Developmental Landmarks and Parenting During Adolescence

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Developmental Landmarks of Adolescence

Two changes distinguish a child’s development during adolescence from previous stages. The first is characterized by rapid physical and psychological change. Adolescence is a period of metamorphosis in an individual’s life involving dramatic changes in body proportions, physical size, sexual maturation, and personality shifts. The second change involves individual emancipation. Western culture emphasizes the teenage years as the appropriate time for establishing one’s independence as a mature person and assuming full responsibility for oneself. The specific developmental tasks and milestones that individuals encounter in adolescence focus on acquiring and refining more advanced skills, abilities, and attitudes that lead toward preparation for adulthood.

Parenting Adolescents

Many parents anticipate that when a child reaches adolescence, it is like going to war since this stage of the life span is associated with rebellion, tension, conflict, and emotional turmoil. In reality, this depiction is not far from the truth since adolescence is a difficult time both for children and parents. While some teenagers reach the outer limits in their behavior and attitude, however, most adolescents do not act out and the stereotypes described here do not normally apply.

Parenting styles and behaviors must adapt once again to meet the needs of a different child. And once again, the adaptation often is not initiated by the parents but rather by the adolescent who may demand to be treated differently now that he or she is older. Meeting the developmental needs of a child who is attempting to become autonomous and eventually to individuate from the family system presents challenges not found in previous periods of parenting children. Most parents understand that adolescents continue to need guidance, rules, and support in this process of growing toward maturity.

Family professionals stress that one of the more difficult challenges of parenting adolescents is the fine line parents walk between being supportive of a teen’s efforts to individuate and maintaining certain limits and boundaries for appropriate behavior (Gnaulati & Heine, 2001). Adolescents need experience in making personal decisions, but sometimes these decisions can have traumatic consequences. Family systems become unhealthy when there is a demand for complete uniformity and conformity among all members, when everyone is expected to adhere to the same beliefs, values, and behaviors. Although parents and adolescents must agree on rules and other family patterns, this agreement occurs ideally through negotiation and input from all concerned. When no latitude is permitted for individual expression and differences are not tolerated, a family system becomes endangered in its ability to function in a healthy way. This approach may have been appropriate at earlier stages of the family life career as a reflection of the developmental limits and inabilities of children to participate fully in family life and decisions; however, it becomes less appropriate as children reach the adolescent years.

Revised Parenting Styles

A common misconception of many parents is that a particular style of child rearing does not change once it is established; they assume they will use the same style throughout the years of child rearing. In reality, children’s changing developmental progress affects changes in parenting styles throughout childhood and adolescence. Most parents make adaptations in child-rearing strategies, methods, and interaction styles to meet the particular needs of adolescents. Because of the different developmental status of adolescents, parents must shift to accommodate these needs by altering their parenting style to become more authoritative, less authoritarian, and eventually more permissive in nature.

Parenting during this stage is particularly challenging for a variety of reasons (Santrock, 2004). Adults must discover ways to help teens learn to make decisions that minimize potential harm to themselves and others. Communication between parents and teens requires patience and effort to achieve effective functioning of this family system microenvironment. A unique challenge is adjusting the relationship to allow an adolescent to individuate from the family system. By doing so, adults must gradually relinquish control and place increasing amounts of personal responsibility on teens to become self-regulated.

Research consistently shows that adolescent-parent relations are best when decisions are perceived by both as being consistent and collaborative, the needs of all family members are respected, and decisions are seen as fair and reasonable as opposed to arbitrary (Steinberg & Silk, 2002). As in previous stages of parenting children, the authoritative parenting style continues to be associated with positive adolescent outcomes.

Meeting the Needs of Adolescents Health and Safety Issues.

Adolescence and young adulthood are perhaps the time in one’s life span when health and well-being are at their peak. However, health and safety issues occurring during these times often have a significant impact in the present as well as in the future.

Adolescents should begin having an annual visit with a health care professional for screening for a variety of health issues. These visits also allow for confidential discussions of issues of a personal nature that a health care professional can address. Health care professionals can also bring other issues up for discussion with the teenager relating to health, exercise, and sexual matters. Other situations involving the health and well-being of teens call for monitoring by parents and other family members.