comparison and contrast essay childhood vs adulthood

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Differencies and Similarities Between Childhood Vs Adulthood

• Categories: Adulthood Body Childhood

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Works Cited

• Arnett, J. J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press.
• Berger, K. S. (2014). The developing person through childhood and adolescence. Worth Publishers.
• Buckingham, D., & Willett, R. (2013). Digital generations: Children, young people, and the new media. Routledge.
• Collins, W. A. (2016). More than myth: The developmental significance of romantic relationships during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26(1), 1-22.
• Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. Norton.
• Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (2009). Methods and measures: The network of relationships inventory: Behavioral systems version. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(5), 470-478.
• Kuczynski, L., & Parkin, C. M. (2007). Agency and bidirectionality in socialization: Interactions, transactions, and relational dialectics. In J. E. Grusec & P. D. Hastings (Eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (pp. 259-283). Guilford Press.
• Lerner, R. M., & Steinberg, L. (Eds.). (2009). Handbook of adolescent psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley.
• Steinberg, L. (2005). Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(2), 69-74.
• Tanner, J. L. (2006). The transition from adolescence to young adulthood: A theoretical perspective. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(2), 223-231.

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Compare and contrast Childhood and Adulthood

Category: Blog , Parenting On October 30, 2016 By Various Contributors

Introduction:  Childhood and adulthood are two different – but equally important – times in our lives. This article compares and contrasts childhood and adulthood in depth.

What is childhood?  Childhood is the period of time when we are still growing up. Childhood is often contrasted with the period of ‘infancy’, in which we are still young babies.

As children, we can think and speak for ourselves, but we have yet to become adults.

What is adulthood?  Adulthood is the time in our life when we are ‘grown up’, though we may still be developing as people.

Throughout the world, the beginning of adulthood is usually legally deemed to occur at a certain age – for instance 18 or 21 years old.

However, it can also be argued that we become adults as soon as we become independent, responsible for our own actions, and able to participate as part of society.

Differences between childhood and adulthood.

1. Independence.

Childhood is a time when we must live according to our parents’ rules, and obey the rules of our schools as well. By contrast, during adulthood we have much more independence and can generally choose things like where we want to live, what we want to eat, and what job we will do.

2. Responsibility.

Childhood is generally characterized as a period of our lives in which we are relatively free of care: people are looking after us and taking care of our needs for us. By contrast, during adulthood, we need to take more responsibility for ourselves – this can include financial responsibility as well as moral responsibility for our actions.

3. Knowledge.

As adults, we have accrued much more knowledge and experience of the world than we possess as children. This knowledge can come from formal education, but it can also come from simply interacting with other people in the world.

4. Freedom.

Though it might be argued that adults have more responsibilities than children, they also have a greater degree of freedom. One example is travel. Children can very often not travel unaccompanied whereas an adult can go wherever they want, whenever they want. Another example is deciding what to do with their day. Adults do not need to ask their parents’ permission if they want to go out to see friends or do a little shopping. By contrast, children usually need to ask their parents if they are allowed to do certain things – and they certainly cannot do them during school hours.

5. Memories.

Adults have built up a larger store of memories than children have. In fact, we usually cannot remember anything earlier than our third or fourth year of life: many of our childhood memories are lost to us. As a result, adults have more of a longer life history, and a richer store of experience than children do.

6. Innocence.

Childhood is often defined as a period of innocence, when we are shielded from the challenges and difficulties of life. By contrast, it is often argued that part of being an adult involves facing up to these challenges head on. However, many people say that in fact children are not as innocent as we would believe them to be, and that they are perfectly capable of understanding difficult situations (for instance, a parent’s illness) with maturity and emotional depth. Parents often find that shielding their children from ‘unpleasant’ facts can simply frustrate the child or make it hard for them to face such facts head on later in life.

7. Identity.

As children, we are often seen in relation to our parents – the child of so and so. However, as adults, we are identified in different ways: for instance, by our job, by our education, or by our hobbies and interests. It may be asked, though, whether this is an intrinsic difference between children and adults, or whether this is simply due to the ways in which other people view us differently when we are children and when we are adults.

