• Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a framework that focuses on factors that help youth (from adolescence through early adulthood) actively contribute to their own development and that of their community.
• Youth thrive when they have access to and take advantage of a nurturing environment, which provides resources and opportunities at home, in school, in the neighborhood, and in local and global contexts.
• Youth who report more positive developmental outcomes (like confidence, competence, character, caring, and connection, i.e., the 5Cs of PYD) are said to be thriving; they are also more likely to report fewer problem behaviors and emotional difficulties than their non-thriving peers.
• Across contexts and countries, youth who are thriving also tend to contribute to their families; schools; and local, community, and global activities.

Most caregivers want their youth to thrive, refrain from risky behaviors, be emotionally stable, and participate actively in their community. However, the primary goal of many initiatives for youth is often preventive in nature, focusing on how to avert problems and negative development rather than how to leverage young people’s strengths and support their positive development.

Positive Youth Development: A new way of seeing youth

Positive Youth Development is a developmental framework that guides research, policy, and practice through an emphasis on adolescents’ and young adults’ strengths and potential.  This perspective focuses on promoting resources and opportunities that align with youth’s strengths to empower them to actively contribute to their own development and that of their community.

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In our research across many countries, several desirable youth outcomes were linked to both youth’s strengths and the contextual resources and opportunities available to them. We refer to these strengths, resources, and opportunities collectively as developmental assets.

Developmental assets can be internal or external

The collection of strengths, resources, and opportunities that support youth’s development are interconnected and include both internal and external developmental assets. Internal assets represent youth strengths, like commitment to learning (e.g., achievement motivation, school engagement), positive values (e.g., integrity, responsibility), social competencies (e.g., planning and decision-making skills), and positive identity (e.g., self-esteem, sense of purpose).

External assets are resources and opportunities available to young people through their environment. These assets can include support (e.g., family support, caring school climate), empowerment (e.g., communities that value youth), boundaries and expectations (e.g., family and school boundaries, adult role models), and constructive use of youth’s time (e.g., creative activities, youth programs).

The 5Cs of Positive Youth Development and a 6^th C

The presence of both internal and external assets facilitates youth thriving or positive development, which has typically been measured using the 5Cs of PYD:

1. Competence (academic, physical and social),
2. Confidence (self-worth, appearance, and positive identity),
3. Character (behavioral conduct, social conscience, personal values, and diversity of values),
4. Caring (empathy and sympathy), and
5. Connection (healthy relationships with school, family, community, and peers).

Theoretically, thriving youth (i.e., those scoring high on the 5Cs of PYD) are more likely to contribute to their own development and to their family, school, local community, and global affairs than are their non-thriving peers. Contributions in these areas include developing skills that can be used to get a better job, helping family members, participating in school committees, volunteering to make one’s community a better place, and making efforts to conserve energy and protect the environment. Within PYD, contribution is referred to as the 6^th C.

Our cross-national research: Cross-National Positive Youth Development Network (CN-PYD)

Over a decade ago, an international group of experts in related fields formed a collaborative network to study how developmental assets support youth in various contexts. With a comprehensive approach, we bring expertise in multiple areas of psychology (e.g., health psychology, developmental psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and social psychology), sociology, public health, environmental science, and family studies, among other disciplines.

Most of the youth in our research are adolescents and young ethnic-majority adults (ages 16 to 29) in more than 40 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America.

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In our work, we seek to investigate how access to developmental assets is related to thriving and community engagement, as well as to other developmental outcomes across countries and different groups of youth. Our studies are mainly cross-sectional, which means that we collect data at a single point in time from participants of different ages.

This method provides insights relevant to patterns over time. But it is difficult to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship using this approach because differences between individuals in different age groups might be due to factors other than age or the passage of time.

The power of developmental assets: The more the better

In our research across countries, we have found evidence of the positive associations of developmental assets with thriving and other positive developmental outcomes, as well as negative links with problem behaviors and emotional difficulties. Regardless of age, gender, and parents’ level of education (e.g., whether they went to school for a few years or earned college or professional degrees), having more developmental assets related to having better outcomes (in terms of both the increase in desirable outcomes and the reduction of less desirable outcomes).

More developmental assets relate to more positive outcomes

Numerous findings across countries suggest the promotive role of both internal and external developmental assets. For example:

• Albanian youth (12- to 19-year-olds living in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia) who reported a stronger commitment to learning (internal asset) or better support from their family, school, and neighborhood (external asset) also reported higher levels of academic achievement than youth without those assets.
• Slovenian 15-year-olds who reported a stronger commitment to learning (internal asset) also reported higher levels of academic achievement than their peers who did not demonstrate that asset.
• Among high school students (15- to 19-year-olds) in Norway, stronger commitment to learning and positive values (internal assets) and stronger empowerment and more constructive use of time (external assets) were associated with thriving. In this self-report survey, thriving was measured as a combination of good physical health and leadership, and the ability to delay gratification, overcome of adversity, value diversity, achieve school success, and help others.
• Adolescents and young adults (mean age of 22 years) living in Chile who had a stronger positive identity (internal asset) reported healthier psychological well-being than their peers with a weaker positive identity.

More developmental assets relate to fewer negative outcomes

Developmental assets also appear to have a protective role for behavioral and emotional difficulties across different countries. For example:

• Among high school students (15- to 19-year-olds) in Norway, fewer developmental assets (i.e., each of the internal and external assets described earlier, except for constructive use of time, an external asset) was associated with emotional difficulty (prolonged sadness or attempted suicide).
• Adolescents and young adults (17- to 30-year-olds) in Colombia and Peru who reported fewer developmental assets were more engaged in problematic substance use than peers with more of these assets.

Internal and external assets are interrelated and depend on the context

In our studies, we have often found that internal assets predict youth outcomes more than external assets. While this could indicate that internal assets are more important for development than external assets, the two types of assets are consistently linked, with higher levels in one associated with higher levels in the other. This pattern suggests that internal and external assets may reinforce each other.

Young people from countries with better economic and political stability (e.g., Norway) generally reported higher levels of the assets (commitment to learning, social competencies, support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations) than did youth from developing contexts (e.g., Ghana).

For example, among 16- to 20-year-olds in Norway, support (an external asset) in three contexts (family, neighborhood, and school) was positively related to positive identity (an internal asset) after accounting for demographic variables like age, gender, and parents’ level of education.

In addition, developmental assets can depend on the conditions or contexts in which youth grow up. For instance, we found that young people from countries with better economic and political stability (e.g., Norway) generally reported higher levels of the assets (commitment to learning, social competencies, support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations) than did youth from developing contexts (e.g., Ghana). Socio-economic status impacts the developmental assets that are available.

Moreover, in societies in which youth were marginalized (e.g., Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania), our findings indicated fewer and lower levels of each of the internal and external assets among the youth from these communities than among youth living in a majority context. 

PYD stance: Thriving youth are more likely to contribute to their communities

As we noted earlier, youth who are thriving (i.e., scoring high on the 5Cs of PYD) are also more likely to contribute to their own development and that of their communities. The PYD perspective considers the 5Cs to be building blocks of contribution.

For example: young people with greater confidence, caring, and/or connection to their communities are likely to be more ready and willing to work actively towards self-improvement and the betterment of their environments. High competence may be linked to greater ability to effectively grow individually and contribute positively to community changes. Lastly, youth reporting a high sense of character may be more motivated to work harder towards positive change.

Our research findings support connections between 5Cs and engagement in several countries

For example, among 16- to 20-year-olds in Norway, we found character (an indicator of thriving) to be important for engaging at the local, community, and global levels. Engagement at these levels included helping friends and neighbors, making community a better place, and making efforts to conserve energy and protect the environment, respectively.

Similarly, in Ghana, among university students (ages 16 to 27 years), we found significant associations between four of the 5Cs (all but connection) and indicators of environmental concern (i.e., attitudes toward pollution, intention and behavior regarding environmental conservation, and environmental responsibility), although associations with environmental responsibility were not significant.

In Spain, among university students (ages 18 to 28 years), we found that several components of the 5Cs (character, connection, and caring) were associated with social contribution and pro-environmental behaviors. Thus, while more empirical evidence is needed, our network’s general findings across different countries link youth’s thriving to youth’s contributions.

Indicators of thriving are not always adaptive: A caveat about caring

Within the PYD movement, there is a theoretical assumption that like the other Cs, caring (a combination of empathy and sympathy) protects against problem behaviors and emotional difficulties. But in our research, greater caring was associated with more emotional difficulties (e.g., anxiety, depression) in Slovenian youth, as well as among adolescents and young adults in Spain and Peru. One possibility is that caring often draws on high empathy, which can cause people to absorb or mirror others’ distress and become increasingly anxious themselves. Based on these findings, we are working to identify different groups of youth that may be at risk for problem behaviors or emotional challenges, and designing interventions to address these difficulties.

