Skip Navigation Link
secslider

Adolescent Parenting Introduction

group of teens

From parents' perspectives, adolescence could quite possibly be the most nerve-wracking developmental period in their children's lives. It is natural for parents to feel anxious when their teens learn to drive a car; begin to form romantic and sexual relationships; decide to get tattoos and body piercings; and flirt with danger by experimenting with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Despite these perils, adolescence is also a period of great pride and satisfaction for parents as they begin to recognize that their years of hard work, commitment, and personal sacrifice have paid off. Their once dependent children gradually become independent and responsible adults. Along the way there are significant landmarks such as their teen getting a first job; choosing a career or trade; moving out to live on their own; and developing a rewarding social network.

The adolescent developmental period is a lengthy period of transition spanning the ages of 12-24 years. During adolescence a m...More

Fast Facts: Learn! Fast!

What are the nutritional requirements in adolescence?

  • Despite the abundant supply of food in the United States, most adolescents do not receive adequate nutrition at a time when their bodies' growth and development is accelerating.
  • In general, adolescent diets include too much fat, sugar, caffeine, and sodium and not enough nutrient-dense foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables and calcium-rich foods such as dairy products.
  • Sedentary 12-year-old males need about 1800 calories each day. This peaks at 2600 calories around age 19-20 years old and then decreases to 2400 calories a day from ages 21 through 24 years.
  • Sedentary teen girls around the ages of 12-13 years need about 1600 calories per day, and their daily calorie requirement reaches the highest level around age 19 years at 2000 calories.
  • Not only do adolescents need to eat the right amount of food, but they also need to eat foods which contain the right type of nutrients, and in the right proportions.
  • There are four key methods parents can use to assist their youth to develop healthy eating habits: 1) provide nutritional information, 2) provide opportunities to practice making healthy choices,3) model healthy eating habits, and 4) ensure the availability of quick, convenient, nutrient-rich snacks.
  • Nutritional problems can still arise or worsen during adolescence including problems of overeating and/or consistently making poor food choices, resulting in obesity; developing problems with unhealthy and extremely restrictive dieting without meeting the minimum nutritional requirements necessary for healthy growth and development; and Diabetes.

For more information

What are the physical activity requirements in adolescence?

  • It is important for adolescents to develop habits that incorporate regular physical activity into their daily lives so that these habits are carried into adulthood.
  • It can be difficult for youth to get sufficient exercise due to the increased popularity of sedentary entertainment (television, video games, etc.) and a decrease in physical education opportunities at school.
  • Any physical activity that requires the body to move enables youth to reap the health benefits of exercise.
  • Many youth enjoy playing organized, competitive sports such as basketball, cheerleading, baseball, gymnastics, football, golf, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, track and field, etc.
  • Youth can also receive the benefits of exercise by participating in regular physical activity through informal and unstructured activities, such as gardening, shooting hoops in the driveway, dancing in their bedroom with their friends, riding bicycles around the neighborhood, skateboarding at the skate park, walking the dog after dinner, or hiking on a trail in the woods.
  • Parents need to be informed about the training methods used by their children's coaches and trainers, and ensure their teens take certain precautions to prevent sports-related injuries.
  • Youth should be spending at least one hour a day, most days of every week, engaged in some form of physical activity.
  • The best way parents can encourage their teens' participation in regular physical activity is by modeling this behavior themselves.
  • Parents can also help their children by assisting them to find physical activities that match their children's interests and talents.

For more information 

How important is sleep in adolescence?

  • Adolescents need an average 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep every night just to function.
  • Teens' bodies' natural sleep rhythms (called circadian rhythms) shift during adolescence causing them to remain alert and awake later in the night, with a corresponding desire to sleep later in the day.
  • Parents can help teens to identify and limit caffeinated beverages in the evening.
  • Teens should establish regular sleep and wake times that allow for an adequate amount of sleep each night.
  • Teens will also benefit from developing and maintaining a consistent bedtime routine.
  • Beyond bedtimes and bedtime routines, youth should learn to structure their time so that important activities do not detain them from getting to bed on time.
  • It is best to avoid strenuous exercise like running, aerobics, weight lifting, or playing basketball right before bed, as these types of activities will release hormones into the body that cause people to feel more awake and alert.
  • Anxiety and worry are great sleep disrupters and prevent youth from feeling sleepy.
  • Chronic sleep disturbance (sleeping too much or sleeping too little) can be a symptom of a more serious problem such a depressive disorder, or drug and alcohol use.

