Family is considered the primary group
in which face-to-face interactions are especially salient and have
the greatest impact on shaping self-concept.
Assumptions
Interpersonal behavior has an evolutionary basis. Humans are
social animals whose survival depends on integration into
social groups. Thus, humans have strong needs for a sense of
connection and belonging to social groups. Humans collabo-
rate and communicate in complex ways to achieve shared
goals. Humans have needs to be understood. The goal of
communication is the coordination of understanding between
two or more people around shared meaning. Communication
is made possible when people engage in interactions that
involve mutually shared symbols. Anxiety results from pro-
blems in interpersonal relationships. When people do not
have shared symbols to express their emotions, fantasies, or
thoughts, their mental lives become isolated.
Contributions of interpersonal theories for adolescence
In adolescence, the need for group belonging expands beyond
the family to include other kinds of group affiliation. Two lines
of theory have emerged within the interpersonal perspective,
one focusing on the nature of close, dyadic friendships includ-
ing popularity, loneliness, peer rejection, and best friends, and
the other focusing on the nature of peer group structure, group
affiliation, and peer group influences.
Harry Stack Sullivan, who influenced the former line of
theory, identified adolescence as a time when the capacity for
intimacy is emerging. He described three phases of adolescence:
1. preadolescence when children form close personal best
friend relationships, typically with same-sex friends;
2. early adolescence when teens extend their friendships to
include members of the other sex and begin to explore
sexualized interactions; and
3. late adolescence, when a person discovers how to integrate
sexual feelings and intimacy in a close relationship.
Work by Denise Kandel, Duane Burhmester, Willard Hartup,
Thomas Berndt, Steven Asher, and Andrew Collins among many
others have contributed to this line of theory about close rela-
tionships to develop a detailed picture of changing capacities for
close friendships, increasing importance of friends in middle
childhood and adolescence, the emergence of romantic rela-
tionships, and stability and change that characterize friendship
relationships throughout adolescence.
Dexter Dunphy, who provided a framework for the second
direction, described two patterns of peer group boundaries:
cliques (small groups of about six members who enjoy
frequent face-to-face interactions) and crowds (looser asso-
ciations among several cliques). Cliques provide the imme-
diate context for interpersonal interactions. Recent theories
by Herman Schwendinger, Bradford Brown, and others view
crowds in a different way, as prototypes for social identities.
Crowds are usually recognized by a few predominant charac-
teristics, such as their orientation toward academics, involve-
ment in athletics, use of drugs, or involvement in deviant
behavior. Crowds are more reputational than cliques, reflecting
students’ values and attitudes, preferred activities, and school
and nonschool engagement. Phil and Barbara Newman’s analy-
sis of group identity versus alienation as the psychosocial crisis
of early adolescence expanded on the salience of group identi-
fications during this period of life. Group identity is a develop-
mental precursor to personal identity. Chronic conflict about

one’s integration into meaningful groups and associated feelings
of alienation can lead to lifelong difficulties in areas of personal
health, work, and the formation of intimate family bonds.
An emerging focus is the use of network theory to examine
the process through which adolescents become connected to
one another. Some scholars have used this approach to link
peer networks to adolescent drug use. This theory examines the
likelihood that people will form networks, the stability of these
networks, and patterns of influence within and among net-
works. Social network theory can be used to describe patterns
of social support, social identity, peer influence, contagion of
beliefs or risky behaviors, patterns of exchange of resources, or
the flow of information. Social network theory provides a way
of conceptualizing the value and meaning of virtual commu-
nities for adolescents such as those formed in the Internet, as
well as ways that adolescents are linked across communities
and countries.
Ecological Theories
Scope
Ecological theories focus on the interaction of persons and
environments with particular attention to how the features of
environments require unique adaptations, both physical and
psychological.
Assumptions
The father of ecological theory as it applies to human behavior
was Kurt Lewin who argued that all behavior must be under-
stood in light of the field or context in which the behavior
takes place.
Contributions of ecological theory for adolescence
Lewin saw the process of developmental change as a continu-
ous modification of regions, needs, and forces that encourage
or inhibit behavior. He viewed adolescence as an example of
how field theory might be used to interpret complex life events.
