Adolescence is defined as the psychological response to puberty within a particular social-environmental-cultural context. Adolescence involves accomplishing a series of important tasks that are critical for growth to occur in adulthood such as physical changes of puberty, separation from parents, and the development of a sense of independence and competency. Adolescence also marks the beginning of developing effective social and working relationships with the same and opposite sex peers, the selection of and preparation for a vocation, and the establishment of self-identity. Issues characterizing adolescence involve the need for power, nonconformity, freedom, structure, and peer acceptance. Maturational development is generally impeded or halted when adolescents become chemically dependent and psychosocial dysfunction may result. Chemically independent adolescents, therefore, have difficulty in empathic communication and fail to achieve a sense of personal identity. Recognizing important situations and events and diffusing or avoiding unimportant ones are critical tasks for chemically dependent adolescents. In assessing and treating chemical dependency in this age group, it is important to recognize where each adolescent is in the developmental process. 12 references.