Facilitating thriving and contribution in youth: What can communities do?

Most of our research findings have come from cross-sectional studies, making it difficult to identify causal relationships. The connections between assets and outcomes may be caused by factors we have not explored.

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However, our findings align with the theoretical assumption of PYD that developmental assets promote thriving and ultimately, contribution. Thriving might also contribute to increased assets and contribution. For example, feeling competent may support higher self-esteem (an internal asset) and elicit more support from family and friends (external assets).

Therefore, our findings have implications for programs and initiatives for young people. We recommend that policymakers, program designers, educators, parents, and other caregivers utilize the following strategies for promoting positive youth development and contribution:

• Ensure that youth have access to resources and opportunities (i.e., external assets) to develop personal skills. Home, school, neighborhood, and local community are immediate contexts where youth live, work, study, and play. What happens in these contexts has significant consequences for young people’s future roles as responsible adults. Ensuring a nurturing environment with access to adequate assets for skills development is crucial.
• Collaborate among youth contexts. To maximize youth’s access to developmental assets, families, schools, and local communities need to collaborate to provide resources and opportunities.
• Remember that youth are diverse and may require different assets to thrive. Youth may require a combination of different assets to thrive. However, all youth will thrive better when they experience more assets within and across both internal and external categories of assets.
• Engage youth. Work together with youth to provide developmental assets. Create arenas for open discussion about young people’s needs and ways of interacting with the community.
• Provide opportunities to connect and contribute. Youth need to rely on their personal strengths to actively engage with their contexts. But these strengths do not develop automatically. They tend to develop and are further sharpened in healthy relationships with caring adults and significant others who can widen youth’s opportunities and possibilities not just to connect but also to contribute.

The PYD framework and related research offer helpful perspective that shifts the focus away from preventing undesirable outcomes and, instead, targets the promotion of healthy outcomes. With this approach, communities can strive for a glass half full, instead of trying to avoid a glass half empty. Stakeholders can help adolescents and young adults leverage their internal and external assets to reach their fullest potential both as individuals and as citizens of their community.

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• Higher levels of belongingness to friends, school, hobbies, home, and society were linked to starting off on trajectories with lower levels of loneliness across adolescence. 

• Belongingness to friend groups had the most associations with the different loneliness trajectories. 

• Nevertheless, belongingness to several different groups differentiated chronic high loneliness from stable low loneliness, suggesting different kinds of groups are still important for adolescents’ loneliness. In other words, it may be better not to put all one’s eggs in one basket. 

• Adolescents with chronically high levels of loneliness reported the worst school burnout and outcomes related to well-being, although loneliness was not related to drug use. 

• Study groups may both reduce loneliness and improve grades. 

• Becoming involved in different groups during adolescence may help prevent the onset of loneliness and its consequences. 

This blog post is based on research originally published in Beattie, M., Kiuru, N., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2024). Belongingness to groups, adolescent loneliness trajectories, and their consequences. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 49(3), 240-251. 

Trends show decreasing connections within communities 

Human beings thrive through strong social bonds. However, in today’s individualistic society, people may forget about the importance of belonging to broader social networks, local communities, and close-knit groups like friends and family. 

Researcher Robert Putnam, author of the best-selling book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, analyzed data from national surveys and membership records in the United States, and documented a breakdown of community after a peak around the 1960s. According to Putnam’s research,  adults in the United States have become less involved in both broader social networks and more local or intimate groups.  

This decline has continued in the United States and appears to be occurring in other parts of the world. Consequently, fewer people alive now have experienced the strong sense of community that prior generations enjoyed. People today may not realize what we are missing, but we may still be missing something. 

Potential consequences of decreased connections 

During these times of a lack of decreased social capital, communitarianism, social connections and community involvement, even more attention to belonging to different groups is needed, because our need to belong may be frustrated. In this context, it could be helpful for families to pay more attention to their involvement in communities to support their children’s and their own well-being. 

In our study, we investigated how belonging to different groups is related to loneliness across adolescence. Our findings provide insights as families reflect on adolescents’ friend groups and engagement with local and broader community groups. 

Loneliness is painful and linked to serious health problems 

Loneliness is not the same as just being alone – it is the painful feeling that one’s social relationships are lacking in quality or quantity. People can feel lonely even when they are surrounded by others. Beyond being a painful feeling, loneliness has significant health consequences, even increasing the risk of premature death by 26%. 

Loneliness in teenagers

As teenagers begin to need more time with friends and less time with family than they did as younger children, their social worlds shift dramatically. Friendships become central, and transitions between grades or schools during the teen years can disrupt established social networks, for better or worse. Understanding how loneliness develops during adolescence – and what might protect against it – is crucial for promoting adolescent well-being. 

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Our study: Mapping teenagers’ loneliness over time in Finland 

We conducted a longitudinal study of 2,765 adolescents born in 2000 and attending schools in Helsinki, Finland. Slightly more than half the participants identified as girls and most indicated Finnish as their native language. More than half of both mothers and fathers of study participants completed education beyond upper secondary school. 

Participants were surveyed annually at approximately ages 12 to 19 (from 2013 to 2019) about their experiences of loneliness. At the beginning of the study, they also reported their feelings of belongingness to various groups, ranging from small (e.g., home) to large (e.g., international society). In the final year of the study, the adolescents completed surveys about their mental, physical, and academic well-being. 

Adolescents tended to report minimal loneliness with a slight increase over time 

Students completed a standard questionnaire about how much they experienced elements of loneliness (e.g., “I have a feeling that I can’t rely on anyone”). Response options were along a scale (1 = no, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, and 4 = often).  

Overall, the average rate of loneliness started slightly below “rarely” during primary school and increased to slightly above “rarely” by the end of upper secondary school, with the most noticeable increases between grades 8 and 9 (the last years of lower secondary school) and the two last years of upper secondary school. However, that broad analysis captured only the collective pattern, hiding the nuances of individuals’ fluctuating levels of loneliness. 

Some teens reported more loneliness, with distinct patterns over time 

To better understand different experiences underlying that overall average pattern, we used a statistical method called latent profile analysis to identify how many distinct loneliness trajectories there were in the data. We found six trajectories, revealing how loneliness developed in different ways for subgroups of adolescents over time. The six trajectories can be grouped into three general patterns, with two sub-patterns for each:

1. Stable trajectories:

Teens in these groups reported relatively unchanging levels of loneliness throughout adolescence:
a. Stable low (about 50% of the adolescents) responded “no” or “rarely” to items asking if they feel lonely in various ways
b. Stable elevated (about 5%) responded “sometimes.”

2. Gradual change trajectories:

Teens in these groups showed a small and fairly steady decrease or increase in loneliness over adolescence:
a. Winding down (about 12%) started at a moderate level of loneliness (between “rarely” and “sometimes”) that generally decreased over the years, despite some changes along the way.
b. Winding up (about 15%) started at “rarely” and increased to “sometimes,” with a marked peak the year after transitioning from lower to upper secondary school.

3. Peaking/volatile trajectories:

Teens in these groups showed more abrupt changes:
a. Moderates with a 7th grade peak (about 9%) generally reported “rarely” feeling lonely but temporarily spiked to “sometimes” during the first year of lower secondary school.
b. Low becomes volatile (about 8%) started even lower than “rarely” but increased around the end of lower secondary school (grade 9) to “sometimes” and fluctuated between those levels over the following years.

About a third of teens experienced elevated levels of loneliness during some or all of adolescence 

The patterns we detected reveal that almost two-thirds of teenagers surveyed experienced levels of loneliness that generally stayed below “sometimes” (stable low and winding down trajectories).

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However, a significant minority faced chronically elevated (stable elevated) levels of loneliness or heightened loneliness during some years (winding up, moderates with a 7th grade peak, and low becomes volatile), reaching average levels above “sometimes.” Some individual adolescents reported experiencing loneliness “often.”

How teens’ loneliness trajectories related to mental health and school life 

Next, we examined how loneliness trajectories related to adolescents’ self-reported well-being at ages 18-19 ( i.e., the final year of upper secondary school).

• Mental health: Adolescents on the trajectories described as stable elevated and moderates with a 7th grade peak reported the highest levels of depressive symptoms and the lowest life satisfaction.
• Academic burnout: Students on the stable elevated and winding up trajectories experienced the most school burnout (i.e., feeling overwhelmed by schoolwork).
• Grades: Contrary to our expectations, adolescents on the stable elevated loneliness trajectory performed at relatively high levels academically (i.e., had high grade point averages ) and teens on the stable low loneliness trajectory had relatively low GPAs.
• Substance use: Adolescents’ reported substance use (alcohol, tobacco, or drug use) did not differ significantly among groups experiencing different loneliness trajectories.

