Video: Teen Brain Development in the Transition to Adulthood

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/rebeccajenn-1757549-teen-brain-development-transition-adulthood/

This is my power point presentation about teen brain development in the transition to adulthood that focuses on the cognitive development of the teen. Especially in how they are achieving higher functioning in their decision making processes, but still seek social acceptance and emotional satisfaction so they are more likely to act impulsively. I hope this video will help you out in understanding the teenage mind and thus be able to help them in a more constructive way.

~Rebecca Jenn

Sources:

Bailey, Regina. (2013). Limbic System. About.com. Retrieved March 23, 2013 from http://biology.about.com/od/anatomy/a/aa042205a.ht m

Parker, Steve. (2007). The Human Body Book. (p. 70). New York, NY: DK.

Steinberg, Laurence. (2005). Cognitive and affective development in adolescence.. TRENDS in cognitive sciences. 9 (2), 69-74.

Edit: 4.3.13
Here's another great resource about the teen brain from PBS. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/

Recommended Blog by Lisa Cropp

This blog meets the needs of our audience in a number of ways. First, the blog talks about how it is committed to supporting real positive change in the lives of individuals and families with support needs, including accessing education, exploring potential employment opportunities, developing a social active life, and developing relationships.  The blog also talks about how C-change will work with you, regardless of age and personal circumstances.  Second, this blog offers help in specific areas, such as, employment opportunities, developing an active social life, accessing education, and managing financial matters.  This blog also helps young adults maintain health and well being.  Third, there are success stories/testimonials from people who have turned to this blog for help.  Fourth, C-change designs programs around the needs and outcomes of the people they work for, with the person/people they work for being in charge of their own lives.  In other words, C-change is constantly listening and learning from the people they work for in order to find the resources that will help them get the life they want.  I like how C-change organizes planning days at least once a year and a follow up session no more than six months later to ensure things (the person’s goals and aspirations) are on track.  Planning days encourage all people who know and care about a person to come together to share ideas about what they would like to do in the year ahead.  Another way the blog meets the needs of our audience is by sharing news (upcoming and past events) and different views from various people involved in the organization.  The blog offers website links for children and young people, dating, mental health, families, and addiction.  You see, the blog is targeting challenges (employment, education, social life, financial matters) that young people face when transitioning into adulthood.

The blog stresses how C-change offers guidance, assistance, and support, but most importantly, C-change points people in the right direction in order to help people find their place in society.  Research agrees that offering advice when needed and supporting the decisions of young people is more effective than telling young people what and how to do things.  C-change expresses thier views on entering the work force as a young adult, which is, it’s not just about finding a job, it’s about finding yourself in the right type of job.  Thus, young people need to sell themselves by showing employers their qualities, strengths, and capacities that define who you are in order to land the job which is suitable for you.

The quality of application in the blog posts were excellent in that they explained, in detail, how C-change helps people and what C-change does.  The blog also highlighted important points in bold lettering.  All the blog web links, history, progressive stories, newsletters, and the C-change approach were directly related and appropriate for the blog topic (transitioning to adulthood).  The quality of writing was very good and the language used in the blog was understandable and flowed together nicely.  I found very few grammatical errors and the words were used in a way that really enhanced what the C-change program is all about.  I liked how the writers made the site user-friendly by adding videos of real people’s success stories and using various drawings to illustrate the main points of the blog.  For me, the best part of the blog was that the writer’s were speaking to their audience, not at them.  I would definitely recommend this blog because of its easy navigation, resources, and useful information.   

http://www.c-change.org.uk/

Pickhardt, C PhD.  Boomerang Kids.  Sourcebooks, Inc:  Illinois.  c2011.

Community Paper

by Shirley

Parenting is Important

If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any

goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you

will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.

Brian Tracy

We often hear fathers and mothers state that they wished that their children had arrived with a set of instructions.  If they had, these parents state that they would have been much better parents to them. Children are born with a wide variety of temperaments, energy levels and personalities.  We have all heard parents commenting  that their child has above average test scores because of their wonderful parenting skills, only to find  that once they became teenagers it was almost impossible to “make them do” anything that they didn’t want to do.  While many agree that reading, talking, spending time with and setting an example for your children are all extremely important, it is also known that each person and child has their own free will and this is something that is difficult to change.

