Adolescent Development – Lectures Exam 2 – 2025-2026
Content
HC7 – Family Relations and Autonomy – 6/3/26........................................................................... 2
HC8 – Peer relationships – 11/3/26 ............................................................................................. 9
HC9 – Romantic Relations and Sexuality – 13/3/26 .................................................................... 14
HC10 – Schools and Achievement – 18/3/26 ............................................................................. 20
H11 – Media Use – 20/3/26 ...................................................................................................... 26
This is an extensive and complete document of the lectures for the second exam of Adolescent
Development.
University: Utrecht University
Course: Adolescent Development
Year: 2025-2026
,HC7 – Family Relations and Autonomy – 6/3/26
Today’s lecture consists of 4 parts:
1. Understand the main principles of Family Systems Theory;
2. Relate the 4 main parenting styles to adolescent development;
3. Describe changes in the parent-adolescent relationship across adolescence;
4. Describe how (changes in) the parent-adolescent relationship affect(s) adolescent
adjustment, and vice versa.
The central questions that will be discussed in this lecture:
1. How and why do (dynamics of) parent-adolescent relationships change during adolescence?
2. How are adolescents affected by (changing) experiences in the parent-adolescent relationship,
and vice versa?
Part 1: The family/parent-adolescent relationship
The answer to the question “What is a ‘family’?” may be time- and culture-dependent.
• In all societies, the family fulfills similar functions:
o Socialization;
o Enduring source of support (practical/economical/emotional/social);
o Social embedding: continuity of relationships across the life course.
The family as a system: theory
• Family system theory = an organized whole, consisting of interrelated parts that influence
each other
o System: set(s) of elements standing in interrelation among
themselves and with the environment.
▪ Interrelation: not A affects B, but A & B affect each other -
> so parents affect the child, but the child also affects the
parents: bidirectional/reciprocal/transactional effects.
o Changing, self-organizing and adapting to (changes in) its
members and the outside environment.
▪ System is flexible, but strives for stability (=equilibrium). Even though
adolescence is a time of change, it prefers predictability.
o Family: cohesive emotional unit (emotional bond).
Key principles of Family Systems Theory
• Holism: to understand family it is not enough to look at members separately.
o Roles (e.g. caretaker)
• ‘Hierarchy’ / structure: organized into subsystems, by gender or generation. Different
structures within the family:
o Individual level: the adolescent as an individual;
o Dyadic level: level between two people within the family:
▪ Marital relationship: level between parents;
▪ Parent-child relationship;
▪ Sibling relationship;
o Triadic level: level between three people within the family:
▪ Parents and adolescent;
▪ Adolescent and siblings;
▪ Adolescent, sibling, and parent;
o Family level/whole.
, • Boundaries: there are boundaries at every level (subsystems, inside/outside) -> varies across
families/time. We will dive into these boundaries a bit more:
Family systems theory: boundaries
->There is the assumption that if something happens in particular parts of the system, this influences
the system as a whole. This influence can be:
• Spillover: negative aspects have a negative effect on other aspects, and: positive aspects have
a positive effect on other aspects.
o Negative spillover:
▪ Presence of interparental conflict increases the odds of parent-adolescent
conflict at a later moment in time, and vice versa. (=the next day)
▪ Presence of interparental conflict increases the odds of parent-adolescent
conflict later that day. (=within a day)
o Positive spillover:
▪ Higher levels of marital quality increase positive parent-adolescent relationship
quality within the same day.
• Compensation: a bad relationship between the adolescent and someone else could be
compensated by a good relationship with another person.
▪ Lower levels of marital quality predicted higher levels of mother-adolescent
relationship quality the next day.
In conclusion: spillover can be negative as well as positive and there is some evidence for
compensation in the family system.
Adolescence is seen as a disruption of homeostasis. It is assumed to impact the entire system.
• A new balance-equilibrium needs to be found within the family system;
• Process of (family) adaptation.
Adolescence often meets parental midlife (crisis), so the system is often confronted with both the
parental and the adolescent disruption.
It is important to take the broader system of
adolescent development into account:
• Genetic aspect
• Shared environment
• Unshared environment
The family is a system within a larger system,
embedded into larger influential contexts
(Bronfenbrenner).