Overall, these results highlight some long-term challenges linked to adolescent loneliness – not just in terms of youth’s emotional health, but also in terms of academic performance and burnout.

Unexpected links between elevated loneliness and higher grades

Based on other research and insights, our initial hypotheses connected loneliness with poorer outcomes including worse grades, but the trends showed that students with elevated loneliness had higher grades. While those trends were not strong (not statistically significant), they invite consideration.

One possible explanation is that some students might spend so much time studying by themselves that they neglect their relationships. Other students might be so focused on social connection that they neglect their studies. In this sense, study groups, with their simultaneous focus on socialization and course content, might help a diverse population. Being involved in a study group might ease loneliness and support academic learning

Group belongingness: A protective factor for teenagers? 

What factors or individual characteristics might help distinguish between teens likely to experience one trajectory versus another? A key innovation of our study was its exploration of the role of belongingness – the feeling of acceptance and approval – not at a general level, but to different types of groups:

• Home (household/family)
• Friend groups
• School
• Religious communities
• A hobby community
• Membership organizations
• Social media communities
• And broader societies at the national and international levels

Study groups, with their simultaneous focus on socialization and course content, might help a diverse population.

Lacking a strong sense of belonging to various groups was more common among adolescents on trajectories that started with elevated levels of loneliness, we found. In contrast, the highest levels of belonging were most common among adolescents on the stable low trajectory.  

Does belonging to certain groups protect teens from loneliness more than others? 

Higher levels of belongingness in almost all groups we studied (aside from religious organizations) was linked to less loneliness. Feeling connected to groups of friends, school, home, hobby-related communities, or national and international societies may help prevent loneliness throughout adolescence. In line with other insights into adolescent development, a sense of belonging to friend groups, in particular, most clearly differentiated teens on different loneliness trajectories. 

In our study, we did not directly address whether the link between increased levels of belonginess and lower levels of loneliness means that one caused the other. However, our findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence that belongingness is a critical buffer against loneliness. It is worth noting that those who followed a consistently low loneliness trajectory across adolescence reported several sources of belonging, suggesting it is good to belong to several different groups should something happen with one of them.

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In addition, experimental evidence suggests that actively increasing group belonging can reduce loneliness. At the same time, it is important to ensure that groups are inclusive. Adolescents should not feel excluded for their religion or gender identity, for example. Further research will help explore the balance between the benefits of groups for people who are included and the risks of alienation for people who do not identify with a given group (i.e., a different ethnic group).

Loneliness in teens: What we know—and what we do not know 

Our study in Finland highlights the variation in loneliness trajectories over adolescence, the importance of school transitions as potentially sensitive times in adolescents’ social lives, and the possible buffers and consequences of loneliness. 

Similarities and differences in teen loneliness around the world 

Although we studied only Finnish students, research in other countries has also identified a handful of specific loneliness trajectories across adolescence. While there is variation, the general pattern shows most adolescents reporting low levels of loneliness and a smaller segment suffering chronically elevated levels of loneliness. Across countries, studies have found a relation between loneliness and symptoms of depression. 

While there is variation, the general pattern shows most adolescents reporting low levels of loneliness and a smaller segment suffering chronically elevated levels of loneliness.

That said, cultural differences may influence the nuances of how belonging to certain groups relates to loneliness in different parts of the world. In our study, belonging to religious communities was not significantly associated with loneliness trajectories – possibly reflecting Finland’s relatively secular culture. This suggests that cultural context can shape the relevance of different social groups, and points to the importance of studying connections to specific groups rather than a broader concept of belongingness. 

Final thoughts on loneliness and teens

Our research highlights links among social belonging, loneliness, and mental and academic well-being. As schools and communities grapple with rising concerns about youth mental health, our findings suggest one promising path forward: Invest in communities. Whether through peer groups, hobby clubs, or inclusive school cultures, fostering a sense of belonging might be an effective medicine to heal the “terrible disease of loneliness,” as Kurt Vonnegut once called it in a commencement address. 

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• Parents’ expectations matter. In Singapore, where academic excellence is closely tied to family honor, adolescents who felt their parents believed in their mathematics abilities reported stronger math confidence, greater motivation, and better well‑being.
• Confidence in math is key. Students who saw themselves as good at math tended to be more engaged in school, persevered more, and felt happier and more optimistic than peers who lacked confidence in the subject.
• Teachers play a vital supporting role. Students who perceived high teacher expectations also reported a stronger sense of confidence and well-being. These perceptions complemented perceived parental expectations.
• Strong parent-teacher partnerships may help. Collaborations bridging home and school that communicate high yet supportive expectations.

This blog post was written by Ishani Bharadwaj and Tamara Spiewak Toub in collaboration with study author Gregory Arief D. Liem. It is based on research originally published in Liem, G. A. D., Wong, Z. Y., Chan, M., Liu, W. C., Zainudin, N. I., Tan, S. H., Poon, K. K., Kang, T., & Ng, S. C. (2025). Perceived parental expectations and their role in academic and psychosocial functioning. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 49(5), 431–445. 

Cultural expectations for high academic achievement

Children grow up in broad social and cultural environments that help shape their understanding of their role as students and their potential for success in different subjects or future careers. The explicit content and delivery of adults’ messaging about their expectations for youth vary based on a combination of cultural norms and individual values and personalities.

In Singapore, as in many East Asian societies, education is seen as the pathway to success and family honor. In this context, the importance of a student’s academic success goes beyond personal goals to include implications for family reputation. This pressure increases the risks of intense competition among students and associated anxiety and stress.

High expectations at home and in school

The Asian values of interdependence, hard work, and family allegiance inspire parents to explicitly communicate high expectations for academic success. They do so by managing their children’s study schedules, providing opportunities for academic enrichment, and closely monitoring academic progress.

At home, Singaporean students absorb this parental messaging about high expectations. At school, they also receive feedback from their teachers on their performance and behavior in the classroom. This feedback suggests another set of expectations about students’ achievement.

Believing that others believe in you

Students’ perceptions of these expectations are linked to many aspects of their development. They may influence motivation, class-related skills and knowledge, and achievement, as well as broader elements of well-being, such as confidence, engagement, and satisfaction. When adolescents believe their parents and teachers believe in them, are they more likely to do better in school and in other aspects of life?

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The case of mathematics: Perceived expectations in a highly valued subject

Among the subjects in Singapore’s curriculum, math stands out as a focus of attention and high expectations from both parents and teachers. The subject is widely recognized as challenging and as being essential for educational and career success.

But math differs from other subjects, such as language-based curricula like reading, because most parents do not usually engage directly with math content at home. Instead, they communicate expectations through broader messages about their children’s diligence, perseverance, and responsibility. These messages reinforce the importance of the subject – a value that children and youth internalize.

The subject is widely recognized as challenging and as being essential for educational and career success.

At school, students perceive teachers’ expectations through the design of math lessons, structured feedback, and support when they encounter difficulties. Together, these parental and teacher perspectives provide complementary sources of encouragement and reinforcement.

Our study into the impact of expectations on math confidence in teens

We conducted a pair of studies in Singapore to investigate how students’ perceptions of parents’ and teachers’ math expectations were linked to academic and non-academic (i.e., those related to well-being) outcomes. For each study, we surveyed students (average age of 14 years) across three secondary grades at a variety of schools; almost half of the students in the studies identified as female.

Surveying students’ perceptions of math expectations

School personnel administered our surveys twice during the school year: after Term 1 and again near the end of the year. This allowed us to see how perceived expectations and student outcomes changed over time.

Both studies included items to capture students’ perceptions of their parents’ and their teachers’ math expectations. For example, we asked students how strongly they agreed that their parents or teacher “believe(s) I can do well in math.”

Students’ academic outcomes in math

In study 1 (2,632 students), the surveys focused on three main academic outcomes: math confidence (e.g., agreement with the statement “I am good at math”), math motivation (e.g., to avoid getting into trouble, to learn new skills, or because it is fun), and math achievement goals (e.g., to perform better than peers, to learn as much as possible).

Students’ well-being when studying math

In study 2 (450 students), we added surveys about five dimensions of well being as outcomes:
1. Engagement (e.g., “I get completely absorbed in what I am doing”)
2. Perseverance (e.g., “Once I make a plan to get something done, I stick to it”)
3. Optimism (e.g., “I think that good things are going to happen to me”)
4. Connectedness (e.g., “There are people in my life who really care about me”)
5. Happiness (e.g., “I love life”)

How to build confidence in math: Parents and Teachers Matter

Our statistical methods considered differences between boys and girls, younger and older adolescents, and the three math proficiency levels. Based on consistent patterns in the results, we identified four main findings about the links between perceived expectations and student outcomes:

1. Parents’ expectations had the strongest influence on math confidence

Adolescents who felt their parents believed in their math abilities reported higher levels of math confidence, stronger motivation, and greater well being. We did not delve into these links to determine whether or how perceived parental expectations caused these better outcomes.

