Adolescent storm and stress, reconsidered

G. S. Hall's (1904) view that adolescence is a period of heightened "storm and stress" is reconsidered in light of contemporary research. The author p rovides a brief history of the storm-and-stress view and examines 3 key asp ects of this view: conflict with parents, mood disruptions, and risk behavi or. In all 3 areas, evidence supports a modified storm-and-stress view that takes into account individual differences and cultural variations. Not all adolescents experience storm and stress, but storm and stress is more like ly during adolescence than at other ages, Adolescent storm and stress tends to be lower in traditional cultures than in the West but may increase as g lobalization increases individualism. Similar issues apply to minority cult ures in American society. Finally, although the general public is sometimes portrayed by scholars as having a stereotypical view of adolescent storm a nd stress, both scholars and the general public appear to support a modifie d storm-and-stress view.