Adolescence

Abstract

This chapter completes the developmental span with a discussion of parents’ beliefs about adolescence. Parents’ knowledge of adolescence is the first topic addressed, with a special focus on parents’ knowledge of their adolescent’s activities. Parental knowledge is also a theme in the second section of the chapter, which discusses risky behaviors of various sorts (substance abuse, unprotected sex, delinquency). The third section of the chapter considers parent–child conflict, and the fourth discusses parents’ beliefs and practices with regard to the Internet. The chapter concludes with a discussion of three positive achievements of adolescence: romantic relationships, civic engagement, and ethnic identity.