8. Parenthood.

As children, we look up to our parents for love and guidance. Though this is still a feature of our relationship with our parents when we become adults, as adults we can also become parents ourselves. Moreover, very often, our experiences of childhood help to shape the types of parents that we become during adulthood. And, in their turn, our children may use us as their models when they come to be parents themselves. Thus, it is important to always strive to be a loving, good parent as we are thereby setting a good example for our children to follow.

As adults, we tend to have a wider range of skills than children do. For example, adults can drive a car, write in joined up handwriting, do more complex mathematical sums and so on. These are things that children either find difficult to do or are even legally forbidden to do. Nonetheless, it is also true that children sometimes have a greater aptitude for learning new skills than adults do. It is said, for example, that it is easier to learn a second language fluently as a child than as an adult.

10. Bodily differences.

Growing taller, getting a deeper voice (for men), and noticing gray hairs are all bodily differences that mark adults out as different from children. Another physical difference between children and adults is that children will often seem to have more energy than adults too – and will be running around and playing games all of the time – and yet children will also get tired earlier in the day and require more sleep than adults do. Being aware of the physical differences between children and adults is important for medical professionals as it enables them to give the very best care to all of their patients, both young and old.

There are definitely differences between childhood and adulthood. However, this distinction is not always as sharp as we initially think. And, of course, everyone is an individual with their own experiences of being a child and then becoming an adult. So, what are the key differences between childhood and adulthood for you? Is there anything that you think should be added to the 10 points above?

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Home Essay Samples Life Adulthood

Childhood and Adulthood: Compare And Contrast the Main Phases of Life

Table of contents, physical changes and development, emotional and psychological shifts, responsibilities and autonomy, perspective and worldview, conclusion: a continuum of transformation.

• Berk, L. E. (2017). Child Development. Pearson.
• Erikson, E. H. (1982). The life cycle completed (Vol. 8). W. W. Norton & Company.
• Arnett, J. J. (2006). Emerging adulthood: Understanding the new way of coming of age. In Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 3-19). American Psychological Association.
• Santrock, J. W. (2016). Life-span development. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Lerner, R. M., Steinberg, L., & Dombusch, S. M. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of adolescent psychology (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.

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Compare and Contrast Essay on Childhood vs Adulthood

Introduction.

There are different stages of growth in a person's life. These stages can be classified into two main categories: adulthood and childhood. Childhood is the period when an individual is still growing up (Keenan, Thomas, Subhadra Evans, and Kevin 14). On the other hand, adulthood is the period when a person is grown up. How an individual lives these stages is drastically different, although some specific aspects such as mind behavior and reasoning can be similar or different. This paper will analyze the similarities and differences between childhood and adulthood by using aspects such as reasoning, actions, and thoughts.

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Reacting and Responding: Contrasting Actions and Responses of Adults and Children

Adults and children can be contrasted in how they react and respond to situations. Children act in a free manner, not considering the views and feelings of others around them. Adults tend to think and act according to the surrounding environment and situations. Adults are more aware of the thoughts and feelings of other people near them. Children do not think so much about a situation but act according to impulse (Keenan et al.44).

On the other hand, adults are not controlled by impulse. Society expects adults to behave and act in specific ways depending on the situation. As such, adults have a certain level of pressure that makes them behave in a manner acceptable in society. Although children are expected to act in a specific manner by society, they do not feel so much pressure when acting contrary to social expectations.

Freedom: Contrasting Levels of Freedom between Childhood and Adulthood

Both children and adults have different levels of freedom. Although adults have more responsibilities, they have more freedom when compared to children. Adults can travel to different places on their own. On the contrary, children have limited freedom. Children often travel with the company of an adult. Adults have the freedom to make decisions on the activities they are supposed to carry out in a day.

On the other hand, children are instructed what to do during their day. Adults do not ask for permission from their parents to carry out their activities. Children must request permission from their parents to play or do their activities.

Responsibilities: Contrasting Levels of Responsibilities in Childhood and Adulthood

In childhood, there are fewer responsibilities while in adulthood, there are many responsibilities. Children are taken care of by other people, and their needs are the responsibility of the parents. Adults take care of themselves, their finances, and their actions (Timothy 66). As such, adulthood is a period of many responsibilities.

Adults have more knowledge and skills compared to children. The adult can possess vast knowledge from life experiences and skills from formal education. Moreover, an adult can acquire knowledge from interacting with other people and life situations. On the contrary, children have minimal knowledge and skills.