His primary analogy for adolescence was the image of the
‘marginal man’ straddling the boundary between two regions,
childhood and adulthood. This marginality includes being
scornful of the group one desires to leave and uncertain
about or even rejected by the group one wishes to join. Three
events occur during adolescence that explain many of the
phenomena characteristic of the life stage.
1. During a period of movement from one region to another,
the total lifespace is enlarged, bringing the young person
into contact with more information about the environment
and, presumably, about oneself.
2. A widening lifespace results in greater uncertainty about the
nature of each new region.
3. Biological changes associated with puberty alter inner-
personal regions and perceptual-motor regions of the
lifespace.
Rapid expansion of regions and uncertainty about both
personal and environmental structures of the lifespace result
in an emotional tension during adolescence. Characteristics of
adolescent behavior including emotional instability, value
conflicts, hostility toward group members, and radical changes
in ideology are results of the dramatic changes and persistent
instability in the adolescent’s lifespace.
Adolescence, Theories of 25
Lewin’s field theory inspired two related but distinct
theoretical elaborations: ecological theory, as formulated by
Roger Barker, and ecological systems theory, as formulated
by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Whereas Lewin concerned himself
with the psychological representation of the environment,
Barker studied the objective, measurable environment within
which the person behaves. Barker and his colleagues studied
how adolescents use and are influenced by the settings they
encounter. One of the most influential studies to emerge
from this perspective compared behavior settings in large
enrollment and small enrollment high schools. Students at
small schools felt greater pressure to participate in the life
of the school. Students at large schools were more likely
to become specialists in specific activities, whereas students
at small schools were more likely to develop general,
well-rounded participation and competences. These findings
supported the theoretical proposition that development in
adolescence is, in part, a product of the normative expectations
and opportunities for participation in behavior settings of
one’s community.
Urie Bronfenbrenner expanded ecological theory to encom-
pass the wider interlocking system of systems in which human
behavior takes place. The study of development requires an
analysis of changes that occur within systems, as well as
changes that take place as a result of interactions among sys-
tems. Some changes are patterned, developmental transforma-
tions, such as change in a child’s capacity for coordinated
movement and voluntary, goal-directed action. Other changes
are societal, such as a community decision to restructure a
school system from an elementary (Grades K–6), junior high
(Grades 7–9), and high school (Grades 10–12) system to an
elementary (Grades K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8), and
high school (Grades 9–12) system. Some changes reflect the
decline or improvement of resources in a setting.
The concept of person–environment fit, a theoretical
outgrowth of the ecological systems perspective, has been
elaborated by Jacquelynne Eccles, who focused on the appro-
priateness of middle school environments in relation to the
developmental needs of adolescents. She examined middle
school at the classroom, school, and district levels, pointing
out discrepancies between the desired directions for growth
in early adolescence and the educational structure and oppor-
tunities typically provided for students in these schools.
This approach highlights challenges to adaptation that occur
when environments are poorly designed for the developmen-
tal competences of individuals who are required to function
in them.
Social Role and Life Course Theories
Scope
Social roles serve as a bridge between individuals and their
society. Every society has a range of roles, and individuals
learn about the expectations associated with them. As people
enter new roles, they modify their behavior to conform to
role expectations. Each role is usually linked to one or more
related or reciprocal roles such as student and teacher, or
parent and child. Life course theory focuses on the integration
and sequencing of roles and role transitions over time in
historical context.
26 Adolescence, Theories of
Assumptions
All cultures offer new roles that await individuals as they move
from one stage of life to another. Development can be under-
stood as a process of role gain and role loss over the life course.
Contributions of social role and life course theory for
adolescence
Some roles are directly associated with age, such as the role of
a high school student. Other roles may be accessible only to
those of a certain age who demonstrate other relevant skills,
traits, or personal preferences. In many elementary schools, for
example, fifth-grade students serve in the role of crossing
guards to help younger children cross the streets near the school.