However, research into related dynamics suggests that students might find inspiration in parents’ explicit expressions of confidence and efforts to provide resources to support their math performance. Particularly in this cultural context, students might internalize parents’ expectations as personal goals, striving to meet them as a way of honoring their family’s investments and sacrifices.

Adolescents who felt their parents believed in their math abilities reported higher levels of math confidence, stronger motivation, and greater well being.

2. Math teachers’ expectations also played a distinct and complementary role

Students’ belief that their teachers had high expectations for their math achievement was also linked to their academic and well-being outcomes. For example, when students had positive perceptions of teachers’ expectations, they were more motivated by personal interests and values than by external reasons. They also reported feeling more connected to others and happier.

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels

The roles of students’ perceptions of teachers’ and parents’ expectations amplified each other. When adolescents believed both parents and teachers held high expectations, they reported stronger math confidence, greater connectedness, and more happiness.

3. Mathematics confidence was central to students’ motivation and well-being

Students’ impressions of their parents’ and teachers’ expectations predicted math confidence. In turn, math confidence was closely tied to students’ motivation and most outcomes related to well-being, including engagement, perseverance, optimism, and happiness (but not connectedness). In fact, math confidence played a significant role in the links between perceived expectations and student outcomes.

Our findings highlight the importance of adolescents’ academic views of themselves. Seeing themselves as competent in math contributed not only to stronger motivation but also to a broader sense of well-being, underscoring the link between academic identity and overall psychological health.

Insight into the formation of math confidence and its role in students’ development can help inform strategies to support adolescents as they navigate this challenging academic subject. One way to build students’ math confidence could be to facilitate the supportive communication of appropriately high expectations at home and at school.

4. First impressions of teachers’ math expectations can be especially powerful

While links between student outcomes and perceived parents’ expectations remained steady throughout the year, links to perceived teacher expectations were most powerful early in the year. Students who reported at the start of the year that their teachers already believed they would do well in math showed stronger self-motivation and well‑being later in the year.

Those early perceptions of teachers’ beliefs may be especially important in shaping students’ math confidence and, in turn, their academic outcomes and broader well-being.

Implications for parents and teachers building math confidence in teens

The results of our study have implications for parents and other caregivers, as well as teachers:

Set high but realistic math expectations expressed with warmth and support

In the context of math, students’ belief that their parents and teachers believed in them seemed to set the stage for success. Adolescents’ perceptions of parental expectations were the strongest predictor of math confidence, motivation, and psychosocial well‑being. These perceptions are shaped, in part, by adults’ communication about their expectations, which can include encouraging feedback, warmth, and support (rather than conditional approval) during challenges.

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels

Focus on growth, not comparison

High expectations are most supportive when they emphasize effort, growth, and learning rather than comparisons to peers. An emphasis on growth helps children develop confidence and self-motivation rather than working under pressure to perform well. When children know they can improve, regardless of their current abilities, they are more likely to persevere and achieve.

Encourage autonomy

When students feel ownership of their learning, they are more likely to embrace self-determined motivation and learning goals than to work to please others or avoid losing unnecessary races with peers. This type of self-determined motivation and goal setting is consistent with higher levels of engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness. If students perceive parents’ and teachers’ expectations that facilitate autonomy, they are more likely to step up to that challenge and be better prepared for success.

Communicate regularly

Parents and teachers should communicate regularly to align on high yet realistic expectations. Joint support helps strengthen students’ confidence, happiness, and motivation.

Balance cultural pressures

Parents and teachers should be mindful of how societal values can increase pressure on children. In contexts like Singapore, where academic success (especially in math) is closely tied to future success, adults can help by communicating about the values of balance, resilience, and well-being.

The post Building math confidence in teens: Why parents’ and teachers’ high expectations matter appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• Today’s children and adolescents will be exposed to more extreme weather events across their lifetime than previous generations.
• When thinking about climate change, most young people experience negative emotions, such as worry, sadness, powerlessness, or anger.
• Some young people experience mental health problems that are caused or worsened by climate change, especially anxiety disorders, depression, or post-traumatic stress.
• Caregivers, as trusted sources, can play a crucial role in countering misinformation and ensuring that their children have access to honest and reliable information on climate change and its solutions.
• Caregivers can help their children cope and engage with climate change by conveying agency and hope, rather than “doom and gloom”.

This blog post is based on research originally published in Thomaes, S. (2025), Climate change and youth development: A view of an emerging field. International Journal of Behavioral Development

Climate change impacts the lives and futures of today’s youth

Due to our changing climate, today’s children and adolescents are set to live lives shaped by unprecedented environmental challenges. They will suffer more extreme heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and other climate impacts than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations did. 

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) predicted in 2021 that practically all children would experience at least one of those types of climate impacts in their lifetimes. UNICEF further estimated that one billion children, nearly half of the world’s population of children, would grow up in countries (mainly developing countries) where they face extremely high risk from the changing climate. 

Not only are these children at risk of being exposed to multiple climate impacts as they develop, but they are also vulnerable to such impacts because of uncertain access to services, such as health care and clean water, in times of crisis. 

Photo by Ahmed akacha on Pexels

Clearly, climate change poses a major public health challenge for youth around the world. In a recent article, I reviewed emerging scientific evidence of how climate change shapes young people’s psychological development and well-being, and the implications of those findings for caregivers. 

Psychological impacts of climate change

Climate change affects the psychological well-being and mental health of young people. In a comprehensive survey study on the impact of climate change, researchers studied 10,000 16- to 25-year-olds living in a diverse array of environments across 10 countries and six continents. Nearly 85% of youth said they were at least “moderately” (if not “very” or “extremely”) worried about climate change. 

Some 45% of the young people said their concerns about climate change had interfered with their daily lives and functioning, and many held pessimistic beliefs about the future.

Youth in the study also reported feeling sadness, anger, and powerlessness about climate change. Some 45% of the young people said their concerns about climate change had interfered with their daily lives and functioning, and many held pessimistic beliefs about the future (e.g., 75% said they thought the future was frightening). 

Climate change and youth’s mental health

Such responses to the reality of climate change are understandable and rational. At the same time, while we do not know the exact numbers, some percentage of youth experience mental health problems that are caused or worsened by climate change – problems such as disturbed sleep, obsessive thinking, anxiety disorders, depression, or post-traumatic stress. 

Climate change may contribute to such disturbances in youth’s mental health in at least three ways: 

• Direct effects occur when young people personally experience extreme weather-related events – such as storms or floods – that are disturbing or poignant. 

• Indirect effects occur when societal consequences of climate change – such as forced displacement or famine – affect youth. 

• Vicarious effects occur when climate change triggers youth’s feelings of existential threat – the sense that the future is uncertain or grim. 

Talking with young people about climate change

What can caregivers do to help young people cope with these stresses, navigate the realities of climate change, and protect their mental health while preparing for a challenging future?

Fostering youth’s open but critical consumption of information about climate change 

It is important for caregivers (along with teachers and other professionals working with youth) to raise awareness of climate change and help young people obtain reliable and honest information on climate change and ways to address it. 

This is especially important since young people are at risk of being exposed to misinformation (e.g., claims that nothing can be done to mitigate climate catastrophe, that climate change is a hoax, or that its impacts are exaggerated), especially on social media. For some youth, such misinformation can contribute to disruptively high anxiety; for others, it can encourage skepticism about the severity of threats from climate change. 

Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels

Caregivers can also help children interpret and contextualize extreme weather events. For example, they could explain that it is often hard to be sure if single extreme weather events (e.g., the heavy rains that led to the flash floods in Texas in the summer of 2025) are caused by climate change, but that we do know that climate change makes such heavy rains increasingly common and that globally, floods kill thousands of people and cause millions to flee each year. 

Using facts to foster hope

It is particularly challenging for caregivers (and all of us) to communicate about climate change in a way that empowers children, rather than numbing or paralyzing them. Intuitively, adults may be inclined to emphasize the climate catastrophes that will occur if we fail to take action now, which may inadvertently fuel a sense of doom and gloom in children. 

Although such messages may be factually correct, they likely are ineffective in helping young people cope and supporting their engagement in actions to reduce climate impacts. To achieve that goal, research suggests, caregivers need to talk to children in way that allows them to experience a sense of agency or hope. 

Caregivers could emphasize that it is still possible to slow climate change with collective, collaborative action.