According to Schmitt-Rodermund, there are two different sources that fuel a child’s development.  One is the characteristics a child is born with, which includes personality and temperament and the other source is the contextual input or those characteristics that are encouraged and reinforced by their parents.  This includes helping a child develop interests, provide opportunities, support and encouragement so that the child can gain confidence and become competent (Schmitt-Rodermund, 2003).  Schmitt-Rodermund feels that parents can encourage this confidence by providing support and rules that create autonomy, in other words becoming what Baumrind refers to as an authoritative parenting (Schmitt-Rodermund, 2003, Baumrind, 1991).  Baumrind’s definition of an authoritative parent is one that is warm and supportive.   Authoritative parents are responsive to their children, willing to listen, they are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive. Their disciplinary methods are supportive, rather than punitive (Baumrind, 1991).

“The more people have studied different methods of bringing up children

The more they have come to the conclusion that what good mothers and fathers

Instinctively feel like doing for their babies is the best after all”

(Benjamin Spock 1903-1998).

If a parent instinctively knows what to do then why are they always looking for the best way to parent? The conclusion in current research states that there are many factors that determine successful parenting. 

Bornstein concluded that, “Parents have the job of absorbing and understanding novel, complex, and rapidly changing, uncertain information.  At the same time they are called on to parent consistently, appropriately, and effectively.  In other words, what parents need to know about parenting, children, and childhood is complicated and has real-life consequences every day” (Bornstein, et. al., 2010, pg. 1687).  They went on to state that intuition and common sense were not enough to make a good parent.  Too often we as a society follow traditions, wives-tails, memories, and misguided information in raising our children.  What parents really need is solid, practical, reliable, ‘evidence-based’ knowledge, with a sound understanding of why and how children develop as they do (Bornstein, et. al., 2010).  

We know that parenting style and engagement do affect the outcomes in their children. According to Odgers, Caspi, Russell, Sampson, Arseneault, & Moffitt, parental warm, monitoring and support can mediate some of the negative effects of life (Odgers, Caspi, Russell, Sampson, Arseneault, & Moffitt, 2012).  Many parents are still left to ask themselves ‘Am I mom or dad enough?’   We all will make plenty of mistakes in our parenting, even though we are trying to do our best.  We can strive to be our children’s greatest fan, strongest advocate and most honest critic.  Perhaps the greatest gift that one can give their children is their love and time.  By doing this the children will know that they are important and valued.  They are our greatest gift and they are truly prized!

References

Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C.-S., & Haynes, O. M. (2011). Maternal personality, parenting cognitions, and parenting practices. Developmental Psychology, 47(3), 658-675. doi: 10.1037/a0023181

Peterson, B. E. (2006). Generativity and Successful Parenting: An Analysis of Young Adult Outcomes. Journal of Personality, 74(3), 847-870. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00394.x

Odgers, C. L., Caspi, A., Russell, M. A., Sampson, R. J., Arseneault, L., & Moffitt, T. E. (2012). Supportive parenting mediates neighborhood socioeconomic disparities in children's antisocial behavior from ages 5 to 12. Development and Psychopathology, 24(Special Issue 03), 705-721.

Schmitt-Rodermund, E. (2004). Pathways to successful entrepreneurship: Parenting, personality, early entrepreneurial competence, and interests. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(3), 498-518. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2003.10.007

Community Paper: Parenting Matters

Parenting today has become extremely difficult given the many circumstances of our fast pace world.  While the challenges continue to grow greater and greater, the importance of parenting is still the same. The way we parent our children shapes our future.  Our future is all we have now, hence the importance of raising our children in the best possible manner.  The style in which we parent our child can have a huge impact on them.

Researchers have narrowed down the parenting styles to three types.  They are authoritarian, permissive and authoritative.  Each has a unique approach to their children and each have impacts that are quite consistent across the board.  Let's take a look at each briefly.

Authoritarian parenting style is low on emotional warmth and nurturing but high in parental direction and control. (Lamanna, 263)  These typically are the parents who have high expectations of them being in charge.  They are more likely to use harsh punishments and to use control.  This parenting style has been associated with a child’s decreased sense of personal effectiveness or mastery over a situation, even among children as young as four.  (Lamanna, 263)  These parents are common and the one's you may have grown up with watching your friends parents.  They are adamant about the rules and feel that the more control they have of their child the more in control they are of how they will turn out.  This has proven to be a false notion.