Families, organizations, and communities have implicit theo-
ries of development that determine what role positions open up
for individuals in adolescence. Graduating from high school,
getting a job, voting, or joining the military are examples of role
transitions that bring new expectations during adolescence. The
stress of adolescence can be explained in part by expectations for
teens to be involved in many time-intensive, highly structured
roles at the same time.
From the life course perspective, the person’s identity is
formed by the roles one enacts and by the timing of entry
into or exit from salient roles in relation to one’s peers and
community. Glen Elder studied the impact of the Great
Depression on children. He found that those who were ado-
lescents during the depression coped more effectively than
those who were young children. Under conditions of parental
unemployment and economic hardship, adolescents were able
to contribute to their family by earning a bit of money or
taking on responsibilities for younger children while their
parents looked for work. In contrast, young children felt
more helpless in the face of their family’s economic strain.
In the transition into adulthood, adolescents in families with
fewer economic resources are more likely to make early transi-
tions into roles such as worker and parent, transitions that
carry with them a sense of being older than their peers.
Each person’s life course can be thought of as a pattern of
adaptations to the configuration of cultural expectations,
resources, and barriers experienced during a particular time.
For example, Ingrid Schoon has focused on the transition from
dependent childhood to productive adulthood in a changing
sociohistorical context, and the intergenerational transmission
of disadvantage. The impact of timing on role transitions has
been a long-term interest in the study of the onset of puberty.
Studies have focused on pubertal timing, especially early and
late maturing. Early pubertal timing foreshortens the develop-
mental phase of middle childhood and accelerates the young
person’s entry into social roles and related expectations that are
usually delayed until an older chronological age.
Cultural Theories
Scope
Culture refers to systems of meanings and patterns of behaviors
shared by a group of people and transmitted from one genera-
tion to the next. Physical culture encompasses the objects,
technologies, structures, tools, and other artifacts of a group.
Social culture consists of norms, roles, beliefs, values, rites, and
customs.
Assumptions
Culture guides development through encounters with certain
objects, roles, and settings, and also through the meanings
linked to actions. There is a bidirectional influence between
individuals and their cultures: individual development is
shaped by culture, but individuals also create and modify
cultures. Whereas the capacity to create culture is universal,
generalizations about human development are limited by
their cultural context.
Contributions of cultural theories for adolescence
The extent to which development is viewed as distinct stages
of life depends on the degree to which socialization within
a culture is characterized by continuity or discontinuity. Con-
tinuity is found when a child is given information and respon-
sibilities that apply directly to his or her adult behavior.
For example, Margaret Mead observed that in Samoan
society, girls of 6 or 7 years of age commonly took care of
their younger siblings. As they grew older, their involvement
in caregiving increased; however, the behaviors that were
expected of them were not substantially changed. When
there is continuity, development is a gradual, fluid transfor-
mation, in which adult competencies are built directly on
childhood accomplishments. Discontinuity is found when
children are either barred from activities that are open only
to adults or is expected to ‘unlearn’ information or behaviors
that are accepted in children but considered inappropriate for
adults. The change from expectations of virginity before mar-
riage to expectations of sexual responsiveness after marriage is
an example of discontinuity.
Culture interacts with biological development in determin-
ing whether development is perceived as stage-like and how
each period of life is experienced. This concept is illustrated by
the ways in which different cultures mark an adolescent girl’s
first menstruation. In some societies, people fear menstruation
and treat girls as if they were dangerous to others. In other
societies, girls are viewed as having powerful magic that will
affect their own future and that of the tribe so they are treated
with new reverence. In still others, the perceived shamefulness
of sex requires that menstruation be kept as secret as possible.
Cultures thus determine how a biological change is marked by
others and how it is experienced by the person. The internali-
zation of certain cultural values and beliefs can serve as impe-
diments to achievement through mechanisms such as
stereotype threat, as demonstrated in the work of John Ogbu
or Claude Steele, or as buffers against stress, as illustrated in the
writings of Bame Nsamenang about the convergence of tradi-
tional and modern approaches to education in Africa.
