Family Relationships

Abstract

While no longer considered a period of unassailable ‘storm and stress,’ scientists today recognize adolescence as posing unique challenges for the family. Parents, siblings, and extended family remain important sources of support as teens move through adolescence even as family members face changing roles and expectations. The overarching goal of this article is to provide a synopsis of the scientific knowledge on family relations in adolescence. Coverage of the research findings is organized so as to systematically address how the nature and quality of multiple family relationships, including the parent–adolescent, interparental, sibling, and extended family relationships, can inform an understanding of adolescent psychological development. Although cognizant of the diversity of approaches to studying the family in adolescence, the article focuses on the family as an interacting unit with each relationship contributing to adolescent development in the context of the broader family system.