For more information

What topics might parents and adolescents disagree about or need to discuss?

For more information

What healthcare is important during adolescence?

  • Adolescents will need to learn to manage their own healthcare and should be developing a healthy lifestyle that will be maintained throughout their adult lives.
  • Parents will want to ensure their youth continue to receive routine, annual physical examinations.
  • Annual physicals are the perfect time to make sure that youth are caught up on their vaccinations.
  • It's also important that youth also receive routine dental and vision check-ups.
  • Annual physical exams should also be screening adolescents for behavioral health concerns such as depression; anxiety; or possible problems with tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.
  • Parents have an important role in identifying the early warning signs of a behavioral or emotional problem because they regularly observe their teens' behavioral and emotional patterns.
  • Parents should be on the look-out for possible warning signs that their child may be at risk for suicide.
  • All adolescents who are sexually active should get regularly tested for sexually transmitted infections including but not limited to HIV/AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, and Hepatitis B.
  • They key to empowering youth to independently manage their own healthcare is to gradually give youth more and more control over their healthcare, while teaching them the skills they need for self-care.

For more information

What discipline, love and guidance is necessary during adolescence?

  • One of the difficulties of raising teenage children is achieving the right balance between love and discipline; liberties and limitations; and, independence and responsibility.
  • Parents should help children to become resilient, which means that they have the ability to "bounce back" or to readily recover from painful, stressful, and difficult experiences.
  • One thing parents can do to build resilience is to provide the proper amount of support and guidance.
  • When parents are overly protective to the point of being smothering, or provide too much direction without letting youth work out some problems on their own, they rob youth of the opportunity to develop and practice independent problem-solving skills.
  • Youth should have an understanding of what privileges are available to them for following the rules and meeting expectations, and what consequences will occur when they fail to follow the rules, or make poor choices.
  • Parents can begin to help adolescents develop time management skills by having high (but attainable) expectations for school achievement, household chores, and other important activities.
  • Family rules should also establish clear expectations about the responsibilities of family members toward each other.
  • If parents become aware of activities or rules at another child\'s home that they do not agree with, they should calmly discuss their concerns with the parents of the other child.
  • Parents need to express clear rules and expectations around teen substance use.
  • By late adolescence (18 years of age and older), parents need to set clear boundaries about any assistance they will (or won't) provide while their children are becoming independent adults.

For more information

How can parents protect an adolescent's health and safety?

  • Parents must be fully aware of the risks and dangers associated with tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. 
  • While parents cannot completely prevent their children's eventual exposure to alcohol and other drugs, there are steps parents can take to reduce the potential risks.
  • Parents will want to ensure their youth learn to drive safely and always use good judgment when operating a motor vehicle.
  • There are several warning signs parents should pay attention to that could indicate that their adolescent may be a victim of dating violence.
  • If parents are concerned about their teens' involvement with fighting or gang activity, they can do several things.
  • Teens can encounter all types of violence online, including violent videos, hate messages on blogs and in chat rooms, and violent computer games. Youth who are curious about sex can find plenty of pornography on the Internet, some of which depicts sexual acts coupled with violence.
  • Bullying is the repeated abuse, hostility, aggression, manipulation, or violence between two youth where one youth possesses greater power than the other.
  • Parents can ensure their children's continued safety by providing education about making their new dorm, apartment, or home the safest it can be.
  • Youth also need to make sure they know how to protect themselves while they are traveling in public places.

For more information


News Articles

  • School-Based Mindfulness Program Gives Big Boost to Young Kids' Sleep

    The researchers found that a school-based program in mindfulness training -- which involves being present in the moment, deep breathing and yoga movements -- helped at-risk children not only curb that loss in sleep, but to gain more rest than they had before. More...