The dimensions of individualism and collectivism provide
another cultural lens for understanding adolescent develop-
ment. Adolescence is a particularly salient time for the devel-
opment of ideology. Cultural socialization toward a more
individualistic or collectivistic worldview is likely to be trans-
formed from adherence to the values of parents and other
community leaders into an internalized sense of personal
beliefs and life goals. The formation of personal identity,
including crystallization of a sense of oneself in the future,
is shaped by the incorporation of an individualistic or collec-
tivistic sense of adult responsibility and maturity. This has
implications for a young person’s orientation to work, family,

citizenship, and moral obligations. Cigdem Kagitcibasi sug-
gests that individualism and collectivism at the cultural level
reflect needs for autonomy and relatedness at the individual
level. Despite pressures from urbanization toward a more
autonomous self-construal, the well-being of individuals
requires an effective balance of these two sets of needs.
Dynamic Systems Theories
Scope
Systems theories describe characteristics of systems and the
relationships among the component parts found within the
system. In any system, the whole is more than the sum of its
parts. Whether it is a cell, an organ, an individual, a family, or a
corporation, a system is composed of interdependent elements
that share some common goals, interrelated functions, bound-
aries, and an identity.
Assumptions
Systems change in the direction of adjusting to or incorporat-
ing more of the environment into themselves in order to
prevent disorganization as a result of environmental fluctua-
tions. The components and the whole are always in tension.
What one understands and observes depends on where one
stands in a complex set of interrelationships.
Contributions of dynamic systems theories for adolescence
All living entities are both parts and wholes. An adolescent
is a part of a family, a classroom or workgroup, a friendship
group, and a society. An adolescent is also a whole – a coordi-
nated, complex system composed of physical, cognitive, emo-
tional, social, and self subsystems. Part of the story of
development is told in an analysis of the adaptive regulation
and organization of those subsystems. Simultaneously, the
story is told in the way larger systems fluctuate and impinge
on individuals, forcing adaptive regulation and reorganization
as a means of achieving stability at higher levels of system
organization.
Richard Lerner, who has advanced the study of adolescence
through developmental systems theory, emphasizes the ongo-
ing interaction and integration of the person across many
levels from the genetic to the behavioral level, within the
nested contexts of the person, family, community, and culture.
Plasticity, the capacity for change, is at the heart of this
approach. Both individuals and their contexts have potential
for change, and for fostering or constraining change across
boundaries. The magnitude of change that is possible varies
across individuals and contexts, as well as within individuals
over the lifespan. The person in the setting is the focus of
analysis. The boundary between the person and the environ-
ment is fuzzy; as an open system, a person is continuously
influenced by information and resources from the environ-
ment and, at the same time, creates or modifies the envi-
ronment to preserve system functioning.
Isabela Granic and Gerald Patterson applied the dynamic
systems theory perspective to an understanding of the etiology
of antisocial behavior, providing new ideas about the estab-
lishment of antisocial behavior patterns. First, they explored
the process through which daily interactions contribute to the
emergence of more complex systems of behavior. They used
Adolescence, Theories of 27
the idea of attractors to characterize several types of stable
patterns of parent–child interaction, and introduced the idea
of cascading constraints. This term refers to the fact that once
behaviors are organized as attractors, these attractors become
structured and resist change. Therefore, they serve to constrain
future behaviors. This idea captures the reality that an attractor
is both the result of interactions that occur before the behavior
has stabilized and the cause of behaviors that occur once the
attractor has been formed.
Positive youth development is a strength-based perspective
emerging from the convergence of several theoretical ideas:
resilience, positive psychology, ecological theory, and develop-
mental systems theory. Resilience is a term used to characterize
individuals who exhibit positive outcomes in the face of threats
to development such as prolonged, severe poverty, or a parent
with a serious mental illness. Faced with these or other diffi-
culties, resilient individuals show low levels of psychological
symptoms and function effectively in the basic developmental
tasks expected for their stage of life. Over time, they create lives
that integrate their own personal strengths with the resources
and opportunities of their community, meeting the com-
munity’s expectations for maturity. Although the experience
of resilience is highly individual, reflecting unique patterns of
life challenges and coping strategies, the notion of resilience
underscores a widely shared human capacity to recover from
adversity. Theorists have identified a small number of factors
that support resilience including relationships with high func-
tioning, supportive adults in the family; intelligence; self-
control; high self-esteem; and a strong desire to have a positive
impact on their environment.