Hopeful messages about climate can and should be based on scientific facts and realistic analysis rather than being overly naïve or utopian. For example, caregivers could emphasize that it is still possible to slow climate change with collective, collaborative action. They could point out that there is reason for optimism because we know exactly what is needed to help address the effects of climate change: For example, reducing global greenhouse gas emissions will be hard, but at least we know what to do. 

Leveraging benefits of environmental activism and alignment with youth values

Young people are not responsible for climate change, nor can they be responsible for solving the problems associated with climate change. Still, many young people, especially adolescents, are driven to do what they can do to contribute to mitigating climate change. 

Through activism, young people can find like-minded peers and work collaboratively toward a meaningful goal. Such engagement can counter feelings of hopelessness or powerlessness, providing individual health benefits as well as broader environmental and social benefits. 

Caregivers can foster such engagement in young people by tapping into personal values and preferences and typical youth tendencies. As caregivers of teenagers know all too well, most youth prefer thinking for themselves and creating their own solutions rather than being told what to do. Encouraging young people by gently offering resources and allowing room for self-direction can be effective. 

Photo by Lara Jameson on Pexels

Focusing on the personal benefits of climate responsible behaviors

Caregivers can also point out that while protecting the climate can sometimes be costly (e.g., giving up a habit of buying affordable, trendy clothes from a fast fashion brand), it can have personal benefits. For example, caregivers can focus on conveying how climate-responsible behaviors are aligned with young people’s personal values and priorities. 

Most adolescents care about establishing autonomy and being respected by their peers. Accordingly, an engaging message for them is that climate protection is for independent-minded people who are mature enough to stand up for what they believe in, challenge authorities that fail to take action, or act on the concerns of young generations. 

Conclusion

Today’s children and adolescents are coming of age in a world that is threatened by climate change. Depending on where they live, youth may be encountering significant threats right now, but these threats are looming for nearly everyone around the globe. It can be hard for young people to understand, cope with, and act on climate change. 

Caregivers can support their children by raising awareness of climate change; providing access to reliable information; fostering agency and hope; and framing climate protection as independent, socially responsible behavior. 

The post Supporting children and youth in the face of climate change appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Key takeaways for caregivers

• Adolescents’ daily mood swings relate to their broader emotional health, and parents’ understanding of their teenagers’ emotions can help parents provide valuable support.
• On average, in our study of Israeli families, parents tended to underestimate both the positive and negative moods their teens experienced daily.
• Fathers often showed less awareness than mothers of their adolescents’ daily emotional fluctuations.
• Adolescents often underestimated their parents’ positive moods and overestimated their negative ones.
• While parents recognized their teens’ levels of anger and distress as well as happiness and calm, adolescents struggled to correctly identify their parents’ specific feelings.
• Improving parents’ awareness of their teens’ daily moods can enhance support, strengthen relationships, and promote better emotional health for both parents and youth.

Most parents of teenagers will confirm that adolescence is a rollercoaster of emotions, dramatic eye rolls, and that ever-present feeling of being misunderstood. But what if that feeling of being misunderstood is not just teenage melodrama? What if there is a real disconnect between how teenagers feel and how their parents perceive those feelings?

Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels

To illustrate, when a parent comes home exhausted from work, they may misinterpret their adolescent’s irritating behavior—like a grumpy tone or ignoring them—as mere mischief, failing to recognize that it stems from distress, such as conflicts with peers or academic issues.

As a result, the parent criticizes the behavior, leading the adolescent to see them as insensitive and to feel misunderstood and unfairly judged. Conversely, if both the parent and the adolescent understand that their behaviors are rooted in emotional challenges, miscommunication and frustrations can be resolved quickly.

Most parents of teenagers will confirm that adolescence is a rollercoaster of emotions, dramatic eye rolls, and that ever-present feeling of being misunderstood. But what if that feeling of being misunderstood is not just teenage melodrama?

In a recent study we conducted with colleagues, we dug deep into the emotional lives of Israeli adolescents and their parents, exploring how well parents and teens recognized each other’s moods day to day. The findings were a little unsettling, revealing potential blind spots that could undermine constructive communication between teens and their parents.

The study: Decoding daily emotions

Our team of researchers from the University of Haifa in Israel tracked the daily moods of 153 triads of mothers, fathers, and their adolescent children. Parents were heterosexual pairs, typically in their mid-40s or 50s, with a bachelor’s degree or beyond. Their adolescent children averaged 15 to 16 years old and were public school students; although our sample was too small to allow exploration of sex differences, half the teens were girls.

For seven days, all the participants reported on their own emotions (positive feelings of happiness and calm, and negative feelings of sadness, stress, worry, and anger). Parents and children rated on a scale of 1 to 5 how much they were feeling each emotion each day.

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels

Crucially, parents also reported on what they perceived their child was feeling and children reported on what they perceived their parents felt. This daily snapshot approach allowed us to identify parents’ and children’s emotional recognition in daily life.

Correct interpretation of each other’s emotional states is crucial for parents’ and teens’ emotional attunement, which refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and respond appropriately to another person’s emotions.

The big reveals: Where emotions get lost in translation

Our study revealed some intriguing trends:

• Teens and parents feel positive emotions more than negative ones: On average across all reported days, all participants reported higher levels of positive emotions than negative emotions. This suggests that despite their reputation for being gloomy, teens typically feel good in their daily life.
• Parents, especially fathers, may be missing the mark: On average, parents tended to underestimate both the positive and the negative moods their teens were experiencing. In particular, fathers seemed less able to recognize their adolescent’s daily emotional fluctuations. This suggests that some parents might be missing cues that their teens need emotional support.
  • Why does this matter? Previous research has linked adolescents’ daily mood swings to internalizing symptoms like anxiety and depression. If parents do not recognize these shifts, they might not be able to provide , which could exacerbate youth’s emotional health issues.
• Teens see their parents through a gloomy lens: In contrast, adolescents tended to underestimate their parents’ positive moods and overestimate their negative ones. This suggests they might have been seeing their parents through a filter of negativity.
  • Why is this happening? Parents may vent their frustrations at home or teens may tend to interpret ambiguous parental behaviors negatively. Whatever the reason, this negative perception could discourage teens from approaching their parents for support, which could increase their vulnerability to emotional problems.
• Mothers are more emotionally attuned: In general, mothers were better at recognizing changes in their sons’ and daughters’ daily moods than were fathers. This aligns with previous research showing that adolescents tend to have closer relationships with their mothers and spend more time with them. More time together translates to more opportunities to pick up on subtle emotional cues.
• Emotions can be a bit of a blur for teens: Interestingly, parents’ recognition of their adolescents’ daily mood was emotion-specific. For example, parents could somewhat differentiate changes in their adolescents’ happiness from changes in their adolescents’ feelings of calm. However, adolescents’ recognition of their parents’ emotions was less nuanced. For example, teens were less able to distinguish between their parents’  sadness and their worry. This might be due to teens’ lower ability to differentiate emotions or the fact that parents might be concealing their true feelings from their children.

The bottom line: Communication is key

Our study sheds light on the complexities of emotional recognition in families. Understanding these dynamics can help professionals develop more effective interventions to promote emotional well-being in adolescents and strengthen family relationships.

Our findings serve as a reminder that even in the closest relationships, emotions can sometimes get lost in translation.

As in all research, our study had limitations that have implications for interpretation. Our research focused on daily patterns of emotional recognition without probing for the context or pathways through which parents and adolescents learned about each other’s emotional states. In addition, participating parents were heterosexual; future studies should include more diverse parents.

That said, our findings serve as a reminder that even in the closest relationships, emotions can sometimes get lost in translation. By fostering greater emotional awareness and more open communication, our work can help teens and their parents navigate the ups and downs of adolescence with greater understanding and empathy.

As a parent, you may wonder if you and your teen are really seeing eye-to-eye. It may help to remember that a little bit of emotional attunement can go a long way, and that it is worth the effort to truly see and understand each other, emotions and all.

Tips for parents of adolescents

We offer the following suggestions for parents:

• Try to be aware of potential tendencies to misunderstand your teens’ emotional states. This may be especially useful for fathers.
• Try actively engaging in understanding your teens’ emotions by spending quality time, listening attentively, and asking open-ended questions to encourage sharing.
• Be mindful of how you express emotions, striving for clear and positive communication that minimizes the risk that your teens mistakenly assume you are upset or stressed.
• Work to strengthen the bond with your teens and understand their emotions; this will facilitate supporting them during challenging times and celebrating with them in the good times.
• Spend more time together as a family because family time improves everyone’s ability to interpret moods. Schedule family time every day for each parent to maximize their abilities both to understand their teens’ emotions and to communicate their own emotions to their teens.