The childhood period is viewed as a period of innocence when individuals are protected from the difficulties and struggles of life. On the other hand, adulthood comprises being able to face and handle those challenges. Although children go through emotional problems such as sicknesses, on most occasions, they are shielded from the challenges of life when compared to adults.

Biological Differences: Contrasting Physical Characteristics and Energies of Children and Adults

Biologically, childhood is a growth stage. During childhood, children grow and develop their bodies and way of thinking. Children's bodies are robust when compared to adults. Children can recover from diseases and injuries faster compared to adults (Keenan et al. 56). Children cannot remember many of their childhood experiences, especially those that are earlier than three years. On the contrary, adults have a wide experience and memories that they can remember during their lives.

Adulthood is characterized by growing taller, developing a deep voice for men, and having grey hair. On the other hand, children have smaller bodies and are often short. Children tend to have more energy when compared to adults. For example, in most cases, children will be seen playing or running around all the time. Children get tired easily during the day, and they require more sleep at night when compared to adults.

Similarities: Common Traits and Behaviors Carried from Childhood to Adulthood

The childhood and adulthood stages exhibit some similarities. For instance, when a child develops a like or dislikes for a particular thing, he/she will carry on that behavior to adulthood. A child can like particular food types, a trait that he/she can have even during adulthood. Additionally, a child may develop fear for something that aspect will remain until adulthood. For example, a child may develop a phobia for particular pets such as dogs such that the trait is carried until adulthood.

Children like to behave like adults, especially during role-playing. For example, a child may like to be regarded as a father when playing games with others. Similarly, adults sometimes may want to act like children at some stages of their life. For instance, very elderly people may walk with their hands similar to children during their crawling stage. This shows that during childhood, a person desires the future life while during adulthood, an individual may exhibit some childhood behaviors.

Indeed, there exist many differences and similarities between childhood and adulthood. An individual's physical appearance changes from childhood to adulthood. Moreover, an individual's responsibilities, skills, and knowledge increase as one grow from childhood to adulthood. There are many challenges that are associated with each stage of life. However, challenging one should always aspire to have good experiences of each stage.

Works Cited

Keenan, Thomas, Subhadra Evans, and Kevin Crowley. An introduction to child development. Sage, 2016.

Timothy, A. Salthouse. Mechanisms of Age-cognition Relations in Adulthood. Routledge, 2018.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Essay:

Question: in what ways are there similarities and distinctions in how children and adults react in various situations, question: to what degree are children and adults free to make decisions independently.

Answer: Although adults have greater responsibilities and freedom than children, adults still enjoy greater mobility compared to them. Adults can travel independently between various places on a trip or make decisions regarding daily activities without needing permission from parents beforehand (Essay text).

Question: How do childhood and adulthood differ in terms of responsibilities?

Answer: Childhood is defined by being dependent, where others take care of all of a child's needs, including that of his/her parent(s). By contrast, adulthood requires taking on many responsibilities for oneself such as finances and actions (Timothy 66).