  • 1 in 20 College Students Has 'Internet Gaming Disorder,' Study Finds

    Phone interviews conducted among nearly 3,000 American college students between 2007 and 2015 revealed that roughly one in 20 had "internet gaming disorder," a clinical condition defined by the compulsive use of electronics, both online and offline. More...

  • Sleep Apnea in Childhood a Bad Sign for Teenage Heart Health

    Teens who've had sleep apnea since childhood have a much higher risk of high blood pressure than those who never had sleep apnea, new research shows. More...

  • No Drop in Teens' Use of Pot, Binge Drinking Despite Pandemic Lockdowns

    U.S. high school seniors say marijuana was significantly harder to come by during the pandemic -- yet their use of the drug continued at rates similar to those before school closures began, a new study finds. More...

  • Pot Use May Change the Teenage Brain, MRIs Show

    Smoking pot appears to affect teens' brain development, altering it in ways that could diminish their reasoning, decision-making and memory skills as they age, a new study reports. More...

    • 38 More

    • Teasing People About Weight Can Help Bring on Eating Disorders

      What can make a young person vulnerable to eating disorders? Teasing them about any extra pounds they may carry, researchers say. More...

    • Gun Suicides Are Rising Steeply Among American Youth

      A rising number of young Americans, including children, are taking their own lives using firearms, a new study finds. More...

    • Big Rise in Suicide Attempts by U.S. Teen Girls During Pandemic

      The suicide attempt rate has leapt by as much as half among teenage girls during the coronavirus pandemic, a new government study shows. More...

    • Diet Pill Use Could Be a Step Away From Eating Disorder

      Teenage girls who use over-the-counter diet pills and laxatives to lose weight run a very high risk of developing eating disorders, researchers say. More...

    • Too Few Young Men Have Gotten the HPV Vaccine

      The HPV vaccine isn't reaching enough young American men, researchers report. More...

    • High School Football Doesn't Affect Brain in Middle Age, Study Says

      Here's some good news for aging athletes: If you played high school football, you're no more likely than others to have problems with concentration, memory or depression in middle age, according to a new study. More...

    • College Can Really Ramp Up Stress for People With ADHD

      College is far more stressful for undergrads with ADHD than for their classmates, but it doesn't have to defeat them. More...

    • Jail Dims Hopes for Recovery for Young People With Mental Illness

      Being jailed puts teens with untreated psychiatric disorders at increased risk for long-term mental health struggles, researchers say. More...

    • Boys Who Spend Lots of Time Online More Likely to Cyberbully

      Here's yet another reason to keep your teenager from spending countless hours online and on popular social media: New research suggests it increases cyberbullying, particularly among teen boys. More...

    • Teen Pot Use Could Mean Less Success as Adult

      Teenage pot use can hamper a kid's future chances of landing a good job with a large salary, mainly by interfering with his or her education, a new study of twins has found. More...

    • Is Your Teen Unmotivated at School? That Might Change

      If your teen seems disinterested in school, new research suggests there's a good chance that things will get better over time. More...

    • College Students With ADHD Have Lower Grades, Higher Dropout Rates

      College students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a harder time making it to graduation than their peers do, a new study suggests. More...

    • Vaping Pot Worse Than Vaping Tobacco for Teens' Lungs: Study

      Teenagers who vape pot are more likely to wheeze and cough than those who smoke or vape nicotine, new survey data reveals. More...

    • Spotting an Eating Disorder in Your College-Age Child

      When your child enters college, the last thing you may be worried about is an eating disorder, but one expert says there are warning signs that parents shouldn't miss. More...

    • As Social Media Time Rises, So Does Teen Girls' Suicide Risk

      As the amount of time young teenage girls spend glued to Instagram, TikTok and other social media sites goes up, so does their long-term risk for suicide, a new study warns. More...

    • As Pot Legalization Spreads, More Teens Are Lighting Up

      As pot gains in acceptance among adults, teenagers appear to be more tempted to try it, a new study out of California finds. More...

    • Child Suicides Are Rising During Lockdown; Watch for the Warning Signs

      Among the many dangers the coronavirus pandemic has brought, parents really need to be on the lookout for one in particular: an increased risk of suicide among vulnerable teens. More...