Content
HC7 – Family Relations and Autonomy – 6/3/26........................................................................... 2
HC8 – Peer relationships – 11/3/26 ............................................................................................. 9
HC9 – Romantic Relations and Sexuality – 13/3/26 .................................................................... 14
HC10 – Schools and Achievement – 18/3/26 ............................................................................. 20
H11 – Media Use – 20/3/26 ...................................................................................................... 26
This is an extensive and complete document of the lectures for the second exam of Adolescent
Development.
University: Utrecht University
Course: Adolescent Development
Year: 2025-2026
,HC7 – Family Relations and Autonomy – 6/3/26
Today’s lecture consists of 4 parts:
1. Understand the main principles of Family Systems Theory;
2. Relate the 4 main parenting styles to adolescent development;
3. Describe changes in the parent-adolescent relationship across adolescence;
4. Describe how (changes in) the parent-adolescent relationship affect(s) adolescent
adjustment, and vice versa.
The central questions that will be discussed in this lecture:
1. How and why do (dynamics of) parent-adolescent relationships change during adolescence?
2. How are adolescents affected by (changing) experiences in the parent-adolescent relationship,
and vice versa?
Part 1: The family/parent-adolescent relationship
The answer to the question “What is a ‘family’?” may be time- and culture-dependent.
• In all societies, the family fulfills similar functions:
o Socialization;
o Enduring source of support (practical/economical/emotional/social);
o Social embedding: continuity of relationships across the life course.
The family as a system: theory
• Family system theory = an organized whole, consisting of interrelated parts that influence
each other
o System: set(s) of elements standing in interrelation among
themselves and with the environment.
▪ Interrelation: not A affects B, but A & B affect each other -
> so parents affect the child, but the child also affects the
parents: bidirectional/reciprocal/transactional effects.
o Changing, self-organizing and adapting to (changes in) its
members and the outside environment.
▪ System is flexible, but strives for stability (=equilibrium). Even though
adolescence is a time of change, it prefers predictability.
o Family: cohesive emotional unit (emotional bond).
Key principles of Family Systems Theory
• Holism: to understand family it is not enough to look at members separately.
o Roles (e.g. caretaker)
• ‘Hierarchy’ / structure: organized into subsystems, by gender or generation. Different
structures within the family:
o Individual level: the adolescent as an individual;
o Dyadic level: level between two people within the family:
▪ Marital relationship: level between parents;
▪ Parent-child relationship;
▪ Sibling relationship;
o Triadic level: level between three people within the family:
▪ Parents and adolescent;
▪ Adolescent and siblings;
▪ Adolescent, sibling, and parent;
o Family level/whole.
, • Boundaries: there are boundaries at every level (subsystems, inside/outside) -> varies across
families/time. We will dive into these boundaries a bit more:
Family systems theory: boundaries
->There is the assumption that if something happens in particular parts of the system, this influences
the system as a whole. This influence can be:
• Spillover: negative aspects have a negative effect on other aspects, and: positive aspects have
a positive effect on other aspects.
o Negative spillover:
▪ Presence of interparental conflict increases the odds of parent-adolescent
conflict at a later moment in time, and vice versa. (=the next day)
▪ Presence of interparental conflict increases the odds of parent-adolescent
conflict later that day. (=within a day)
o Positive spillover:
▪ Higher levels of marital quality increase positive parent-adolescent relationship
quality within the same day.
• Compensation: a bad relationship between the adolescent and someone else could be
compensated by a good relationship with another person.
▪ Lower levels of marital quality predicted higher levels of mother-adolescent
relationship quality the next day.
In conclusion: spillover can be negative as well as positive and there is some evidence for
compensation in the family system.
Adolescence is seen as a disruption of homeostasis. It is assumed to impact the entire system.
• A new balance-equilibrium needs to be found within the family system;
• Process of (family) adaptation.
Adolescence often meets parental midlife (crisis), so the system is often confronted with both the
parental and the adolescent disruption.
It is important to take the broader system of
adolescent development into account:
• Genetic aspect
• Shared environment
• Unshared environment
The family is a system within a larger system,
embedded into larger influential contexts
(Bronfenbrenner).