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childhood vs. adulthood

Updated 13 July 2022

Subject Aging ,  Emotions

Downloads 32

Category Health ,  Life

Topic Adult ,  Childhood Memories ,  Responsibility ,  Society

Adults in today's culture have so many commitments that they don't have time to engage in events they enjoyed as children. Nonetheless, remembering the days when I was a child and could survive without thinking about anything because my parents were in control and taking care of all of our daily needs, including making sure we slept, brings back wonderful memories. Adult life is very different, and parents are responsible for all of their wants, loved ones, and, to some extent, the well-being of those around them. This paper will provide a distinction between my life as an adult and child regarding responsibility, personality development, economical use of time, friendship and relationship development, decision-making, and aid to parents. Decision making There is a big contrast between adults and children regarding decision making and especially on how I acted and reacted to situations. I was so free in my actions and worried about nothing except my welfare, and it is only about time that I learn to consider the feelings and views of others. On the contrary, as an adult what I do is almost entirely controlled my thought processes and the perceptions of people surrounding me. Primarily instincts inform children's responses, but adults’ actions are driven by mental procedures and do not react on impulses, but behave in a manner acceptable by everyone in the society. As an adult, I am under intense pressure to act according to specific ethical standards, the same way I should, have behaved as a kid but I did not feel much pressure. Whether I choose to conform to this rule or not, the fact is adults are fully aware of these standards. With this knowledge, I make decisions aware of the repercussions to a certain extent. Responsibilities As a child, my parents provided all necessary needs, and I had the freedom of learning what life entails. I was free to learn what experience around involved and what their contribution is all about. Adults especially parents pushed and guided me until I developed to maturity; a point at which I was free to choose what is right or wrong for my life. As a grown-up, I am capable of standing alone. I depend on myself and provide my needs. I decide what is right for my life, and I motivate and encourage myself in achieving personal goals. Relationships and friendship development Developing friendship and nurturing relationships at childhood was very easy and quick. For instance, one kid could ask me, "Can we be friends?" In case the answer is yes, the friendships begin if otherwise, we could just relate casually without much attachment. In adults, friendships and relationships are complicated; I consider several factors like interests, personality, character, and attitudes before associations begin. Friendship formation in adults takes time to develop while in kids, it is quick and takes a short duration. Helping parents My duty as a kid in helping my parents was limited to minor activities primarily within the home. It is so because I was expected to be in school and also the law prohibits child involvement in work-related activities. However, as an adult, I have a duty of assisting and taking care of my parents especially when old. I can help in paying their bills like medication, housing, etc. Besides, in some cultures, it is my role as a young adult to check regularly if everything with my parents is ok. Time management (spending and organizing time) Kids have a little or no sense of time. In many cases, it is parents and other significant adults who help me in managing my time. Adults gave me a list of to do activities while away and they made follow-ups to check whether indeed I completed the assignments. The regular follow-ups made me gradually become responsible. On the contrary, I have a free choice on what to do with my time as an adult. I organize my day and always strive to achieve daily goals. The capacity of being a mature person compels me to behave responsibly. Personality development Personality development involves predictable behavioral patterns, attitudes, and perceptions which make an individual unique. The personality of a person develops through an interaction of character, temperament, and environment. The disposition of children is not fully developed, and in many instances, they may not portray consistent behavior in a similar event but different times. On the other hand, I have a fully developed personality; it is easy to predict my actions in a situation based on past encounters. Conclusion A significant difference exists between children and adults in several aspects of life. The expectations placed on children are much less than on adults. Kids have very few responsibilities to accomplish while the lives of adults follow a series of activities. Children have a limited sense of time management, and everything they do depends on assignments from parents. Further, kids aid their parents in simple operations while adults have enormous responsibilities towards their parents. Hence it can be said that the expectations of adults are much higher than in young children.

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Childhood Vs Adulthood Essay Samples