    • More Parents Balking at Giving Kids Cancer-Fighting HPV Vaccine

      Although more teens are getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, parents' hesitancy is growing, a new study finds. More...

    • Driving Hazards Differ for Teens With Autism

      New research analyzing motor vehicle crashes shows that teens with autism are half as likely to crash due to speeding as their peers, but three times more likely to crash when making a left turn or U-turn. More...

    • Many Parents Support 'Teens Helping Teens' Mental Health Programs at Schools: Poll

      It may take a village to support teens' mental health, whether it's during the pandemic or later. One option is having school-based mental health programs that offer peer support leaders. More...

    • As More Legal Pot Dispensaries Open, More Young Adults Start Using

      As more states legalize marijuana and more shops begin to sell it, more young adults are using pot and developing drug-use disorders, a new study finds. More...

    • Stressed Out in Lockdown, America's Young Adults Are Overeating

      When the coronavirus pandemic started, many people began baking banana bread and sourdough loaves at home. Stress eating is nothing new, and 2020 was a year filled with angst for a lot of people. More...

    • With Pot Rules Relaxed, More U.S. Teens Driving While High: Study

      Almost half of teenagers who regularly use pot admit they've gotten behind the wheel while stoned, a new study in JAMA Network Open reveals. More...

    • Be Alert to Early Signs of Eating Disorders, Pediatricians' Group Says

      A leading pediatricians' group says families often spot eating disorders too late -- and offers new guidelines to reach an earlier diagnosis. More...

    • Pandemic Has Cut Into College Kids' Drinking, Study Shows

      There's been a large drop in drinking among U.S. college students who went home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds. More...

    • 'Body Issues' Raise Depression Risks for Teens

      Body dissatisfaction significantly increases teens' risk of depression, researchers say. More...

    • 1 in 3 High School Seniors Who Misuse Prescription Opioids Turn to Heroin

      Among high school seniors, nearly a third of those who misuse prescription opioids use heroin by age 35, a new study shows. More...

    • Parents Often in the Dark When Kids Take Up Vaping

      Parents are often clueless when their kids start smoking e-cigarettes, a new study finds. More...

    • 4 in 10 Teens, Young Adults Have Used CBD Oil, Study Finds

      Many teenagers and young adults may be using so-called CBD products, often in the belief that they will aid health conditions, a preliminary study suggests. More...

    • Suicide Rate Keeps Rising Among Young Americans

      A nearly 60% jump in suicides by young Americans since 2007 has experts alarmed and somewhat puzzled. More...

    • TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' Has Killed at Least One Teen

      A new internet dare, broadcast widely on teen-friendly TikTok, urges kids to overdose on the over-the-counter antihistamine Benadryl. But the "Benadryl Challenge" has already killed one teen and sent others to the ER, experts warn. More...

    • Teens, Seniors Are Often Driving the Least Safe Cars

      Seniors and teens are more likely to drive vehicles that lack important safety features, a new study finds. More...

    • Cyberbullying Could Rise During Lockdown, But Parents Can Stop It

      Cyberbullying is less common among teens who feel loved and supported by their parents, new research shows. More...

    • Online Therapy, Coaches Help Ease Eating Disorders

      Most college students with an eating disorder never seek treatment, but more than 8 in 10 were willing to try a new treatment that combines digitally guided therapy with coaching assistance, a new study reports. More...

    • Anxious Teens May Face Higher Odds for Future Heart Attack: Study

      Middle-aged men who were anxious or depressed teens are at increased risk for heart attack, according to a large, long-term study. More...

    • Mental Health Woes Spiraled Among College Students Early in Pandemic

      Depression, anxiety and inactive lifestyles are all too common among college students, and a new study finds they may have escalated during the initial outbreak of COVID-19. More...

    • HPV Shots: Safe and Effective, But Many Parents Still Hesitate

      More than a decade of research has shown that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine protects against a host of cancers, yet a new study finds that only half of American teens complete the multiple-shot regimen. More...

    • Health Tip: Talk to Your Kids About Alcohol

      Start a dialog when they're young More...

Share This

Resources

Topics