Permissive parenting style involves little parental guidance.  Although low on parental direction or control, permissive parenting may be high on emotional nurturing.  (Lamanna, 264)  The children of permissive parents are often known as the "spoiled child."  This parenting style is known at times for their neglect of the child because of their lack of direction.  There are high numbers of depression for these children and otherwise poor mental health.  As well as low school performance, behavior problems, high rates of teen sexuality and pregnancy, and juvenile delinquency. (Lamanna, 264)

Authoritative parenting has sometimes been called “positive parenting.”  Child psychologists prefer authoritative parenting style.  Authoritative parenting style is characterized as warm, firm, and fair, combines emotional nurturing and support with conscientious parental direction (although not excessive control).  Authoritative parents consider their child’s wishes and opinions along with their own as they make decisions on how to raise their child.  They are encouraging of their children's achievements, individuality, independence and talents.  While they are encouraging they also set limits with clear communication.  The authoritative style encompasses the parents direction and control coupled with what the children feels and needs.  
Research consistently shows that an authoritative parenting style is the most effective parenting style.  Regardless of family structure, authoritative parents are more likely than others to have children who do better in school and are socially competent, with relatively high self-esteem and cooperative, yet independent, personalities.  The positive effects of authoritative parenting last into adulthood.  When two parents are involved it can be even more effective. (Lamanna, 264)

While each description of the three parenting styles is short and concise I'm sure we can all look at the descriptions and decide which our parents fall into or what we fall into as parents.  I am one who was raised with authoritative parents.  While they were an authoritative style for me, they were more authoritarian for my older brother.  We are both near the age of 30 and are well past being parented.  But he is a completely different person based off of how he was parented relative to how I was parented.  I feel my parenting was much more beneficial and I know if he were to be asked the same question he would feel the same way.  It seems to be quite clear that the best way to produce the healthiest children we need to use an authoritative style and couple our direction with our children's needs.  It gives them the balance we all wish for in life.

Chase

Lamanna, M. A. (2012). Marriages, families, and relationships. (11th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.

Book Review: Lost in Transition: the Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood

I read this book because of some of the positive reviews I had read about it and am pleased that I did.  I would recommend this book to both those transitioning to adulthood as well as their parents.  The biggest reason I recommend this book is because of its authenticity.  As I read this book I kept coming back to the same to descriptions and they were that the book was "raw" and "real."  Even towards the beginning of the book the authors explain that they would display the realities of emerging adults as they are rather than as we want to view them.  They explain that the reason for this is it will be most beneficial to the social sciences so that we can be "straightforward" in our approach to human life.

The book maintains a study of young teens 13-17 years of age and then later reevaluates the same people at ages 18-23.  It focused on their views and behaviors.  I personally hope they continue to follow up with these people into their 30's and 40's.  What they found was some interesting and telling attitudes.  One of the major themes was the idea that these emerging adults held about a person's moral beliefs being strictly individual.  For instance murder is only immoral if it is immoral to that individual.  This mindset was becoming more and more common.  I found that especially interesting as I was in my family belief systems class recently talking about a similar subject.  The majority of the students in my class were also in favor of the notion that people should choose morality for themselves.  It shed light to me how prominent this ideology is in young people and how that actually can be damaging to our society.

They found a fairly positive outlook from the emerging adults concerning sex.  They came to the conclusion that most felt it was a very powerful and important part of life that can be used for immense benefit or immense destruction.  They also were very concerned for the greater good of people and society and the environment.  One particularly interesting part of this book is the claim of why many young people do not engage in many societal issues.  The claim was that because of the weak moral reasoning foundation, they did not have a specific end to work for.  I have even found this true in my own personal life at times.  This is one reason it is so important for emerging adults to examine their beliefs and strengthen them so that their purpose in life and in society is more profound and meaningful.

This book is raw and gives a great illustration of what emerging adults really face and how they really think.  I felt it was written quite well and was made to be very entertaining on what can be a drab topic for some.  The more honest we are with ourselves concerning this important time in one's life, the better we can prepare and live appropriately.  This book is a great gateway to opening up your mind to these thought patterns and behaviors.

