ABSTRACT
Adolescence is a challenging period for parents and young people alike. The onset of puberty brings both physical and psychological changes that impact on parent–adolescent relationships. Parents also face challenges regarding how to parent their adolescent children. This chapter starts by discussing adolescence vis-à-vis different theoretical concepts. Then, differences in the development of adolescents in the East and the West are discussed. Given differences in the socio-political context, Chinese adolescents face different challenges and difficulties when compared with their Western counterparts. With such differences, parents from different cultures have adopted some different, but also some similar, parenting methods. How different parenting practices lead to different adolescent outcomes is then discussed through a literature review of research in this area. Inevitably, conflicts between parents and their adolescents were identified as one of the most important risk factors for different social and emotional outcomes among adolescents. Different theoretical concepts for discussing this issue are also presented to illustrate how best we can support parents in parenting and achieving positive outcomes for their adolescent children.