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels

Conclusion

The findings of our study underscore the importance of emotional attunement in families. By improving their ability to recognize and understand each other’s emotions, parents and teens can foster stronger connections, better communication, and improved emotional well-being.

Active engagement, mindful communication, and quality time are key strategies for bridging potential emotional gaps.

The post Parents’ and teens’ feelings and blind spots: Are they really seeing eye-to-eye? appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• Adolescents’ aggressive behavior, such as physical fighting, can predict the likelihood of teenagers’ future violence and has other negative implications for families and society more broadly.
• In parents, high levels of warmth and low levels of hostility toward their adolescent children are associated with less aggression in adolescents.
• Closer analysis reveals more specific patterns regarding the relative significance of warmth versus hostility and maternal versus paternal relations with adolescents.
• In our work, the most powerful predictor of adolescents’ aggressive behavior was the hostility shown by the parent whose gender matched the adolescent’s (i.e., maternal hostility toward girls and paternal hostility toward boys).
• An exception to that pattern emerged when we examined boys’ aggression across the adolescent years: While paternal hostility more strongly predicted boys’ aggression during early adolescence, maternal hostility was a stronger predictor during middle adolescence.
• Interventions aimed at reducing aggressive behaviors in adolescents may be most effective when they are tailored to address the most significant predictors for a given age and gender group.

Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.

Aggressive behavior in adolescence can have broad and significant negative impacts

Adolescents’ aggressive behavior, such as physical fighting, is a serious health problem that has been researched for decades. This type of behavior can lead to adverse consequences for adolescents themselves, their families, and even society.

For example, adolescents’ aggressive behavior is associated with adolescent violent crimes such as robbery, rape, and homicide. It is also associated with poor self-control and intimate partner violence during adulthood.

In addition to the physical and psychological adverse consequences of this type of behavior for individuals, adolescents’ aggression is costly for society. In 2020, the estimated cost of youth violence in the United States was $122 billion. Thus, understanding the factors that can prevent aggressive behavior during adolescence is critical.

Higher levels of parents’ affective quality (i.e., higher warmth and lower hostility) are associated with lower levels of adolescents’ aggressive behaviors.

Parenting behaviors can influence adolescents’ aggressive behaviors

Families have an impact on adolescent development, with studies finding that parenting behaviors influence adolescents’ aggressive behaviors in Western countries. Several theoretical models address the underlying reasons why parenting has such a strong impact.

Numerous empirical studies have demonstrated that parents’ affective quality (e.g., parental warmth, such as when parents communicate to their children that they care about them, and parental hostility, such as when parents shout at their children because they are angry) is related to adolescents’ aggressive behavior. Higher levels of parents’ affective quality (i.e., higher warmth and lower hostility) are associated with lower levels of adolescents’ aggressive behaviors.

During adolescence, parents’ affective quality and adolescents’ aggressive behavior change dramatically over time. For example, parental warmth decreases and parental hostility increases during adolescence, and youth-reported adolescent aggressive behavior increases over time. Thus, it is important to understand the relation between parents’ affective quality and youth’s aggression over the course of adolescence.

The influences of mothering versus the influences of fathering

The focus of parenting research in Western countries has shifted in recent decades, with more studies investigating the unique contributions of mothers and fathers to adolescent development. Historically and in most cultures, mothers have been the primary caregivers and have been more involved in their children’s development, so maternal parenting may have a stronger influence on children’s development.

In contrast, as fathers become more involved in their children’s development, the effect of paternal parenting on children’s development has risen. But it remains unclear whose parenting – mothers’ or fathers’ – is more important in affecting children’s problem behaviors.

Investigating this question can inform how intervention programs are tailored, making them more efficient and effective. It can also help families understand and focus on the more important dimensions of parenting.

Comparing aspects of parent affective quality: Warmth versus hostility

Similarly, research on the relative importance of parental warmth versus parental hostility in predicting adolescents’ aggression can also help make intervention programs more effective and guide families in focusing on the more important dimensions of parenting to reduce adolescents’ aggression.

Theoretically and across psychological phenomena, behaviors that might be considered “bad” are believed to have a stronger impact on children’s development than behaviors that are considered “good” – perhaps for evolutionary reasons. In light of this general pattern, parents’ negative affective quality (e.g., parental hostility) may be more important in predicting adolescents’ aggression than parents’ positive affective quality (e.g., parental warmth).

Studying the relative impacts of mothers’ and fathers’ warmth and hostility during adolescence

In our research, we focus on and compare maternal warmth, maternal hostility, paternal warmth, and paternal hostility to investigate the relative importance of these aspects of parents’ affective quality in predicting adolescents’ aggression in early to middle adolescence.

Behaviors that might be considered “bad” are believed to have a stronger impact on children’s development than behaviors that are considered “good.”

To capture changes over time, we analyzed five waves of data from a related research project that began in 2001. We used data from Wave 1, which was when the adolescents were in the fall semester of sixth grade (approximately 11 years old), and data from Waves 2 to 5, which were in the spring semester of sixth through ninth grades, respectively (when adolescents were approximately 12-15 years old). About half of the participants were girls, 89% were White, and 72% of adolescents’ parents had at least some college education. All families in this study were two-parent families living in the United States.

Measuring warmth, hostility, and aggression

At each wave of the study, adolescents answered questions about the frequency of maternal and paternal warmth toward them during the last month. For example, on a scale of 1 (always) to 7 (never), they responded to the question of “how often did your mother/father let you know that they appreciate you, your ideas, or the things you do?”

The adolescents also answered questions about the frequency of maternal and paternal hostility toward them. For example, they responded to the question of “how often did your mother/father shout or yell at you because they were mad at you?”

Lastly, adolescents completed the widely used Youth Self Report, which includes a 17-item aggressive behavior subscale. With this tool, youth reported on how frequently they physically attacked people or otherwise showed aggression.

Exploring which aspects of parent affective quality are linked most strongly to adolescents’ aggression

As is well known, in one family, mothers and fathers can influence and be influenced by each other. In our study, we explored mothers’ and fathers’ affective quality using an analytical approach that allowed us to account for the unique impact of each parent’s affective quality above and beyond the impact of their partner’s, as well as the shared impact of both parents’ affective quality together.

Our results: How parental affective quality predicts adolescents’ aggression

Most of the time, mothers’ affective quality predicted adolescents’ aggression more strongly than fathers’, and parental hostility was a stronger predictor of adolescents’ aggression than parental warmth.

Different patterns for adolescent girls and boys

But beneath these general patterns, we found gender differences in the relative importance of parents’ affective quality in predicting aggressive behaviors in girls versus boys. For girls, maternal hostility was more important for predicting aggression throughout the adolescent years than was paternal hostility or maternal warmth.

During adolescence, mother-daughter relationship quality is often said to be better in many families than father-daughter relationship quality. As a result of the closeness of mother-daughter relationships, maternal hostility toward daughters may be more influential, with girls possibly responding more negatively to maternal hostility.

Photo by  Kaboompics.com on Pexels.

For boys, the relative importance of these aspects of parenting changed over the adolescent years. During early adolescence (ages 12 to 13), paternal affective quality emerged as more important than maternal affective quality. This pattern became more nuanced during middle adolescence (ages 13 to 15).

For boys in this age group, paternal warmth remained more important than maternal warmth. However, maternal hostility became more important than paternal hostility in predicting boys’ aggression during middle adolescence. Some aspect of maternal hostility appeared to be especially powerful for boys during that developmental period.

Parents, especially fathers, may be more involved with their same- than opposite-sex children, as reflected in research in the United States, for example. In those families, fathers’ parenting may be relatively more important for boys than mothers’ parenting. However, maternal hostility may become more important to adolescent boys over time if this hostility differs from expected maternal caretaking-type behaviors.

Implications for families

The relative importance of mothering versus fathering and positive parenting versus negative parenting differs for girls and boys. Mothers’ hostility is more important than fathers’ hostility or mothers’ warmth in predicting adolescent girls’ aggressive behavior. To reduce adolescent girls’ aggressive behavior, we recommend that mothers decrease their hostility toward their daughters.

Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano on Pexels.

For adolescent boys, fathering plays a central but more complex role in predicting their aggression. Fathers’ hostility is a strong predictor of boys’ aggression during early adolescence. To help young adolescent boys reduce their aggressive behavior, we suggest that fathers be involved in their sons’ lives and decrease their hostile behaviors to their sons. For older adolescent boys, it may be helpful for mothers to reduce their hostility to their sons.

All the foresaid recommendations are based on the predictive patterns that we found in the study. We do not yet have the data to support the causal relationships.

