Adolescence, the developmental stage between childhood and adulthood.
adolescence -usually defined as the period of human development between the onset of puberty at around 12 years and the attainment of physical adult maturity at around 21 years; i.e. a biological definition. Emotional, moral and intellectual development may not occur on the same time schedule. The interrelation of these different types of development gives this period its psychological importance. Adolescence is unique to our kind of society. Anthropologists and historians have found societies in which the onset of puberty is taken to mark the full transition from childhood to adulthood, with no other period of preparation being thought necessary.