Positive psychology, advanced through the writings of
Martin Seligman, views individuals as active agents who can
enhance their lives and achieve new levels of happiness and
fulfillment through the decisions they make. Hope and opti-
mism are highlighted as ego strengths that counteract the
negative impact of discouraging thoughts and experiences.
Hopefulness is associated with higher goals, higher levels of
confidence that the goal will be reached, and greater persistence
in the face of barriers to goal attainment, thus leading to higher
overall levels of performance. Because hopefulness combines a
desire to achieve new goals and a belief that one will be able to
find successful paths toward those goals, it is essential for
behavior change. The application of positive psychology to
adolescence has been advanced by William Damon who
focused on the development of ‘noble purpose.’ Damon has
identified ways that young people show evidence of positive
development by making meaningful and sustained commit-
ments to projects that benefit the larger community.
Peter Benson extended the application of resilience and
positive psychology to an analysis of the relationship of opti-
mal development to both internal and external assets. Internal
assets are physical, intellectual, emotional, and social capaci-
ties. External assets are supports, expectations, and opportu-
nities that are likely to enhance development. The premise of
the assets perspective is that communities can enhance youth
development by providing programs that include opportu-
nities for youth to acquire or strengthen their assets. Positive
development occurs when the strengths of youth are aligned
with resources for growth in key contexts, especially home,
school, and community.
28 Adolescence, Theories of
Why So Many Theories?
The diversity of theories presented above reflects the multifac-
eted nature of adolescence as well as different ideas about
factors that account for growth and the direction of maturity.
Growth at puberty and the associated changes in physical
stature and reproductive capacity are accompanied by impor-
tant changes in cognitive capacities, interpersonal competence,
and emotional life. In most societies, the adolescent years
typically bring changes in social roles, access to new settings,
and expectations for new levels of self-sufficiency, social
engagement, and self-control. Adolescence is at once a time
of intrapsychic and interpersonal transformation.
Theories of adolescence have played a key role in highlight-
ing the complexity of this period of life, especially clarifying
advances in reasoning, emotional expression, and the com-
plexity of social roles and interpersonal relationships. Theory
has led the way in focusing attention on the capacity of ado-
lescents to direct the course of their development through the
formation of a personal identity. Yet, no theory of develop-
ment addresses all these domains.
The prominence of theories changes over time, influenced
by other sectors in the study of development and other related
disciplines. New evidence from cognitive neuroscience, genetic
research, and the biological bases of behavior are informing the
way we think about emotion and cognition, and the impor-
tance of social contexts for supporting cognition. The diversity
of youth, including racial, ethnic, and cultural variations as well
as international studies of youth, casts a new light on normative
expectations about pathways from childhood to adulthood.
The diversity of settings has also received new attention through
the study of families, peer groups, schools, and communities,
resulting in a new appreciation for the challenges adolescents
face as they traverse multiple environments.
Evolving Need for New Theoretical Approaches That
Address Emerging Knowledge and the Questions That
Such Knowledge Inspire
New evidence and observations result in the expansion,
revision, or rejection of aspects of earlier theories. Earlier
theories that placed a strong emphasis on either biological
maturation or environmental control are being replaced by
theories that take a more probabilistic view of development
as the changing person encounters multiple environments that
are also changing.
As we review the focus and emphasis of current theories,
several areas require new theoretical perspectives.
1. There is a need for more consideration of the bidirectional
influence of adolescents and their parents, especially how
parenting an adolescent may contribute to the emergence of
a more generative capacity among adults and how adoles-
cents who observe their parents enacting various life roles
are influenced toward their own identity strivings.
2. Changes in the nature of later adolescence and the increas-
ingly ambiguous trajectory into adulthood have implica-
tions for identity theory, family theory, and the notion of
positive youth development. As cultural pathways toward
adulthood change, we need new ways of conceptualizing
psychosocial maturity in adolescence.
3. Relatively little theory is available to guide thinking about
the nature of care and caregiving among adolescents, yet
we know that in many cultures and in many families in the
United States, adolescents provide important care for youn-
ger siblings and for aging grandparents.
