Adolescence: A Critical Analysis of Health and Impact - Research Paper

Introduction

Adolescence is a stage of transition from childhood to adulthood. It is a stage mostly experienced in the teenage years of an individual. Adolescent health can equally be referred to as youth health. A critical analysis of adolescent health is herein made in this discussion, and the scope of the causes and the affected parties is discussed in detail.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The issue of adolescent health can be described as the variety of changes that an adolescent faces physically, psychologically, and mentally and the approaches that are geared towards detecting, preventing, and treating the health and wellbeing of young people (DiClemente et al., 2009). During the adolescence phase of development, individuals begin a transition from childhood to adulthood. In the change, they start facing issues of independence, identity, sexuality, mental health problems such as moodiness, anxiety as well as schizophrenia. Additionally, they may face psychological disorders. Adolescents engage in risky behaviors that affect their health; thus, a majority of their health problems are mental. The routines are established at the early stages of the adolescent period and persist to become a lifestyle of the individual hence resulting in chronic health disorders. Some of the significant contributors to these behaviors portrayed by adolescents are the social factors, environmental factors, and the cultural factors that surround the adolescent as he develops.

The ill-health of adolescents can be attributed more to psychological factors than biological factors. Their engagement in health risk behaviors indicates the processes of development in adolescents, and some of these engagements include experimentation and exploring various social activities such as the use of drugs, sexual practices, and several other actions that affect the physical and mental development of adolescents. From multiple studies, the leading problems that are related to the health of adolescents include early pregnancies and childbirth, depression which is a mental health problem and the sexual health of adolescents.

The Affected Parties and Incidences of Adolescent Health Problems

Adolescent health problems occur mainly among adolescents between ages 10 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 25 (DiClemente et al., 2009). The patterns of behavior of individuals at these ages help determine their health status and the risks they are exposed to at those ages and later in adulthood. Some significant social problems develop at these stages of development, some of them being; academic issues such as truancy. During adolescence, the level of concentration towards studies among adolescents begins dropping with the individuals developing characters of absenteeism that leads them to avoid their academic responsibilities. At this stage, their academic performance may drop a well as they may drop out of school. Sexually transmitted infections also develop to become a health problem among adolescents during this transition age. Due to hormonal development among adolescents, they engage in sexual activities more during the adolescence stage. As a result of the sexual activities, which also come as a need to explore more, the adolescents' contract infections are transmitted sexually, such as gonorrhea and syphilis, which are the common infections. However, the human immunodeficiency virus, which is contracted through sexual engagements, is also prevalent among young adults (DiClemente et al., 2009), with 22% of the adolescents being affected.

Equally, substance use among adolescents is a health problem that prevails. Substance use usually ranges from occasional use to severe use resulting in disorders. The health problems resulting from this substance use develop from minor issues to major ones depending on the level and frequency of substance use (Neinstein, 2008). Using the substances occasionally can, however, subject the adolescents to an increased risk of health risk. Substance use results in risks like mental disorders, violent behaviors, lack of self-monitoring, and some incidences of sexual contacts. The most commonly abused substances at this transition period are alcohol, tobacco, and other prescription drugs (Neinstein, 2008). Treatment of these health problems posed by the use of substances to adolescents has, however, been made possible by the application of behavioral therapy for adolescents. This has always involved the referral of adolescents who are hugely affected by assessment. Therapists have achieved success in the therapies to curb substance use among adolescents by using adolescent programs in administering the treatments. Other actions like the alcohol screening and brief intervention for the youth from national institutes have also been implemented to treat the health problems in adolescents that are caused by the use of substances.

An additional adolescent health problem that is prevalent among young adults is the teen and unintended pregnancies within the adolescents (DiClemente et al., 2009). With the sexual activities that they engage in, some of the unprotected sex within the adolescents results in premature teenage pregnancies, most of them being unwanted. As a result of the societal policies, the affected individuals tend to face psychological pressures and disorders that affect their mental health. This bears other health complications like suicide and homicide that are psychological. The need to fit in the society without being judged for the pregnancies seems almost impossible for the female gender adolescents, thus resulting in suicide, which has been documented as one of the leading causes of deaths among adolescents. For the young male adults, suicide is as a result of the psychological pressures of family responsibilities and duties that they face. The society surrounding the adolescents is therefore regarded as a contributor and a determinant of the adolescent health problems. Treatment of this problem can be made possible by educating the social surrounding how to handle young adults. The education should focus more on improving the social interaction between society and the adolescents, which marks a positive response concerning the reduction of health risks of adolescents. Positive handling of adolescents reduces the chances of suicide that are a result of psychological disorders.

