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Adolescence and Family Interaction

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Handbook of Social Development

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Developmental Psychology ((PDPS))

Abstract

Since the early 1980s, the area of adolescence and the family has become one of the most rapidly growing fields in social science research. Although interest in, and conclusions about, family relations at this point in the lifespan find strong origins in the psychoanalytic writings and clinical work of the 1950s (e.g., A. Freud, 1958), they have undergone major transformations since that time—especially over the past 15 years. The psychoanalytic model painted a picture of inevitable stress, tension, and hostility in family relations at adolescence. And, indeed, this negative image, also apparent in early sociological writings (e.g., Davis, 1940), has shaped our popular stereotypes about adolescence and is still maintained by many parents and clinicians today (Offer, Ostrov, & Howard, 1981). Systematic empirical research conducted since the early 1970s has tempered this storm-and-stress portrayal considerably. In place of the earlier emphasis on conflict and detachment between parents and adolescents, there is growing agreement among scholars regarding the significance of family ties at adolescence and the reciprocal influence between adolescents and their families (Powers, Hauser, & Kilner, 1989). Current research suggests that parent-child relations do not change in dramatic ways at adolescence; rather the transition from childhood to adolescence marks a time of important, if subtle, realignments in parent-child relations (see reviews by Collins, 1990 and Steinberg, 1990).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Family Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA

    Susan B. Silverberg & Theodore Jacob

  2. Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 44242, USA

    Daniel L. Tennenbaum

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  1. Susan B. Silverberg
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  2. Daniel L. Tennenbaum
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  1. Center for Psychological Studies, Nova University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

    Vincent B. Van Hasselt  & Michel Hersen  & 

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Silverberg, S.B., Tennenbaum, D.L., Jacob, T. (1992). Adolescence and Family Interaction. In: Van Hasselt, V.B., Hersen, M. (eds) Handbook of Social Development. Perspectives in Developmental Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0694-6_14

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