Chase

Smith, C., Christofferson, K., Davidson, H., & Herzog, P. (2011). Lost in transition: The dark side of emerging adulthood. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Communtiy Paper by Lisa Cropp

Parenting Matters

Every parent’s goal is to build a confident growing relationship with their growing children.  The downfall of many parents is the failure to let the relationship mature as their children become adults and continue to treat young people as if they were “children”.  Parents need to concentrate on building a positive climate in which the relationship between parents and child can develop.  Parent’s attitudes, words, and behavior do influence your child every time you are together; therefore, parents must take responsibility for their own power of influence and stop blaming children for the bad relationships between parent and child.  Children are constantly learning new life lessons, and as parents, we need to be more mature and help educate children in coping with the obstacles of growing up. 

The first step in building a positive climate with your growing children and becoming a good and effective parent is to be a confident parent.  Confidence comes from continuing to grow as parents.  Confident parents do all they can to help their children mature, including placing genuine importance on their children’s feelings and thoughts.  That is, parents really want to understand their children so that a friendship can form between them.   The key to having a friendship with your adult children is letting your children grow up, which involves giving children choices, guiding them in making the best choices, and teaching them to take responsibility for their own behavior.  Confident parents are loving and supportive in letting their children take steps to maturity (Campbell & Chapman, pg 150).  But, most important, confident parents manage their anger, and they discipline out of love, but never discipline while they are angry.

As children grow into adolescence, parents continue with the same parent-young child style of parenting, and consequently, the parents fall into “parent traps” (undesirable style of parenting).  There are three kinds of traps and the first trap is overprotection.  These parents do too much for their children, which don’t allow children to learn how to do for themselves.   To get out of this trap, let your children know that you are working together toward their independence.  The second trap is undermanagement.  This type of trap consists of parents who do not give enough management or aren’t involved in their children’s lives.  These parents need to work toward understanding the value of emotional closeness with their children.  As a parent myself, I feel the emotional closeness I have with my daughters is the reason why my daughters and I are so close.   The third trap is overmanagement.  This trap involves parents who are deeply involved or devote too much energy in helping their children learn.  This style of parenting causes young adults to feel dominated, thus, causing young adults to draw away from their parents.  This style of parenting also causes young adults to develop anger issues and will likely fail to learn to accept responsibility for his/her own behavior.  The solution is for parents to give their children the freedom to make decisions on their own.    

It is important to meet your adult child’s need for emotional love in a way (language) he/she understands.  There are five basic languages of love that each person will understand, and as a parent, it’s your job to know what “love language” works best on your adult child. 

1.       Words of Affirmation.  This involves using words to build up the person.  “You look nice today.”

2.       Gifts.  This involves giving gifts.  A gift says, “She was thinking of me.

3.       Acts of Service.  This involves doing nice things that you know your child will appreciate.  Such acts make your child feel really loved.

4.       Quality Time.  Spending quality time with your child involves giving him/her your undivided attention.

5.       Physical Touch. This includes a hug, pat on the back, or sitting close enough to touch shoulders.

Parenting is about the most difficult job in the world, but also very rewarding.  By emphasizing the positive aspects of your bond with your child and what you have done right, parents can form meaningful friendship with their adult children.

Campbell R., MD & Chapman G., PhD. How to Really Love Your Adult Children.  Chicago:  Northfield Publishing.  c1999.

Marriage: Principles to go by

The Importance of Marriage By Rebecca Jenn

As we were growing up and even now we watch movies that end in “happy ever after” –even if the movie doesn’t explicitly say so, we assume so. Because that’s what’s supposed to happen, all movie characters are supposed to live “happily ever after.” However, that is the thing: it is the movies. In reality, marriages are not as sweet after the wedding.

To be honest, I can’t speak from personal experience because I am not yet married or even in a dating relationship. So I will be speaking completely hypothetically here, but I hope I can help you as a transitioning adult or someone who is helping the transient adult into a marriage relationship. I can also say that I’ve taken a class on how to strengthen your marriage and all the information that I’m going to be sharing with you comes from the book The Seven Principals for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman (1999), which is available any where books are sold.

So you’ve been proposed to (or were the proposer), you survived through the wedding and now you’re living with the love of your life. Right? Wrong, you’ve actually just married someone that is completely opposite of you (even if you think you have common interests and avoid conflicts) [Gottman, 1999]; you have been raised in a different set of standards, you both view the world differently and have had such different experiences that, no matter how much you have shared your life with them, there’s still more under the surface.

Now this is not to say that you shouldn’t have married him or her. What I am saying is that you both are very unique human beings and you need to know your partner and acknowledge the fact that you are going to have disagreements (which don’t have to become full-blown arguments if you do not let them).