Other health risks that are related to adolescents in their transition period are violence and injuries, which are both unintentional and self-injury (DiClemente et al., 2009). Young people engage in risky behaviors that result in the damages that they receive. Some may be injuries posed to third parties as a result of unintentional activities that they may be engaging themselves in their daily interactions. Violence may, however, be attributed to the psychological developments that result in moodiness; thus, the violent behaviors exhibited. These problems may be prevalent because the adolescents lack awareness of resulting harm that arises from these behaviors and additionally lack the skills to protect themselves during such incidences. They equally are short of the knowledge about where to seek help from during the prevalence of such risks that are directed to their health concerns. However, these health risks can be treated by the social address of the behaviors that give rise to the risks. Social addresses can be made through youth empowerment programs and collaborative social approaches that are aimed at educating the youth on the behaviors that may have a problem with their health.

The Costs Associated With Adolescent Health Problems

Adolescent health is as equal to the health of any individual. Since adolescents face numerous and significant risks concerning their health, it is vital to treat their health to ensure their survival. However, the treatment of these health risks covers some costs, some of which are financial, among other expenses. In treating the health problems among adolescents, some programs such as the adolescent health promotion programs are significant in providing aid to their treatment. However, these programs require financial funding for them to be useful in the provision of treatment services to adolescents (Neinstein, 2008). In cases where the programs have failed to be helpful to the adolescents, the problem has always been attributed to the minimum financial allocation to supplement the effectiveness of the programs. Minimal funds have led to the faulty materials that can be used in training the adolescents as well as poor pay for the facilitators of the programs resulting in minimum content delivery to the adolescents, thus making the programs remain ineffective (Neinstein, 2008). Equally, the treatment of adolescent health problems requires effective socio-ecological models that are also a cost that is undergone. Establishing a useful socio-ecological model is essential as it provides a framework that identifies the risks that adolescents are exposed to, identifying an effective policy and a program that would yield a positive impact on the treatment of adolescents.

In as much as the treatment of adolescent health problems is a positive program, the procedure may be time-consuming (Neinstein, 2008). Time is a cost that all the stakeholders that are contributing to the promotion of healthy adolescents have to invest in to deliver an effective treatment of the health problems of adolescents. This is because the procedure entails methods that require time for their administration, like the counseling services, therapy, and mentoring programs. However, due to methodological differences, some programs may be time adequate compared to other applications; thus, it is advisable to administer less time-consuming methods. However, costly the services aimed at the treatment of adolescent health care, it is advisable to choose a package of services and programs that is optimal for the delivery of this treatment. The considerations that can be used in determining and maintaining manageable cost services are; the cost recovery of the programs, the sustainability of the services, and the prevailing health conditions of the adolescents that should undergo the treatments. With these considerations, the treatment of adolescent health problems becomes active as the costs incurred are reduced.

The Importance of Taking Action Against Adolescent Health Problems

Since adolescents are exposed to a high risk of health problems, it is essential to take action to treat the health problems that adolescents face. Adolescents are at the risk of engaging in sexual activities in their transition period. It is vital to take action on this because failure to this the adolescents are exposed to the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases. Some of these diseases are costly to treat and, therefore, to cut the costs of treatment, which is also economical, it is crucial to take action towards the health problem of sexually transmitted diseases.

Further, it is essential to have programs of sex education for adolescents. The significance of this program will be to enable adolescents to know about the changes that surround their sexual health and equip them with skills to deal with health problems (Wallander & Siegel, 1995). Some of the issues that the sex education method will solve in adolescent health are the menstruation changes within female adolescents. It is equally important to develop measures that help reduce the health risks of adolescents because, with such actions, some of the problems like unwanted pregnancies are solved. Adolescents can be educated on the use of contraceptives and the importance of abstinence from sexual behaviors, thus reducing the risks of unwanted pregnancies.

Additionally, it is essential to have lasting actions again...