Parent–Child Relationships in the Puberty Years: Insights From Developmental Neuroscience

Abstract

Pubertal maturation creates dynamic changes in parent–child relationships. For many parents, transitioning from parenting a child to parenting an adolescent can create stress, uncertainty, and vulnerability. In this article, we use a developmental science lens to examine the unique opportunities created by this period of dynamic growth, development, and change. We provide a brief overview of emerging research in social and affective neuroscience that examines how pubertal maturation initiates a cascade of adaptive and transformative neurodevelopmental transitions. We consider both challenges and opportunities in the parent–child relationship created by these transitions, highlight how effective parenting during this key developmental window can help establish positive trajectories throughout adolescence, and offer recommendations for both further understanding this transition and improving the precision and scope of resources intended to enhance parents' skills in the context of this transition.

The association between parenting and the error-related negativity across childhood and adolescence

“…These findings are in line with evidence that fear learning processes may change across development, and may be characterized by differential regions of brain activation ( Hartley and Lee, 2015 ). The transition from childhood to adolescence has itself been conceptualized as a potential developmentally sensitive period ( Suleiman and Dahl, 2019 ). Younger children may be particularly sensitive to inputs from the environment (e.g., parenting behaviors) than older children and adolescents ( Tottenham, 2013 ).…”

What Makes for a Pleasant Social Experience in Adolescence? The Role of Perceived Social Interaction Behavior in Associations Between Personality and Momentary Social Satisfaction

“…How can this lack of differential findings for the perceptions of self and other be explained? One possibility might be that there were no differential effects in our sample: The relatively young age of our participants indicates ongoing developmental processes (Blakemore, 2012;Suleiman & Dahl, 2019). With respect to the establishment of interpersonal abilities, the capacity to differentiate between the perceptions of self and other might not be fully developed in late adolescence.…”

Longitudinal Associations Between Mother–Child and Father–Child Closeness and Conflict From Middle Childhood to Adolescence

“…The transition to adolescence is a critical period for understanding changes in the quality of parent–child relationships, given that the levels of closeness and conflict between parents and children are associated with children's biopsychological changes at this stage, such as brain development (Suleiman & Dahl, 2019), puberty (Marceau et al, 2015), and autonomy development (Laursen & Collins, 2009). Many parents experience a shift in parental roles and face challenges in tuning parent–child relationships when their children reach puberty and expect more egalitarian relationships with parents (Laursen & Collins, 2009).…”

“…Moreover, most previous studies examining the interdependence of mothering and fathering have focused on early or middle childhood (e.g., Barnett et al, 2008; Daniel et al, 2016; Nelson et al, 2016; Scott et al, 2018). There remains a need to explore coordination of change in mother–child and father–child relationships over extended periods of time, especially during adolescence, a critical stage during which parents experience challenges in adapting their relationships with adolescent children (Suleiman & Dahl, 2019).…”

“…In particular, little is known about whether changes in mother–child relationships are associated with changes in father–child relationships. Grounded in family systems theory (Cox & Paley, 1997), the present study uses a multivariate longitudinal design to extend prior findings on parent–child relationships by examining coordination of change in mother–child and father–child closeness and conflict from middle childhood to adolescence, a critical developmental stage during which parents experience challenges in adapting their relationships with adolescents (Suleiman & Dahl, 2019). Understanding the interdependence of family subsystems and the dynamic changes in mother–child and father–child relationships during the transition to adolescence is important because it is well‐established that close relationships with parents provide important social and emotional resources for child and youth development; for example, school performance (Spera, 2005), psychological well‐being (Branje et al, 2010), and peer relationships (McDowell & Parke, 2009) are associated with parent–child relationships.…”