In the social transition between childhood and adolescence, boys draw on discourses of masculinity that address the male body in constituting themselves as adolescents. They make themselves as no longer children and acquire a sense of themselves as adolescents by performing bodily practices that position them within some of these discourses.…

Although physical activity may provide a means for adolescents to improve their physical appearance and subsequently lessen body-related concerns, the fear of being negatively evaluated by others can act as a barrier to physical activity. Moreover, environments where people are constantly looked at and evaluated--such as physical education…

This paper describes the struggle to develop a female sexual identity and the importance of the roles of the father and mother in this struggle. The clinical illustration is taken from the psychotherapy of an anorectic adolescent.

In this article, the author describes the various changes that are experienced by young adolescents. Physically, early adolescents are growing faster than at any other time in their lives except infancy. They experience significant increases in weight, height, heart size, lung capacity, and muscular strength. Intellectually and cognitively, early…

First- and second-born adolescent siblings from 21 families completed a daily diary on each of 7 days. The frequency and content of siblings' conversations are described and the relationship between the content of siblings' discussion and their perceived academic, athletic, and peer competency is explored. Siblings most often talked about…

The psychosocial impact of puberty on changes in girls' feelings about their bodies and their sexuality is discussed. We present a model of girls' sexuality development that incorporates puberty, self, and peer systems. (Contains 2 figures.)

A lifespace has to do with how selves are mediated by combining multiple cultural symbols to construct an identity in the world. The authors cite examples from media texts, as well as from a narrative study conducted with 10 adolescent girls in a treatment program for eating disorders, that illustrate the importance of practitioners considering…