#developmental psychology

• From start to finish — A Latin phrase from Horace's Satires, literally meaning 'from the egg to the apples' (referring to the traditional course of a Roman banquet). In academic, medical, and psychological contexts, it is used metaphorically to describe an exhaustive, comprehensive, and chronological analysis of a phenomenon, pathology, or individual development, covering the entire spectrum from the absolute origin to the final phase of manifestation.
• Abeona developmental archetype — A mythological and cultural eponym transposed into developmental psychology and pediatric psychoanalysis (the Abeona complex, syndrome, or archetype). The concept denotes the protective maternal instinct of guiding and facilitating a child's first independent steps outside the secure family space. In the semiology of attachment, pathological manifestations of the Abeona type refer to severe parental separation anxiety (neurotic overprotection) that blocks the infant's motor and cognitive autonomy development.
• To wean — To wean a child or a young animal; to cease the process of exclusive breastfeeding or milk feeding and gradually introduce a diversified diet. In a psychological and sociological sense, the term refers not only to the biological component but marks the first major stage of early separation, autonomization, and breaking of the primary symbiotic bond between mother and child.
• Weaned — That has been weaned; (about a child or a young animal) that has transitioned from exclusive breast milk feeding to a diversified diet. From a psychosocial perspective, the term describes the stage of an individual who has moved past the phase of absolute symbiotic oral dependency on the mother figure.
• Adolescent girl — A female person at the age of adolescence, a transition stage of biological, cognitive, and social development between puberty and adulthood; a young woman characterized by profound identity shifts and accelerated physical growth. As an adjective, it describes manifestations, traits, or behaviors specific to girls during this evolutionary period.
• Adult — A person, animal, or plant that has attained full physical, biological, and psychological development, reaching the phase of maturity and reproductive capacity; an individual past childhood and adolescence. In a legal context, it denotes a person who has reached the age of majority (typically fixed by law at 18 years) and who acquires full legal capacity, assuming complete civil and criminal liability for their actions.
• Adult female — The feminine singular form of the noun or adjective 'adult'; a female person, animal organism, or plant specimen that has passed through puberty and adolescence, achieving full physical, anatomical, and psychological development, as well as reproductive maturity. In a legal context, it denotes a woman who has reached the statutory age of majority, acquiring full legal capacity and assuming complete civil and criminal liability for her actions.
• To adultify — To impose adult behaviors, responsabilities, worries, or mindsets upon a child or adolescent, prematurely depriving them of the natural stages of childhood; to force maturity. As a reflexive verb ('a se adultiza'), the term describes the process whereby a minor assumes an early caregiving role for the family or adopts mature conducts as an adaptive mechanism to a dysfunctional domestic environment marked by parental absence or vulnerability.
• Adultification — The act of adultifying and its dynamic outcome; the psychosocial process whereby a child or adolescent is forced to assume adult roles, decisions, and responsibilities before being emotionally and cognitively prepared. Adultification frequently occurs in environments impacted by poverty, neglect, or chronic parental illness, recognized as a subtle form of emotional abuse affecting self-esteem and future personality structures.