Abstract
Adolescent responses to three areas of life change, or crisis are described. It is proposed that these responses may both reflect and accentuate patterns of response to the adolescent developmental crisis. Twenty-two recently bereaved adolescents showed denial, anger, possibly withdrawal and were often threatened by the new roles into which they were forced by their fathers' deaths, particularly the oedipal aspects of these roles. Of 22 adolescent girls experiencing their first pregnancy, 50% showed evidence of some emotional disorder. They showed also feelings of denial and anger and often prematurely considered they had become “adult” because they were becoming “parents”. Seventeen girls seeking termination of pregnancy were evaluated. Denial, rationalisation and ambivalent feelings were marked. It is concluded that these are areas of important potential for preventive intervention in the form of specific ego support. Such intervention would be aimed at decreasing the incidence of subsequent health impairment in those at risk.