The post Certain aspects of parenting predict adolescents’ aggressive behavior appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• Young teenagers were more likely to use some drugs (e-cigs, prescription drugs, inhalants) during the first year of the pandemic than before the pandemic.
• Teens with more pre-existing difficulties or in families with fewer resources used the most substances.
• Parents can support teens in avoiding drug use by modeling healthy coping behaviors and keeping connected to their children.

Teenagers and the COVID-19 pandemic

Teens’ lives changed a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many were attending school online, social distancing from friends and neighbors, and spending more time than they had before the pandemic with family. Many were dealing with stress, uncertainty, and depression. Did these changes result in different patterns of drinking and drug use?

Compared to before the pandemic, fewer teens reported using alcohol after the pandemic started. More teens said they used nicotine products (e.g., vaping), misused prescription drugs, or used inhalants after the start of the pandemic.

To find out, my colleagues and I repeatedly surveyed 9,270 teenagers from 11 to 13 years old across the United States who were participating in an ongoing study – the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Teens completed one survey before the pandemic and seven more surveys during the first year of the pandemic (between May 2020 and May 2021).

How did teen substance use shift after the pandemic started?

Just like before the pandemic, the most common substances teens reported using were alcohol and nicotine (e.g., vaping). However, compared to before the pandemic, fewer teens reported using alcohol after the pandemic started. More teens said they used nicotine products (e.g., vaping), misused prescription drugs, or used inhalants after the start of the pandemic.

The pandemic appears to have shifted which substances young teenagers were using, away from alcohol and toward drugs. Since we surveyed only young teenagers (11- to 13-year-olds), our results do not address what changes the pandemic may have brought for older teens.

Photo: Wallpaper Flare.

What happened as the pandemic wore on?

Surprisingly, the decreases in alcohol use grew even larger in 2021, with teens continuing to report even lower rates. We expected that as teens’ lives began returning closer to their pre-pandemic routines, their alcohol use would also become closer to pre-pandemic levels – but instead we saw further decreases.

As the pandemic wore on, the increases in teens’ inhalant use and prescription drug misuse shrank but remained. In May 2021, young teenagers were still more likely to use these substances than they were before the pandemic. Furthermore, the increase in teens’ nicotine use (e.g., vaping) early in the pandemic (May 2020) shrunk over time and disappeared by May 2021.

Teens were less likely to use substances during the first year of the pandemic when their parents made an effort to stay connected with them and to keep track of what their teens were doing.

Larger impacts among families with fewer resources and youth with pre-existing difficulties

Was the early impact of the pandemic the same for all teenagers? No. Teens whose families had less income exhibited larger increases in substance use during the first year of the pandemic.

This probably occurred because families with lower incomes had fewer resources to buffer against stressful pandemic-related changes (e.g., a parent being laid off).

Also, teens who reported more behavior problems, depression, and anxiety before the pandemic tended to engage in more drinking and drug use during the first year of the pandemic. The additional stress brought by the pandemic likely increased the burden these teens were already feeling.

Parents can help by being a role model and connecting

Our surveys yielded some good news: There are ways parents might be able to protect teens from pandemic-related increases in drinking alcohol or using drugs.

First, teens’ substance use during the first year of the pandemic was correlated with parents’ substance use during that time. Therefore, parents who modelled healthy coping behaviors in the face of pandemic-related stress could have helped protect their teens.

Photo: ottawagraphics. Pixabay.

Second, teens were less likely to use substances during the first year of the pandemic when their parents made an effort to stay connected with them and to keep track of what their teens were doing (e.g., where they were, who their friends were, what was going on at school). When parents increased how much they were keeping track of their teens, youth’s substance use decreased substantially.

Next steps

We are continuing to survey the same teenagers to see how their substance use changed as the pandemic continued in 2022 and 2023. For now, we recommend that parents support their teens by staying connected, keeping track of teens’ activities, and being a role model for healthy coping with the stressful life changes brought by the pandemic.

The post Teenage drinking and drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• Building healthy relationships with technology involves not only protecting youth, but also supporting their positive experiences online.
• Helping middle schoolers navigate the digital world involves strategies similar to those used for their in-person activities: monitoring, spending time on the internet together when possible, educating them about risks, and communicating.
• Ongoing communication is critical. Talk about your values and expectations, ask what young users are doing online, and listen to how they feel about those experiences.
• Parents cannot do it alone. Digital technology companies and policymakers need to ensure that the online spaces where young people spend their time support healthy development while also keeping them safe.

Protecting and supporting youth on the internet are both important

Parents often ask what they can do to protect their children online. This is a good question. But another important question that should be asked is how can we better support our youth on the internet?

As mothers to tweens and teens, we are always looking for ways to protect our children from harm. One of us is also a developmental psychologist who has studied adolescents’ mental health for more than two decades, learning that we need to both protect and support our children – particularly around the middle school years as they make the transition to adolescence and into online spaces.

This is why we recently released a report on what research tells us about amplifying the benefits of digital technology for this age group and calling on technology companies and policymakers to adopt an evidence-based approach to protecting and supporting youth. But even as we urge technology creators to do better, there are steps parents and other caregivers can take to both protect and support positive digital technology use for young people.

Promoting healthy development and well-being with positive online experiences

Early adolescence (from about 10 to 13 years old, or the middle school years) is an important window when positive experiences that support learning and connection can affect development. Going on the internet to create, contribute, or connect can be a positive experience for young people. Online experiences offer new spaces for adolescents to express their creativity, explore who they are and where they fit in, support causes they care about and connect with peers in ways that can enhance their relationships.

Co-viewing, creating, and participating in online spaces can open opportunities for positive joint experiences and allow parents to identify any risks or content that makes them uncomfortable.

Encouraging these kinds of positive experiences online does not require an entirely new set of parenting skills. Instead, parents can use strategies similar to those used when children walk out the door to go to school or hang out at the park with their friends. Parents cannot be everywhere or see everything. But they can find out who their children are with, what they are doing, and how they feel about it, which can reduce problems. This kind of monitoring and communication can also help youth as they navigate the online world.

Keeping youth safe on the internet

Parents should consider some critical issues to ensure their children are engaging with online content safely. During early adolescence, when youth are particularly sensitive to social feedback and belonging, increased exposure to bullying, pornography, unhealthy body images, and harmful targeted advertising can have amplified effects.

Parents should also be aware that some adolescents, for example, those with mental health problems and those who may already be struggling with body image issues, may be more susceptible to viewing negative content on the internet and having negative online experiences than their peers. Knowing your child is key.

Caregivers should also understand that technology use also leaves a digital trace that can follow young people into adulthood by creating a type of permanent record of images and comments that would otherwise be forgotten or excused due to age and immaturity.

Moreover, sleep is critical to physical health, mental health, and learning during adolescence, so families should limit late-night technology use that gets in the way of youth getting more than eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

Photo: Andrea Piacquadio. Pexels.

How parents and caregivers can support and protect youth by making the internet a safer place

Parents and caregivers can make the internet a safer place by:

1. Monitoring and being aware
2. Going on the internet together when possible
3. Educating young people
4. Communicating with young people
5. Using helpful resources

1. Monitoring and being aware

Unlike physical places youth may go that are out of parents’ sight, digital technology provides opportunities to monitor where youth have been online, ideally with youths’ knowledge and consent. Parental controls – such as content filters, time limits, and applications that allow monitoring of online activities – can help.

2. Going on the internet together when possible

Viewing, creating, and participating in online spaces together can open opportunities for positive joint experiences and allow parents to identify risks or content that makes them uncomfortable.

3. Educating young people

Parents can explain the potential risks of digital technology use, discussing the importance of keeping personal information safe and of moderating screen time to make room for in-person activities. Developing a family media plan with your child can help start a conversation about the types of activities and platforms children are allowed to spend time on, and will allow young adolescents to have input into any rules that may govern their use.

4. Communicating with young people

Talking to your child about what they are seeing or experiencing on the internet should become part of daily conversations. When youth are exposed to age-inappropriate content or encounter problematic experiences like cyberbullying or social rejection, having an adult to talk to can make a difference. (Common Sense Media offers prompts to start talking, from conversations about activities to more specific concerns about emotional health and negative feelings.)

5. Using helpful resources

Parents and teachers can access a growing list of resources to help support children online, including:

• The One Mind PsyberGuide provides a teen-specific guide to online mental health applications.
• Common Sense Media resources support parents navigating traditional and new forms of media engagement.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics has a guide to creating a family media plan.
• Teens and Tech Center provides education and resources for parents, educators, and teenagers.

Designing technology to support young people

Even with parents’ best efforts, it is impossible to oversee children’s every online interaction. As parents, we have limited influence over how our children’s data are handled and stored, the types of targeted advertising they are exposed to, and the features intended to encourage them to stay on the internet for long periods of time.

