ABSTRACT
The family’s transition out of middle childhood brings with it a new set of issues and concerns for parents and children that arise when the interpersonal equilibrium established during middle childhood is perturbed by the intraindividual and contextual changes associated with early adolescence. Although the vast majority of families are able to negotiate this transition successfully, establishing a new equilibrium as well as surviving the temporary period of disequilbrium that precedes it, this period challenges the emotional resources of even the most well-functioning families. Indeed, when parents are asked which period in their child’s development that they are most nervous and apprehensive about, adolescence tops the list (Pasley and Gecas, 1984).
