An Oxford psychologist argues that people shouldn't be "flippant" about teenage crushes and the impact of heartbreak during adolescence needs to be taken seriously as it is felt for a "really long time".

Dr Lucy Foulkes said: "It's a period of time when we're still forming our own identity and so a big way we figure out who we are, is we look to the people around us and we look to what they say about us and how they treat us.

"And we absorb that into the fabric of who we think we are.

"So, if there's someone that you love that rejects you, that can really become embedded in your self-concept and how you understand yourself and that can last for a really long time."

The psychologist added: "Take adolescent love more seriously.

"It quite often gets dismissed as being puppy love or something, people are quite flippant about it.

"But actually, it can be the most intense relationship of some people's lives in good and bad ways."

For feedback: contact the Editorial Department at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com [3].