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Hood

Words: 1250

Published: 02/24/2020

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Adulthood is the recognition of oneself and being responsible and accountable for one’s actions. It is the stage where one achieves freedom from the direct control of their parent from the former stage of childhood. Adulthood is characterized by completion of school, entry into labor force and exit from parental house and direct care. Childhood on the other hand is a stage in life when one is strictly bound under the care of their parent. One has little freedom of choice or decision making since most of these are handled by the parents. In the childhood phase, an individual is strictly supervised, have no sense of responsibility as the parent carry out all their responsibility (Reitman, et al. 23).Comparing the two phase of life therefore, offers significant differences and similarities that can be compared and contrasted by the use of thought, action and the general will of a person at a particular age. While there are some similarities between adulthood and childhood, the two are very different identity phases of human life. Thesis statement: the similarities and differences between the phases of adulthood and childhood. Adulthood and childhood stages can be contrasted by their behavior and actions. In childhood, one is more compelled to act freely without being held responsible for what they do or in the manner by which they act. They take most of their times in learning how to interpret other people’s views and feelings when they are carrying out an action. On the other hand, adulthood is being aware of the world around you and being entirely controlled by thoughts and feelings of responsibility. One is compelled to act in the way that is morally and socially accepted by the society and take responsibility of their choice, decision and actions. The society has bigger expectations from the adults, adulthood phase is embedded in a social expectation that is expected by the society and one is aware of the same. This expectation increases the pressure and the burden of responsibility is made heavier. This is because as one works hard to fulfill their personal needs and interests, the society is closely observing to see how one adheres to the norms and how they behave in the expected manner or otherwise, restrictions are imposed. Childhood is contrary to this because in the phase of childhood, individuals act on impulse and learn what is socially acceptable in the course of growth (Reitman, et al. 33). The knowledge they obtain about the socially accepted behaviors, norms and values develop in their adult life. Thereafter, the society expects them to conform to those values. Children are provided with their need while adults work for them. In childhood, everything is provided by the parents and children have no obligation over anything. Most of their time is spent in learning about life. It could be learning how to associate, how to communicate and interact or on discovering how the world around them looks like. Their needs and requirements are met and provided for by the parents. They do not work and most of their time is spent playing or sleeping. Childhood is therefore spent on learning about the social structure, the surrounding and in acquiring skills and techniques on how to become a part of the dynamic society. Adulthood on its part is taking full control of one’s life; being responsible at home and at the workplace. It is the mastering the natural and social structure and being integrated to its functioning in such a way that one’s actions are morally upright and their behavior and decisions are aligned to the social expectations. It is working hard to satisfy one’s needs and achieve success by confirmative ways (Reitman, et al. 83). There are limited similarities between adulthood and young hood. However, the most common factor in both groups it seems they have overwhelmed ability for being narrow-minded. Therefore their thoughts are known to controls their actions. This is more similar to that of young hood since their basic thoughts and instinctive thoughts in most cases are the same. Another similarity is that children still need friends who they could share their best and happiest moment with (Reitman, et al. 63). Therefore they put an effort to socialize in order to have friends. On the other hand, adults cannot leave along without friends as quoted no man is an island therefore they socialize just like children to make friends whom they can share ideas in problem solving. Adulthood and childhood phases learn new things from social interaction and observation. Next, from point of view children always learn new things about their friends and about others or they can learn things new about themselves while this is applicable to the adults who too often learn new things about themselves or about others. These are key values that help people to live with each other. In certainty adults and children have many similarities. They learn how to control them and they can train themselves differences ways of controlling themselves. Similar thoughts may produce different actions time will come in which children will grow and learn what is really expected of them. They have dreams that project how they would wish to shape their future life. Children will have dreams just like adults that will help them to maneuver as they reach their ambitions and desires after being pushed by the environmental factors and the society as whole. Therefore what thoughts they will make ultimately as a decision, what they learned as a child and what they opt to recall when they are adult will shape them into the human they want to be, regardless of defined as adult or children (Reitman, et al. 87). They will have their own thoughts, their own actions, and their personality will drift them through their life which will be only unique to them. They might be creative in a similar way and do things with passion. In adult and children actions that are formed from thoughts may be surprisingly similar or drastically different. But what is most unique and similar is the ability to do what they desire with reasons they wish. Therefore the idea of doing what praises someone is known as the will is a person which is very strong in both children and adult in various ways. However some criticizes this will as focus will of adults versus the natural will in children but is all the same. Both adult and children take care of themselves mostly to their bodies for instance mechanical injuries (Reitman, et al. 23). In children they cry after getting an injury while in adults they seek medical attentions. In conclusion adults are defined by the norms and values of the society, environment and individuals of the society. The experience the children obtain and accumulate while growing olds make the most important distinct of how they will be when they will be adults. It is understandable that children grow up to become to become diverse adults reflecting on their errors and trials which later turned to be their experience. However, these make tremendous change between adults and children which is referred as tolerance of desire and responsibility resulting to their actions.

Works Cited

Reitman, Jason, Lianne Halfon, Russell Smith, Diablo Cody, Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Elizabeth Reaser, Patrick Wilson, and Rolfe Kent. Young Adult. Hollywood, Calif N.p., n.d. Print.

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Adulthood Vs. Childhood Comparison

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All stages of life are necessary as to what makes an individual human. Everyone experiences the challenges of growing up and residing in the actual world. There are good instances and hard times. We learn from everything we undergo and proceed to develop daily in any respect ages. Many traits in maturity like duties, wealth, and social status matter to most, however as a baby, the only things that matter are what they’ll dream to realize in the future. Though our childhood is a small part of our life, it impacts adulthood in so many ways.

During childhood and adulthood, we make errors, learn lessons, and grow from them. There are many traits which are comparable and different between childhood and adulthood like independence, id, and thoughts.

Everyone talks about their childhood and how they grew to be themselves today. As a baby, one feels they’re impartial when in reality, they are not. Children go to excessive school but solely due to their mother and father, they will make selections only because it’s too small to influence their life.