Talking to your child about what they are seeing or experiencing online should become part of your daily conversations.

We expect that the physical spaces where our children spend time, like community parks, sports fields, and classrooms, help them grow and learn while keeping them safe. Digital spaces should be the same. Some lawmakers are working toward this.

For example, last year, California passed a bill that will require digital technology companies to protect young users’ privacy and personal data, limit dangerous content, and maintain default settings that prioritize safety. New York is considering similar legislation. While changes that would enhance safety are important, companies and policies must also consider regulations and design features that intentionally promote positive development in online spaces where youth congregate.

What do caregivers need to know about equitable access to digital technology?

Research is clear that children in families and schools with fewer resources receive less guidance tailored to learning as they begin to navigate the online world than do their peers in families and schools with more resources. Adolescents from minoritized and marginalized communities – such as youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth – are at the greatest risk for experiencing harassment and victimization online, even as they report positive experiences like finding “spaces of refuge” and community on the internet that may not be available to them in their physical environments.

Although discussion of technology tends to focus on limiting screen time, too many students are unable to access the basic benefits of technology, particularly for learning and education. Black and Hispanic students and those from families with lower incomes are more likely to have limited access to devices and the Internet than their peers.

Photo: Omar Ramadan. Pexels.

To help address these gaps, many school districts are working to provide free or reduced-cost WiFi to students. Families who need help to afford reliable Internet access and connected devices can contact their local school district or apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program.

In addition, digital technology companies and policymakers need to establish digital solutions and innovations that make the online world a place of opportunity rather than posing added risks for our most vulnerable youth.

Conclusion

Early adolescence brings new opportunities for building connections, education, and healthy learning and exploration. If we focus the conversation around “teens and tech” only on protection, we may miss opportunities to meet young people where they are and build online environments that match their needs.

Parents and caregivers have an important role in helping our children develop a healthy relationship with digital technologies. That includes talking directly with them about potential risks of online interactions and how to moderate digital technology use, providing oversight where possible to see what children are doing on the internet, and setting limits to ensure that technology does not interfere with sleep and other activities important to well-being. Most importantly, it means building strong relationships with our children so they tell us what is going on and when they are struggling.

But we cannot do this on our own. It is time for the owners, designers, and creators of the online spaces where young people spend their time to step up and build environments that support young people while also keeping them safe. We need to ask different types of questions so we learn not just how to protect but also how to support our children’s healthy development in an increasingly digital world.

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• Puberty is not a singular process, so girls’ feelings about each change will not be uniform. Parents can celebrate changes their daughters are excited about while also making space for negative feelings about other changes.
• Girls who feel more prepared for menarche are less distressed by it. Parents can engage in multiple conversations with their daughters about practical information in handling menstruation, and also the feelings, physical pain, and social stigma associated with the change.
• Girls who mature earlier than their peers seem to struggle to make sense of these changes in a way that increases their psychological distress. Parents can model how to draw helpful conclusions from the changes happening in girls’ lives to support their daughters’ emotional development.

Puberty is often viewed as an awkward transition for both parents and their daughters

In the first episode of My So-Called Life (a mid-1990s U.S. television series about the teen years), teenager Angela laments that “My dad and I used to be pretty tight. The sad truth is, my breasts have come between us.” Many parents and adolescents can relate to this sentiment.

Puberty brings with it many dramatic changes that are exciting and difficult, public and private, and dramatic and subtle for youth. When faced with these changes in their child, many parents may not know exactly what to say, so they defer to outside sources like physicians.

Parents should talk with their daughters to see how they feel about specific changes.

Since puberty is broadly considered the start of adolescence, it can be tempting to view the first major pubertal change as a cue that your daughter needs space and privacy because she will soon be a moody teenager. It is important that parents do not avoid such topics just because they are awkward. In fact, researchers have found that youth prefer their parents as their source for sensitive topics like sex education over other sources such as school, peers, or media.

But where should parents start when talking to their daughters about puberty? And how can they better help girls make sense of the changes happening to them? One way to answer these questions is to ask girls themselves how they feel about puberty.

What views about puberty do girls express when asked to write about the experience?

In a recent study, my co-author and I asked 10- to 13-year-old girls to describe their experiences of changes with their bodies, families, and friends during puberty. Over four consecutive days, girls wrote in journals for 20 minutes on a specific prompt related to change during puberty. After the four days of journaling, they responded to survey questions about their level of symptoms of depression, conflict with peers, and conflict with parents. They completed the same survey about four months later.

Girls may view puberty as both a positive and a negative experience

While puberty often carries negative connotations in pop culture, we found that writing about most physical changes, including breast development, was not related to negative outcomes in mood or relationship conflict. In their journaling, girls tended to voice multiple perspectives on the same issues.

Photo: Zen Chung. Pexels.

For example, when writing about relationship changes with youth their own age, one girl said she felt that her “relationship with kids my age did not really change, we just have our ups and downs sometimes.” In contrast, another girl wrote, “I have noticed that you can’t just be friends with boys. Other people, apparently, think you are dating if you hang with a boy. This makes friendships with boys extremely hard.”

Based on these findings, parents should talk with their daughters to see how they feel about specific changes rather than assuming which changes girls view positively or negatively.

Menstruation is uniquely stressful for girls; talking to them about it can help

In our study, girls were most distressed by menstruation. Girls who wrote about menstruation more than any other topic were more likely to report more symptoms of depression four months after the first survey, regardless of their level of physical development or the timing of puberty.

This is important because it means that girls did not simply write about menstruation because they experienced it and other girls did not, but that some girls fixated on menstruation in a way that may be maladaptive.

Menstruation is a unique change. In addition to being private and beginning all at once rather than gradually, it is a change that has monthly consequences for most girls that continue until menopause. Many girls wrote about feelings of isolation or helplessness around the idea of experiencing period pain or inconvenience for years to come. For example, one girl summed up this feeling by writing, “One of the only things I am not looking forward to during puberty while growing up is cramps.”

In our study, girls were most distressed by menstruation.

Given these findings, parents should talk through these feelings with girls and provide information about handling menstruation before girls begin menstruating. Researchers have found that girls who are well-informed about menstruation are less likely to be distressed by it. This may be because girls can replace misinformation or fears (e.g., “I will hurt all the time and I can’t stop it.”) with accurate information and potential solutions (e.g., “I can take pain medications for cramps.”).

Parents can help teens view puberty as a meaningful life transition

In addition to examining girls’ thoughts and feelings about individual changes, we also recorded each time girls demonstrated meaning making by searching for meaning or trying to make sense of the changes happening to them.

Sometimes this took on a negative tone when girls reflected on their helplessness (e.g., “Puberty is just something that happens to you and you have to go through it. It’s life.”). Other times, girls reflected on how changes in their lives might benefit them or others (e.g., “Going through puberty now means I’ll be better prepared to help my daughters in the future.”).

The more early-maturing girls engaged in making meaning, the more symptoms of depression they reported. Girls who mature earlier than their peers may struggle with meaning making that is positive or constructive, or at least that does not exacerbate psychological distress. This may be because early-maturing girls are among their first in their classes to start puberty, so they may have fewer examples or frames of reference to draw from when making sense of these changes.

Research with adults suggests that the more people engage in adaptive meaning making, the better their mood and well-being tend to be. However, children and adolescents tend to have a more difficult time generating such adaptive meaning making on their own. Adaptative meaning making may look like finding benefits in the situation, recognizing personal growth that has come out of the changes, or reappraising negative events in positive ways more generally. Parents can engage in scaffolding during conversations about changes or challenges with their children to help them practice better meaning making strategies.

Photo: Karolina Grabowska. Pexels.

For example, parents may follow up a daughter’s statement that “wearing a sports bra sucks” by reframing the conclusion (e.g., “It may suck that you have to wear an additional piece of equipment, but your sports bra is no different than your cleats or racket. It is equipment that helps you preform safely.”). Alternatively, parents may use questions to guide their teens to elaborate or reframe the concept on their own (e.g., “What does the sports bra help you accomplish?”).

Research directions

Overall, our research suggests that girls are particularly distressed by menstruation when describing their experiences of change during puberty. They may also struggle to make meaning of the changes and challenges related to puberty in a way that can help them cope with this transition.

While it can be difficult or awkward for parents to know what to say, our findings suggest that parents can support their daughters during puberty by engaging in more and frequent conversations about pubertal change. However, researchers need to examine how parents’ conversations about particular topics directly influence girls’ adaptive meaning making about pubertal changes.

We also need research to determine how these results apply to other groups’ experiences with puberty, such as boys and adolescents from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Adolescents from different backgrounds may focus on different experiences and concerns, and these may map differently onto teens’ psychological difficulties.

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