This is a summary of an article written by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, published in May 1999 in the American Psychologist journal.
For over a century, psychologists have debated whether adolescence is naturally a difficult stage of life. In 1904, psychologist G. Stanley Hall introduced the idea that adolescence is a period of “storm and stress,” marked by emotional ups and downs, conflict with parents, and risky behavior.
Today, most psychologists reject Hall’s original claim that every teenager experiences severe turmoil because of biology alone. However, research suggests that Hall was not entirely wrong. While adolescence is not difficult for everyone, it is generally a time when certain challenges become more common than during childhood or adulthood.
The author argues for a modified storm-and-stress theory: adolescence increases the likelihood of specific difficulties, but these experiences vary greatly depending on the individual and the culture.
The Origins of the Theory
Although Hall popularized the term “storm and stress,” the idea is much older. Throughout history, thinkers such as Aristotle, Socrates, and Rousseau described adolescents as emotional, rebellious, and unpredictable.
Hall believed these behaviors reflected a biological stage of human development. His theory was based on evolutionary ideas that are no longer accepted today. He argued that adolescents relive a difficult stage from humanity’s evolutionary past, resulting in emotional instability and rebellious behavior.
Later, psychoanalysts such as Anna Freud expanded this idea even further, claiming that emotional turmoil during adolescence was universal and that teenagers who appeared calm were actually hiding psychological problems.
Modern research has rejected these extreme views. Adolescence is not automatically a time of severe turmoil, nor is emotional difficulty unavoidable. Instead, researchers have found that adolescence simply increases the likelihood of certain challenges.
Three Main Features of Storm and Stress
The article identifies three characteristics that consistently appear in both historical theories and modern research.
1. Conflict With Parents
Research shows that disagreements between adolescents and parents increase during early adolescence.
Arguments commonly involve:
- Curfews
- Clothing
- Dating
- Friends
- Household rules
These disagreements usually peak during early adolescence before gradually declining as teenagers grow older.
Importantly, these conflicts rarely mean that parent-child relationships are damaged. Most families continue to report strong affection, shared values, and healthy relationships despite frequent disagreements.
The author explains that many arguments are actually about much larger issues than they appear. A disagreement over curfew, for example, may really reflect parental concerns about:
- Alcohol or drug use
- Sexual activity
- Personal safety
- Independence
Although each disagreement may seem minor, frequent small conflicts can create considerable stress for both parents and adolescents.
2. Mood Disruptions
One of the strongest findings in adolescent research is that teenagers experience greater emotional fluctuations than either children or adults.
Studies using the Experience Sampling Method, in which participants record their emotions throughout the day, found that adolescents experience:
- More frequent mood swings
- Greater emotional highs and lows
- Increased feelings of embarrassment
- More loneliness
- Higher levels of anxiety
- More negative emotions overall
Researchers describe adolescence as a period when childhood happiness declines and emotional complexity increases. Interestingly, these mood changes cannot be explained by hormones alone.
Although puberty plays a role, researchers conclude that biological changes explain only part of the picture.
Other important factors include:
- Increased ability to think abstractly
- Greater awareness of future problems
- School transitions
- Changing friendships
- Romantic relationships
- Family changes
Girls are generally more likely than boys to report depressed mood during adolescence, especially during middle adolescence.
Researchers also found large individual differences. Teenagers experiencing family conflict, poor school performance, or stressful life events are much more likely to experience emotional difficulties.
3. Risk Behavior
The third major feature of storm and stress is an increase in risk-taking behavior.
Compared with children and adults, adolescents are more likely to engage in behaviors such as:
- Substance use
- Reckless driving
- Criminal activity
- Unsafe sexual behavior
- Other dangerous activities
Unlike parent conflict and mood swings, risk-taking tends to peak during late adolescence and early adulthood rather than early adolescence.
Research consistently shows that crime rates, automobile accidents, substance use, and sexually transmitted infections all reach their highest levels during the late teenage years or early twenties.
Not every adolescent participates in risky behavior, but most experiment with at least some form of risk-taking. Personality traits such as impulsiveness and sensation seeking make some teenagers more likely than others to engage in these behaviors.
Why Does Storm and Stress Occur?
One of the article’s central questions is WHY adolescence is associated with these challenges.
Biology Plays a Role
Puberty brings major hormonal changes that contribute somewhat to emotional instability.
Researchers have also identified biological changes such as altered sleep patterns. Many adolescents naturally prefer staying up later and waking later, yet schools often require them to wake very early. Chronic sleep deprivation may contribute to irritability, conflict, and emotional difficulties.
However, biology alone cannot explain adolescent behavior.
Hormonal influences appear relatively small and usually interact with environmental factors.
Culture Matters
One of the strongest arguments against a purely biological explanation comes from cross-cultural research.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead and later researchers studied traditional societies around the world and found that many cultures experience far less adolescent turmoil than Western societies.
WHY? The author argues that cultural expectations are a major factor.
Western societies strongly value individualism and independence. During adolescence, young people are expected to become increasingly independent from their parents. This transition naturally creates conflict.
Parents and teenagers often disagree about:
- Freedom
- Responsibility
- Dating
- Decision-making
- Personal independence
In many traditional cultures, adolescents are not expected to separate from their families so quickly. Greater emphasis is placed on family obligations and community, resulting in fewer conflicts and lower levels of risky behavior.
Globalization May Be Changing Adolescence
The author suggests that globalization may gradually increase storm and stress in traditional societies.
As young people gain greater exposure to Western culture through television, movies, music, and the Internet, they also become more exposed to Western values emphasizing independence and personal choice.
This may lead to:
- Greater conflict with parents
- More emphasis on individual identity
- Increased risk-taking
- More emotional challenges
However, globalization may also bring important benefits, including greater educational opportunities, career choices, and personal freedom.
Differences Within the United States
The article also notes important cultural differences within American society.
Research suggests that White middle-class families often report more parent-adolescent conflict than some immigrant or minority families, particularly families whose cultural traditions emphasize family unity over individual independence.
Studies of Asian American adolescents, for example, show that storm and stress tends to increase across generations as families become more influenced by mainstream American culture.
Again, culture—not biology alone—appears to shape adolescent experiences.
Public Perception Versus Scientific Evidence
Many psychologists criticize the popular belief that adolescence is always difficult, arguing that this stereotype exaggerates normal development. However, the author believes this criticism goes too far.
Public opinion generally does NOT claim that every teenager experiences severe turmoil. Instead, most people simply believe adolescence is more likely than other stages of life to involve conflict, emotional ups and downs, and risky behavior.
Modern research largely supports this more moderate view.
The author also points out that expecting some challenges during adolescence may actually help parents prepare rather than panic.
At the same time, researchers caution against dismissing serious mental health problems as simply “normal teenage behavior.”
Conclusion
The article concludes that adolescence is neither universally chaotic nor completely trouble-free.
Modern research supports a balanced perspective.
Most adolescents experience at least some increase in:
- Conflict with parents
- Emotional ups and downs
- Risk-taking behavior
However, these experiences vary greatly depending on personality, family relationships, life circumstances, and culture.
The author argues that Hall’s original theory should not be discarded entirely but updated. Adolescence is best understood as a developmental period in which storm and stress become more likely, not inevitable.
Despite these challenges, adolescence is also a period of tremendous opportunity. Young people develop stronger reasoning abilities, explore their identities, build important relationships, and prepare for adulthood. For most adolescents, the difficulties of this stage exist alongside growth, optimism, and excitement about the future.
In other words, adolescence is both a time of challenge and a time of remarkable personal development.