There just isn’t a accountability critical enough that would form themselves, or their lives later on as a end result of parents make sure they care for it and protect them. As an adult, there is no avoiding independence. Adulthood is intimidating as a end result of there’s not always someone to assist you make choices or direct you into the best path. Once one sees the actual world and what it actually entails, there is an understanding that one is actually on their own.

Parents are there to guide their baby every step of the finest way till they can’t anymore. There are benefits to both ends, with childhood there is not any fear about the future as a end result of youngsters have their dad and mom to back them up. As an adult, they’ll make a decision and not have to fret about what anyone else says. With that, there are unfavorable components to each side. As a child, if one desires to decide it goes through mother and father which could result in frustration with each other and dropping the little independence they felt they had. As an grownup, a decision can be hard because there are few people that one can ask opinions from, and the decision could lead to serious penalties.

Identity is the fact of being who or what a individual or factor is. During adulthood, one finds what their true id is. It could take somebody longer than others to know what identity means. As a baby, there are not any worries about finding a real identification as a outcome of there is not a need for it. Children reside the everyday life rising up, studying new things, and doing what they need. They are seen in relation to their parents; nonetheless, adults are identified by many issues like work and selection of pals. There is a social standing that individuals go into regardless of how exhausting one denies it. Adulthood is based on opinions of one another which result in a certain happiness that a toddler doesn’t expertise. Children do not have the strain of worrying what different individuals suppose because they do what makes them pleased. They don’t have to adapt to society’s rules to feel comfy on the planet like adults need to. A child has a free manor when it comes to actions and words. An irrational response from a child would be rejected as an grownup. Children’s identification isn’t affected by how they respond to something like adults. Anything an grownup does impacts how people see them especially if it is adverse. Children reside in a form world whereas adults have to worry about how they reply and have a continuing pressure to please others to be accepted.

Thoughts and dreams, everybody has them regardless of how huge or small. Children and adults have that in widespread, though it could be in several context. As a toddler, dreams are for becoming and astronaut or president whereas for an grownup, dreams are for a car or a lot of cash. Thoughts begin from the beginning. Children have opinions and alter as they grow from their experiences, adults are the identical actual method. The difference is that youngsters can dream and imagine in a fantasy as adults can not and could probably be seen poorly. Children can consider in one thing that’s completely not there like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny. Adults want their kids to have that capability to dream about them and be excited just like they did once they have been young. Adulthood will get to expertise all of these feelings in the course of the holidays by watching kids really feel the identical means. There are not any limits to a child’s ideas, and dreams. As they reach adulthood they are faced with rejection and failures to which they learn from and sadly, discover a practical thought and dream with limits. As one grows into maturity, those thoughts and desires of turning into something unimaginable vanish.

Growing from childhood to maturity is a large journey that everyone endures. The similarities and variations are vast. In childhood and adulthood, there are responsibilities. The distinction between them is that children’s responsibilities are a lot less critical. Some of the duties could be cleansing their room, receiving good grades, and waking up on time. As an grownup, the responsibilities have serious penalties if they aren’t accomplished like paying bills, going to work, ensuring everyone is taken care of. What is learned as a child shall be chosen to be remembered as an adult. As childhood ideas and goals dissipate into time, growing from that can then form them and give them their id for the the rest of life. The many traits that dictate the similarities and differences between childhood and maturity give us an understanding of how and who a person is today.

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Adolescence

The transition from adolescence to adulthood, emerging adulthood involves two key components of autonomy..

Posted July 26, 2021 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

• Emotional autonomy refers to becoming free of childish emotional dependence on adults.
• Behavioral autonomy refers to youth becoming more skilled in their own self-governing behavior and independent enough to make decisions.
• From the onset of puberty through age 25, the adolescent brain undergoes profound changes in structure and function.
• The developmental period of emerging adulthood offers incredible opportunities for growth and change.

The transition to adulthood is critical but often misunderstood. As societal and economic changes have created new demands and challenges for young people, particularly those in the 18- to 25-year-old range, we now recognize emerging adulthood as a distinct period separate from adolescence and older adulthood (Arnett, 2004). During this period, emerging adults experience new life roles.

