Adolescence can be challenging for families, as adolescents’ urge for autonomy drives changes towards more egalitarian parent-child relationships, often resulting in more conflict and less closeness. Although parent-child relationships are important for adolescents’ psychosocial functioning, we know little on how parent-adolescent interactions unfold in real time and how these real-time processes relate to psychosocial functioning. Therefore, we will examine parent-adolescent dynamics on a micro-level, its associations with macro-level (changes in) relationship quality and adolescent adjustment, and potential moderators. Unraveling which characteristics of parent-adolescent interactions are most beneficial, for whom, and under what circumstances, can help navigating family challenges during adolescence.

• prof. dr. Susan Branje
• dr. Rianne van Dijk
• dr. M.H. (Monika) Donker