ADAPT: Assessing the Dynamics between Parenting and Adaptation in Teens

Parenting a teen can be a challenge. Depression, substance use, and minor delinquency steeply increase during adolescence. Although parents are in a unique position to counter these adaptation problems, there aren’t simple pieces of parenting advice that work for every family. Tailoring advice to the family-specific needs and strengths may help parents in their important task of promoting adolescent behavioral and emotional well-being, but requires a more in-depth understanding how parenting works in individual families. In the ADAPT-program, researchers will assess how parenting affects every adolescent’s well-being in a different way, using smart phone applications with micro-questionnaires. This will answer questions, such as: In how many families do general parenting principles apply? What explains heterogeneity in parenting processes? How can being strict initially trigger resistance, but lead to better adaptation in the longer run? These new theoretical insights can help to tailor future parenting advice to the family’s specific needs and strengths.

养育青少年是一项颇具挑战性的任务。在青春期，抑郁、物质滥用以及轻微的违法行为显著增加。尽管父母处于独特的位置，能够对抗这些适应性问题，但并不存在适用于所有家庭的简单育儿建议。针对家庭特定需求和优势量身定制建议，有助于父母在促进青少年行为和情感福祉这一重要任务中取得成效，但同时也要求对个体家庭中育儿运作的深入理解。在ADAPT项目中，研究人员将通过智能手机应用中的微型问卷，评估育儿方式如何以不同方式影响每位青少年的福祉。这将解答诸如：有多少家庭适用普遍的育儿原则？是什么解释了育儿过程中的异质性？为何严格起初可能引发抗拒，但从长远来看却能促进更好的适应？这些新的理论洞见有助于根据家庭的具体需求和优势量身定制未来的育儿建议。