Families and adolescents

Abstract

This chapter aims to contribute to a better understanding of the role of families on adolescence. It focuses on the specifics of families in Europe, and the diversity. The chapter also focuses on the family relationships as a context of adolescent functioning. It explores a systemic view on adolescents’ families, and the transitions that occur within these families during this period of the lifespan. The chapter analyzes some changes and transformations undergone by European families. It deals with some of the adolescents’ developmental tasks in which family plays an important role. Family relationships undoubtedly play an important role for an adequate development in adolescence. These relationships affect the way the young negotiate the main tasks in adolescence, their implication in behavioral problems generally associated to this period of people’s lives and their ability to establish long, close relationships.