Research by Arnett (2004) and others (Kroger, Martinussen, & Marcia, 2010) has shown the length of time for young people to actually create a personal identity has increased to the mid-to-late 20s. Emerging adulthood in Western culture is still a time of shifting identities. There is a continued risk of experimentation with unhealthy behaviors, posing perhaps an even greater risk for the young people in this later emerging adulthood stage. They are no longer minors and are faced with two additional life challenges: increased adult responsibilities and decreased familial support.

Autonomy: Emotional and Behavioral Components

A core element in the journey to adulthood involves the attainment of autonomy (Rice & Dolgin, 2008). During this time period, young people establish their uniqueness from others, and new interests, values, goals , and worldviews divergent from close others may emerge (Rice & Dolgin, 2008). As a normal developmental process, autonomy has been described as having two components: emotional and behavioral.

Emotional autonomy refers to becoming free of childish emotional dependence on adults (Rice & Dolgin, 2008). Parents can either foster an overdependence on the developing young person or provide the opposite, a lack of guidance and support. Clearly, a balance of both is the most preferred course of action (Rice & Dolgin, 2008). Behavioral autonomy refers to youth learning to become more skilled in their own self-governing behavior and independent enough to make decisions on their own accord (Holmbeck et al., 2006; Rice & Dolgin, 2008). Young persons are faced with the ultimate developmental conundrum: On the one hand, they are met with the task of exploring alternative behaviors and roles that smack of adultlike decisions, and on the other hand, they bear the new, yet daunting role of no longer being confined by parental and once-perceived societal regulations.

From the onset of puberty through age 25, the adolescent brain undergoes profound changes in structure and function (Wetherill & Tapert, 2013). Advances in developmental neuroscience and neuroimaging demonstrate regions of the brain develop at different rates—from birth to emerging adulthood (Mills, Goddings, Clasen, Giedd, & Blakemore, 2014). Recognizing how many adolescent behaviors can be attributed to a developmental mismatch between structural/functional imbalances in certain brain regions is a key to MI spirit. Recent research about two key brain regions has evidenced how structural changes affect functional behavioral outputs in youth (Feldstein Ewing, Tapert, & Molina, 2016; Luciana & Feldstein Ewing, 2015). Specifically, evidence is emerging on how the limbic regions are associated with reward and emotional regulation , and how regions such as the prefrontal cortex are associated with cognitive control. Other brain regions, associated with the activation and processing of social information, can actually enhance the development of adolescent cognitive executive functions , as compared to other developmental periods (Steinberg, 2008). For example, while impulsive behaviors may be seen as a lack of “cognitive control,” we concur some degree of risk-taking behavior may be necessary and important for youth to gain important life experiences required to assume adult roles.

This developmental period offers incredible opportunities. In contrast to older adults whose brains are no longer in a formative stage of development, the neural networks of youth are being reshaped with each learning experience. Understanding these processes can further help you to understand how to turn challenges into opportunities for growth.

Arnett JJ. Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. Oxford University Press, USA; 2004.

Ewing SWF, Tapert SF, Molina BS. Uniting adolescent neuroimaging and treatment research: Recommendations in pursuit of improved integration. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2016;62:109-114.

Holmbeck GN, O’Mahar K, Abad M, Colder C, Updegrove A. Cognitive-behavioral therapy with adolescents. Child and adolescent therapy: Cognitive-behavioral procedures. 2006:419-464.

Kroger J, Martinussen M, Marcia JE. Identity status change during adolescence and young adulthood: A meta-analysis. Journal of adolescence. 2010;33(5):683-698.

Luciana M, Ewing SWF. Introduction to the special issue: Substance use and the adolescent brain: Developmental impacts, interventions, and longitudinal outcomes. Elsevier; 2015.

Mills KL, Goddings A-L, Clasen LS, Giedd JN, Blakemore S-J. The developmental mismatch in structural brain maturation during adolescence. Developmental neuroscience. 2014;36(3-4):147-160.

Rice PF, Dolgin KG. The Adolescent: Development, relationships, and culture. 12th ed. Allyn & Bacon; 2008.

Steinberg L. A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental review. 2008;28(1):78-106.

Wetherill R, Tapert SF. Adolescent brain development, substance use, and psychotherapeutic change. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 2013;27(2):393.

Sylvie Naar, Ph.D., is the Distinguished Endowed Professor in the College of Medicine’s department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at Florida State University, where she is the founding director of the Center for Translational Behavioral Science.

