Healthy Relationships in Adolescence

Friendships

Adolescence is a period of rapid change⁶—physically, emotionally, and socially—and relationships with friends play an important role in the lives of adolescents as they become increasingly independent, develop their own identity, and grapple with self-esteem. Friendships in younger adolescence may be driven by a desire to “fit in” with peers, and these youth may change what they do or are interested in to match their friends’ interests. In later adolescence, youth have more diverse friend groups and have independent preferences that they aren’t afraid to express within their social circles.^7-10

Positive friendships provide youth with companionship, support, and a sense of belonging. They can encourage or reinforce healthy behavior,¹¹ like positive academic engagement; and help youth develop positive social skills¹² like cooperation, communication, conflict resolution, and resisting negative peer pressure. Evidence suggests that positive friendships in adolescence can lay the groundwork for successful adult relationships, including romantic relationships.¹³

Relationships with Parents and Caregivers

The relationship between children and their parents or caregivers (such as guardians, aunts and uncles, or grandparents) is one of the most important relationships in a child's life, often lasting well into adulthood. In adolescence, this relationship changes dramatically as youth seek increased independence from their families and begin to make their own decisions. With increased independence comes the possibility of increased risk, both positive and negative, and teens need parents or caregivers to help them navigate the challenges that adolescence presents. Though some amount of conflict between adolescents and their parents is normal,¹⁴ adolescents still rely on parents or caregivers to provide emotional support and set limits. Both emotional support and setting limits are linked to positive adolescent development and parent-child closeness.^{15, 16}

Although teens have increasing independence from their families, parents and caregivers still play a large and vital role in their lives. Parents and caregivers help shape adolescents’ self-control, plans for their future, moral and social values, and their broader world view. As children grow, parenting shifts from making decisions for the younger child to helping older children and adolescents make decisions on their own, while minimizing the chance that they engage in high-risk behavior. Research shows that parents continue to have more influence than peers on many important outcomes, including whether adolescents smoke, use alcohol or other drugs, or have sexual intercourse.^{17, 18}

Footnotes

¹ Wildsmith, E., Barry, M., Manlove, J., & Vaughn, B. (2013). Dating and sexual relationships. Child Trends. https://www.childtrends.org/publications/dating-and-sexual-relationships ^{back to top}

² Suleiman, A. B., & Harden, K. P. (2016). The importance of sexual and romantic development in understanding the developmental neuroscience of adolescence. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 17, 145–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2015.12.007 ^{back to top}

³ Lenhart, A., Smith, A., & Anderson, M. (2015). Teens, technology and romantic relationships. Pew Research Center. http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2015/10/PI_2015-10-01_teens-technology-romance_FINAL.pdf ^{back to top}

⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1992). Sexual behavior among high school students – United States, 1990. MMWR Weekly, 40(51-52), 885-888. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00015817.htm ^{back to top}

⁵ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Youth Risk Behavior Survey – Data Summary & Trends Report 2009-2019. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/YRBSDataSummaryTrendsReport2019-508.pdf ^{back to top}

⁶ Vijayakumar, N., Op de Macks, Z., Shirtcliff, E. A., & Pfeifer, J. H. (2018). Puberty and the human brain: Insights into adolescent development. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 92, 417–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.06.004 ^{back to top}

⁷ Rose, A. J., Glick, G. C., & Schwartz-Mette, R. A. (2016). Girls' and boys' problem talk: Implications for emotional closeness in friendships. Developmental Psychology, 52(4), 629-639. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000096 ^{back to top}

⁸ Graber, R., Turner, R., & Madill, A. (2016). Best friends and better coping: Facilitating psychological resilience through boys' and girls' closest friendships. British Journal of Psychology, 107(2), 338–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12135 ^{back to top}

⁹ Juvonen, J., Espinoza, G., & Knifsend, C. (2012). The role of peer relationships in student academic and extracurricular engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 387-401). Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_18 ^{back to top}

¹⁰ Long, E., Barrett, T. S., & Lockhart, G. (2017). Network-behavior dynamics of adolescent friendships, alcohol use, and physical activity. Health Psychology, 36(6), 577–586. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000483 ^{back to top}

¹¹  Wang. M., Kiuru, N., Degol, J. L., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2018). Friends, academic achievement, and school engagement during adolescence: A social network approach to peer influence and selection effects. Learning and Instruction, 58, 148-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.06.003 ^{back to top}

¹² Bukowski, W., M., Bagwell, C., Castellanos, M., & Persram, R. (2020). Friendship in adolescence. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad403 ^{back to top}

¹³ Allen, J. P., Narr, R. K., Kansky, J., & Szwedo, D. E. (2019). Adolescent peer relationship qualities as predictors of long-term romantic life satisfaction. Child Development, 91(1), 327-340. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13193 ^{back to top}

¹⁴ Branje, S. (2018). Development of parent–adolescent relationships: Conflict interactions as a mechanism of change. Child Development Perspectives, 12 (3), 171-176. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12278 ^{back to top}

¹⁵ Boudreault-Bouchard, A., Dion, J., Hains, J., & Vandermeerschen, J. (2013). Impact of parental emotional support and coercive control on adolescents' self-esteem and psychological distress: Results of a four-year longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescence, 36 (4), 695-704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.05.002 ^{back to top}

¹⁶ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. (2009). Marital quality and parent-adolescent relationships: Effects on adolescent and young adult well-being. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/marital-quality-and-parent-adolescent-relationships-effects-adolescent-and-young-adult-well-being ^{back to top}

¹⁷ van Hoorn, J., McCormick, E. M., Rogers, C. R., Ivory, S. L., & Telzer, E. H. (2018). Differential effects of parent and peer presence on neural correlates of risk taking in adolescence. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 13 (9), 945-955. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsy071 ^{back to top}

¹⁸ McNeely, C., & Blanchard, J. (2009). The teen years explained: A guide to healthy adolescent development. John Hopkins University. https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/center-for-adolescent-health/_docs/TTYE-Guide.pdf ^{back to top}