Clinical applications of adolescent female sexual development

Growth and development during the teenage years encompass two closely related maturational phenomena: 1) puberty, the process of physical growth and development, and 2) adolescence, the process of cognitive and psychosocial growth and development. Puberty and adolescence usually proceed in an orderly, predictable sequence. Knowledge of the usual sequence of adolescent physical and psychosocial development is critical for distinguishing normal developmental processes from pathologic conditions. Providing effective anticipatory guidance to adolescents and their parents requires an understanding of the wide range of normal adolescent behavior and the ability to identify young people who are not developing normally.