4. The challenge to dynamic systems theory is to understand
the reciprocal regulation of the person and the environ-
ment over time. How is the person shaped and defined by
the contexts in which he or she functions? How does the
person influence these contexts to foster more optimal
environments for growth? The theory needs to be elabo-
rated to consider the active role of adolescents in choosing
settings, modifying the settings in which they engage,
and determining the intensity of involvement in these
settings/activities.
5. There has been a separation between theories that focus
on logical thought or reasoning and theories that focus on
other aspects of mental life, especially drives, emotions, and
motivation. New research in neuroscience suggests that
cognition and emotion work together in complex ways
to evaluate situations and plan actions. New theories are
needed to conceptualize the way that emotion and reason
converge during adolescence to guide decision making.
Current theories offer inadequate consideration of feelings
of guilt, shame, pride, and joy in life as they influence
mental life.
6. The evolutionary emphasis on the social nature of human
beings leads to new attention to underlying needs to
belong, motivation for connection, and the impact of social
exclusion in adolescence. Theory is needed to guide think-
ing about how strivings toward belonging and strivings
toward personal identity influence each other during
adolescence.
7. As society changes, adolescents are on the forefront of
adaptation to new technologies, family contexts, economic
opportunities, and educational resources. Given the neural
plasticity that is ongoing during adolescence, we assume
that adolescents are adapting new cognitive structures
that allow them to cope with the changing environment.
Scholars need to pay closer attention to adolescents’ ways
of thinking, their patterns of behavior, and the nature of
their relationships in order to gain greater insight about
likely pathways into adulthood for the next generation.
This will require an interdisciplinary, qualitative approach
that will inform new theory.
See also: Attachment; Cognitive Development; Cultural Influences on
Adolescent Development; Globalization and Adolescence; The History
of the Study of Adolescence; Stages of Adolescence; Transitions into
Adolescence; Transitions to Adulthood.
Further Reading
Brown B and Dietz EL (2009) Informal peer groups in middle childhood and
adolescence. In: Rubin KH, Bukowski WM, and Laursen B (eds.) Handbook of Peer
Interaction, Relationships, and Groups. New York: Guilford.

Collins WA and Steinberg L (2006) Adolescent development in interpersonal context.
In: Damon W and Eisenberg N (eds.) Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 4:
Socioemotional Processes, pp. 1003–1067. New York: Wiley.
Eccles JS and Roeser RW (2009) Schools, academic motivation, and stage-environment
fit. In: Lerner RM and Steinberg L (eds.) Handbook of Adolescent Psychology,
3rd edn., pp. 404–434. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Granic I, Dishion TJ, and Hollenstein T (2005) The family ecology of adolescence:
A dynamic systems perspective on normative development. In: Adams G and
Berzonsky M (eds.) Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence. New York: Blackwell.
Kroger J (2007) Identity Development: Adolescence Through Adulthood, 2nd edn.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kuhn D (2008) Formal operations from a 21st century perspective. Human Development
51: 48–55.
Masten AS (2001) Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American
Psychologist 56: 227–238.
Newman BM and Newman PR (2007) Theories of Human Development. New York:
Psychology Press.
Repetti RL, Taylor SE, and Seeman TE (2002) Risky families: Family social
environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological
Bulletin 128: 330–366.
Adolescence, Theories of 29
Romer D and Walker EF (2007) Adolescent Psychopathology and the Developing Brain.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Silbereisen RK and Lerner RM (eds.) (2007) Approaches to Positive Youth
Development. London: Sage.
Smith SR, Hamon RR, Ingoldsby BB, and Miller JE (2009) Exploring Family Theories.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Relevant Websites
http://social.jrank.org/pages/16/Adolescence.html – Adolescence – grand
theories of adolescent development, biological changes associated with
puberty – social changes associated with adolescence in Western industrialized
countries.
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type¼doc&id¼7924&cn¼28 – Major
child development theories and theorists.
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentstudyguide/p/devtheories.htm – Theories
of development.
http://classweb.gmu.edu/awinsler/ordp/theory.html – Theories of development.