Anyhow, the number one thing to remember in your relationship is that communication is key: which also means conflict and bickering. It means not getting along over traditions, in-laws, sex, money, jobs, housekeeping, kids, etc. (Gottman, 1999).  As a matter of fact, Gottman (1999) found that couples that had “good marriages” were as likely to fight as “not good marriages.” And the couple could have had completely different interests, temperament, family values, etc. but they still loved each other and understood one another.

How is that? Well the couples had mastered the seven things that Gottman (1999) goes over in his book:

1) They enhanced their “love maps”—a love map being basically anything that you could know about your spouse, all of the ins, outs and quirks of your partner (which can be as simple as remembering her favorite salad dressing, favorite color, favorite movies, or even life aspirations).

2) They nurtured their fondness and admiration for each other.

3) They turned toward each other instead of away (especially in conflicts).

4) They let their partner influence them—in as many ways as each partner could possibly 

5) They solve their solvable problems (which include arguments that are actually centered around a task that needs to be done or can be improved upon)

6) They overcame gridlock (gridlock is exactly what you would imagine in a traffic jam—everything has come to a standstill and you can’t go anywhere over the issue because you just keep going over and over it again in the same way.

And 7) they created shared meanings with each other (which is more than just going on vacations, but every-day type of things or weekly dates, etc.)

The book goes into a lot more detail on each factor as well as builds on how you can be a better partner and what issues your relationship may be gridlocked on—the book even has little quizzes and questionnaires for you to take over these kinds of things.

However, I still haven’t answered why this is important to you: your relationship with your spouse is important because its going to shape how your children see their relationships and how you are able to relate with your kids. Now, I understand, you may not be the married type that wants to have children: no judgment passed here. I understand the sentiment. But even if it isn’t for your kids, then Gottman’s seven principles will just help your relationship blossom and grow even more for each other.

As you and your spouse are more affectionate and flexible with each other, willing to talk out your problems and understand each other on an intimate level, your children will understand how to interact with their peers and siblings (if you have more than one). You’re also displaying to your child or children that you love each other and that because you respect each other, your child or children can also respect the both of you. Stemming from your healthy relationship with each other, your child or children should also benefit because, as you are willing to work things out with your spouse, so should you be able to work things out with your child or children.

And besides, the nuclear family is the basic building block of society, and it starts between two different individuals that need to acknowledge that they are different and have things to work out among them before and anytime during their marriage.

So to wrap up: You and your new spouse are different, but with Gottman’s (1999) principles you can have a marriage better than the movies. And you can live “happily ever after” to the end of times.

Book Review (Boomerang Kids by Carl Pickhardt)

Book Review by Lisa  Cropp

 

The book I am reviewing for my blog post discusses various challenges that young adults face, including substance use, flunking out of college, and unemployment.   The book supports the research on the topics mentioned above.  First, I will discuss substance use and how the book and research align with each other.  The book states:   the combination of new freedom and new social pressures are what make trial independence a more impulsive age, the one during which substance use is most widespread and often heaviest of all (Pickhardt, pg 156).  Substance use is about gratifying the desire for freedom.  In other words, future consequences aren’t of any concern; only the moment matters for adolescents.  The book also talks about how when adolescents move away from home they turn to partying because parties provide a means  for hanging out, meeting peers, and acting more like an adult. Research shows peer socialization as one process explaining the similarity between peers and the use of substances.  Research also found that some of this normative substance use is guided by the social context of the young adult (college, partying, etc) and the influence of peers.  The book and research both agree that young people want to fit in socially, which means making foolish choices.  Both the book and research found that substance use levels off by young adulthood, around twenty three or so, and adolescents is characterized by an increase in substance use over time. 

Flunking out of college can be a hard pill to swallow for young adults and the book discusses some reasons why this happens, including financial hardships, outside obligations to family/job, and inadequate academic and psychological preparation.  Students may not have gained sufficient skills or preparation in high school to successfully complete college-level work.  Socially, students might feel isolated and unable to find a comfortable way to fit in.  That is, the challenge of being a student, commitment, and readiness makes it hard for young people to succeed in college.  Research backs up these claims in a study of maladjustments relating to college students.  The research grouped college problems into three areas.  The first group is scholastic, which includes failure in studies and illegible handwriting.  The second group is social, which includes disobedience to college rules, lack of initiative, and lack of getting along with others.  The third group is personal, which includes worry over financial matter and personal or family troubles.  So you see, both the book and research claim that young adults aren’t ready for college due to lack of readiness in the three areas mentioned above (scholastic, social, and personal). 