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Compare and contrast Childhood and Adulthood

Introduction: Childhood and adulthood are two different – but equally important – times in our lives. This article compares and contrasts childhood and adulthood in depth.

What is childhood? Childhood is the period of time when we are still growing up. Childhood is often contrasted with the period of ‘infancy’, in which we are still young babies.

As children, we can think and speak for ourselves, but we have yet to become adults.

What is adulthood? Adulthood is the time in our life when we are ‘grown up’, though we may still be developing as people.

Throughout the world, the beginning of adulthood is usually legally deemed to occur at a certain age – for instance 18 or 21 years old.

However, it can also be argued that we become adults as soon as we become independent, responsible for our own actions, and able to participate as part of society.

Differences between childhood and adulthood.

1. Independence.

Childhood is a time when we must live according to our parents’ rules, and obey the rules of our schools as well. By contrast, during adulthood we have much more independence and can generally choose things like where we want to live, what we want to eat, and what job we will do.

2. Responsibility.

Childhood is generally characterized as a period of our lives in which we are relatively free of care: people are looking after us and taking care of our needs for us. By contrast, during adulthood, we need to take more responsibility for ourselves – this can include financial responsibility as well as moral responsibility for our actions.

3. Knowledge.

As adults, we have accrued much more knowledge and experience of the world than we possess as children. This knowledge can come from formal education, but it can also come from simply interacting with other people in the world.

4. Freedom.

Though it might be argued that adults have more responsibilities than children, they also have a greater degree of freedom. One example is travel. Children can very often not travel unaccompanied whereas an adult can go wherever they want, whenever they want. Another example is deciding what to do with their day. Adults do not need to ask their parents’ permission if they want to go out to see friends or do a little shopping. By contrast, children usually need to ask their parents if they are allowed to do certain things – and they certainly cannot do them during school hours.

5. Memories.

Adults have built up a larger store of memories than children have. In fact, we usually cannot remember anything earlier than our third or fourth year of life: many of our childhood memories are lost to us. As a result, adults have more of a longer life history, and a richer store of experience than children do.

6. Innocence.

Childhood is often defined as a period of innocence, when we are shielded from the challenges and difficulties of life. By contrast, it is often argued that part of being an adult involves facing up to these challenges head on. However, many people say that in fact children are not as innocent as we would believe them to be, and that they are perfectly capable of understanding difficult situations (for instance, a parent’s illness) with maturity and emotional depth. Parents often find that shielding their children from ‘unpleasant’ facts can simply frustrate the child or make it hard for them to face such facts head on later in life.

7. Identity.

As children, we are often seen in relation to our parents – the child of so and so. However, as adults, we are identified in different ways: for instance, by our job, by our education, or by our hobbies and interests. It may be asked, though, whether this is an intrinsic difference between children and adults, or whether this is simply due to the ways in which other people view us differently when we are children and when we are adults.

8. Parenthood.

As children, we look up to our parents for love and guidance. Though this is still a feature of our relationship with our parents when we become adults, as adults we can also become parents ourselves. Moreover, very often, our experiences of childhood help to shape the types of parents that we become during adulthood. And, in their turn, our children may use us as their models when they come to be parents themselves. Thus, it is important to always strive to be a loving, good parent as we are thereby setting a good example for our children to follow.

As adults, we tend to have a wider range of skills than children do. For example, adults can drive a car, write in joined up handwriting, do more complex mathematical sums and so on. These are things that children either find difficult to do or are even legally forbidden to do. Nonetheless, it is also true that children sometimes have a greater aptitude for learning new skills than adults do. It is said, for example, that it is easier to learn a second language fluently as a child than as an adult.

10. Bodily differences.

Growing taller, getting a deeper voice (for men), and noticing gray hairs are all bodily differences that mark adults out as different from children. Another physical difference between children and adults is that children will often seem to have more energy than adults too – and will be running around and playing games all of the time – and yet children will also get tired earlier in the day and require more sleep than adults do. Being aware of the physical differences between children and adults is important for medical professionals as it enables them to give the very best care to all of their patients, both young and old.

There are definitely differences between childhood and adulthood. However, this distinction is not always as sharp as we initially think. And, of course, everyone is an individual with their own experiences of being a child and then becoming an adult. So, what are the key differences between childhood and adulthood for you? Is there anything that you think should be added to the 10 points above?

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