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Images:
  • A group of teenaged students on a school bus.
  • Three youths running down a street together.
Videos:
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Brain changes during adolescence
Khan Academy
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34:43
Adolescence
Paul Bolin
Temporal Concept
adolescence Audio
ad·o·les·cence [ ad-l-es-uhns ]
Etymology:
Latin adolescentia = youth
Definitions related to adolescence:
  • A human life stage that begins at twelve years of age and continues until twenty-one complete years of age, generally marked by the beginning of puberty and lasting to the beginning of adulthood.
    NCI
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • The period of life beginning with the appearance of secondary sex characteristics and terminating with the cessation of somatic growth. The years usually referred to as adolescence lie between 13 and 18 years of age.
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
  • (adolescence (12-20)) Period of life beginning with the appearance of secondary sex characteristics and terminating with the cessation of somatic growth; typically between 12 and 20 years of age; when school grades are referenced, this age group is typically grade 5 or 6 and above; also index with appropriate human and clinical research terms.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • Adolescence, transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an adolescent as any person between ages 10 and 19. This age range falls within WHO's definition of young people, which refers to individuals between ages 10 and...
    Encyclopedia Britannica
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025
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This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.

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