The quality of application was very good because the information could be useful in helping young people deal with the many obstacles of growing up.  As a parent raising two teenage daughters (16 and 14), I feel I could apply the books helpful hints to my personal life, if or when the need arises.  I like how the book discussed a wide spectrum of challenges that all young adults encounter at one time or another.  The quality of writing was excellent in more ways than one.  For starters, the book was written in a way which made sense to me.  In other words, there weren’t a lot of technical terms to understand.  The book did a superb job in transitioning from topic to topic.  Second, the author included examples and exerts written by young adults who are going or have gone through challenges mentioned in the book, which helped add more credibility to the writing.  I really liked how the author used bullet points to emphasize certain points, which made the contents of the book easier to grasp.  Finally, I appreciated how the book included “parenting prescriptions” to help sum up each section.  I felt like the author knew what he was talking about.  Excellent book and I would definitely recommend this book to parents and young adults who need help in getting through the “tough times”. 

Sources

Maladjustment among college students, Journal of applied psychology, 1924, vol.8 (4), p. 390-410 [Peer review journal]

The influence of peers on young adults substance use, Health psychology, 2002, vol.21 (4), p. 349-357[Peer review journal]

Pickhardt, C., PhD. Boomerang Kids. Sourcebooks, Inc.  Illinois (2011). 

Book Review by Shirley

Adolescence and Beyond: Family Processes and Development

            This is a wonderful book to help families as they try to determine the extent of their role in assisting adolescences transition into adulthood.  According to Kerig, Schulz & Hauser The period of transition from adolescence into adulthood has become in recent year a topic of focus among developmental psychologists and child mental health specialists.  One of the questions that they attempt to answer in this book is, “To what extent do family interactions influence the way a teens navigates into adulthood? How can we begin to understand the interplay between adolescents’ context and their development and well-being?”

            This book is researched based and it covers several different topics.  Peer-reviewed research has been done on each topic research and then the data is reviewed, interpreted and then presented in the book in an easy to follow format. Each chapter is an easy to read research article. It addresses such topics as culture, friendships, intimate relationships, risk factors (such as depression and suicide), emotions, identity, autonomy, connection, socio-cultural perspective, family roles, life events, coping, resilience and vulnerability.

            The underlying theme of this book covers the parent/child and peer relationships.  According to research done by Schulz and Kerig, the ability to develop and maintain close relationships is a core aspect of healthy functioning for individuals across that lifespan (Kerig, Schulz & Hauser, pg. 155). These relationships begin at infancy, through childhood, adolescence and then transition into adulthood.  During the transitioning period both the parent and child are negotiating a different way to relate to each other.  This new way of relating needs to include greater autonomy for the child and less intensity of the role as parent.  This shift is one that requires patience and hard work on the part of both the parent and the child. Kerig, Schulz & Hauser point that achieving autonomy is a universal goal of all teens.  This can be achieved by a gradual realignment of the power structure of the parent/child relationship.  Cultural differences make the transition process different for everyone. 

There are factors that will create a negative outcome in transition to adulthood.    Kerig, Schulz & Hauser point out that becoming a parent at a young age has been found to produce negative outcome for teens that are transitioning to adulthood (Kerig, et al., pg.177).  Some of the other challenges are parental conflict and control. 

The transition process is a difficult one.  It takes the efforts of parents, children, grandparents and siblings to make the transition smooth.  I found it interesting that Kerig, Schulz & Hauser devoted a chapter on resiliency.  The good news is that because of resiliency most of us end up in the same place down the road.  So there is always hope for those of us who seemed to do this part of growing up or child rearing wrong.  I highly recommend this book to both parent and transitioning adolescences. 

About the Authors

Patricia Kerig, Ph.D. is a Professor and the Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah.
Marc S. Schulz, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Clinical Developmental Psychology Program at Bryn Mawr College.

Stuart T. Hauser, MD, Ph.D. was a Professor of Psychiatry at Judge Baker Children's Center and Harvard Medical School.

Patricia K. Kerig, Marc S. Schulz and Stuart T. Hauser, Adolescence and Beyond: Family     Processes and Development c2012 New York: Oxford University Press, USA