One of the recent research says that Time With Parents Is
Important for Teens' Well-Being
Teenagers are famous for seeking independence from their
parents, but research shows that many teens continue to spend time with their
parents and that this shared time is important for teens' well-being, according
to Penn State researchers.
"The stereotype that teenagers spend all their time
holed up in their rooms or hanging out with friends is, indeed, just a
stereotype," said Susan McHale, professor of human development and
director of the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State. "Our
research shows that, well into the adolescent years, teens continue to spend
time with their parents and that this shared time, especially shared time with
fathers, has important implications for adolescents' psychological and social
adjustment."
The researchers studied whether the stereotype of teens
growing apart from their parents and spending less time with them captured the
everyday experiences of families by examining changes in the amount of time
youths spent with their parents from early to late adolescence. On five
occasions over seven years, the team conducted home and phone interviews with
mothers, fathers and the two oldest children in almost 200 white, middle- and
working-class families living in small cities, towns and rural communities. At
the start of the study, the oldest children in each family were about 11 and
the second oldest were about 8 years old.
During the home interviews, teens reported on their
social skills with peers and their self-esteem. After each home visit, the
researchers also conducted a series of seven nightly phone interviews, asking
teens about their activities during the day of the call, including who
participated in the activities with them.
According to youths' reports of their daily time,
although parent-teen time when others were also present declined from the early
to late teen years, parent-teen time with just the parent and the teen present
increased in early and middle adolescence -- a finding that contradicts the
stereotype of teens growing apart from their parents.
"This suggests that, while adolescents become more
independent, they continue to have one-on-one opportunities to maintain close
relationships with their parents," McHale said.
Furthermore, teens who spent more time with their fathers
with others present had better social skills with peers, and teens who spent
more time alone with their fathers had higher self-esteem.
The researchers also found that the decline in the time
teens spent with parents and others was less pronounced for second-born than
for first-born siblings. Thee also found that both mothers and fathers spent
more time alone with a child of their same gender when they had both a daughter
and a son.
The results appeared Aug. 21 in the journal Child
Development.
Other authors on the paper include Ann C. Crouter, the
Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schutz Dean of the College of Health and Human
Development and professor of human development, and Chun Bun Lam, doctoral
student in human development and family studies when the research was
performed.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development funded this study.
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