Adolescent Challenges Adolescence can be a time of upheaval, stress and extreme challenges. And how should an adolescent respond and react to challenges he or she will face during adolescence? These issues and others related to how adolescents respond to challenges will be covered in this paper.

Challenges can cause Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents

In the peer-reviewed journal Depression and Anxiety, the authors discuss "anxiety sensitivity" and the "negative social, psychological, or physical consequences" that anxiety sensitivity can have on adolescents and others from stressful situations (Zavos, et al., 2012). It is known that persons that struggle with anxiety sensitivity can later in life experience "subsequent depression," Zavos writes (400). The pertinent events that create stress and the resulting anxiety sensitivity are things like "family discord" and the breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, the authors explain.

In this study, researchers measured stressful life events in 1,500 individuals at three points in their lives -- at ages 15, 17, and 20. The results showed that there was strong...

Larson writes in the peer-reviewed journal New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development that adolescents facing emotional, interpersonal and motivational "obstacles and problems" can and do learn to address challenges when they are working on social justice issues, the arts, and technology-related projects (Larson, 2011). But the paths to "reach goals" for adolescents can be "opaque," Larson writes, and hence, when an adolescent enrolls in and becomes active in "organized youth programs" he or she can achieve "high levels of motivation and attention" (89).
The idea that Larson is putting across is that a teen can begin developing "regulatory skills" by enrolling in youth programs that help him or her "navigate real-world systems" (89). In order to delve into what adolescents do when challenged by these youth projects, Larson (and colleagues) interviewed 108 youths --…