News, Advice, and Tips for Parenting Teenagers

Another Father's Day has come and gone -- but that doesn't mean we should stop reflecting upon the ways in which fathers impact the lives of their children. Though some people downplay the role fathers play in the lives of their children, research has shown that this mindset is misguided:

"Statistics show that children who grow up in homes without a strong male role model have higher rates of teen pregnancy, drug abuse and alcoholism," Camilla Olive wrote in a June 28 editorial on the PennLive website. "These at-risk kids also will raise the bar on high school dropout rates, criminal activity and divorce."

Even when parents divorce, it's important for a father to maintain close, healthy relationships with his kids, Olive wrote -- regardless of the quality of the father's relationship with the children's mother.

Labels: divorce, drug abuse prevention, fathers

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

Fathers who maintain close relationships with their teenagers have an impact on whether or not their children become sexually active, according to a recent study that was conducted at Boston College.

BC's Dr. Rebecca Coley surveyed 3206 teenagers, ages 13 to 18 years old, once a year for four years. All of the teenagers came from two-parent homes. Dr. Coley and her colleagues studied the quality of the teens' relationships with their parents, and noted how often they shared activities with their parents.

The researchers rated relationships with fathers on a five-point scale:

• Every one point translated to a 7 percent lower rate of sexual activity among their teen children.
• Every one point for the mothers, on the other hand, only made a 3 percent difference.
• Each new-shared family activity per week caused a 9 percent drop in sexual activity.

"Maybe there's something different in the way fathers and adolescents interact," Dr. Coley wrote in the journal Child Development, which published the study. "It could be because it's less expected for fathers to be involved so, it packs more punch when they are."

Regardless of the reason, Dr. Coley wrote, the evidence suggests that fathers have an essential role to play in their children's development. "It is extremely important to continue to do things together as a family even when the children become teenagers," she wrote. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy or inexpensive."

Labels: sex, teenagers, parental-involvement, fathers

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

A new study from Harvard University and the University of Pittsburgh found that fathers become more involved with their teenagers once the teens have sex.

Researchers surveyed 3,200 teens (ages 13 to 18) about their sexual practices once a year for four years. The teens tended to become closer to their fathers after the father found out they were having sex; however, mothers were more knowledgeable about their children's lives.

Spending a lot of family time together was the most important factor in reducing risky sexual behaviors such as multiple partners and inconsistent use of birth control.

"There is a second, really important message from our research," said the study's lead author, Levine Coley. "When adolescents engaged more with their families in really simple activities, like eating dinner together, then engagement in sexual activities declined."

The study did not find that parents get angry when they find out their child has become sexually active, which was a conclusion of previous studies.

This study appeared in the journal Child Development.

Labels: sex, teenagers, parental-involvement, fathers

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

Fathers of autistic children do not prefer women with the curvy figure that many men find attractive, according to a study from the University of Bath in Great Britain. Women with curvy figures tend to have optimal levels of sex hormones, while those with thick waists tend to have higher levels of testosterone, which is linked to having a child with autism.

Researchers asked 100 fathers of autistic children to rate pictures of women with athletic frames or curvy figures. Previous research indicated that most men universally prefer the waist-to-hip ratio of 70 per cent, which has been linked to fertility and health. However, the men in this study showed no preference.

"Autism is widely regarded to have genetic origins, which may combine with hormonal influences," said Dr. Mark Brosnan, co-author of the study. "We wanted to investigate the mechanisms by which these genes come together in a parental pairing, whether it is by chance or if it could be due to different preferences in choosing a mate - so-called 'assortative mating.'"

This study appeared in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder.

Labels: autism, genetics, fathers

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A new study from Tel Aviv University links having an older father to lowered social skills in their sons.

After going through data on 450,000 male Israeli teenagers, Dr. Mark Weiser found that poor social functioning increased by 50% if a boy's father was 45 years or older at the time of his birth.

Dr. Weiser is unsure why this would be true, but said that some illnesses such as schizophrenia are more common in children with older parents.

"It could be that men with poor social skills get married later in life," he said.

This study appears in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Labels: social-skills, fathers, older-parents

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Maggie Modjeski has fond memories of her dad. Growing up, he was never a harsh disciplinarian, but always found creative ways to make sure she learned the lessons she would need later in life.

"The morning after I had my first experience with alcohol and didn't feel good, he didn't lecture for my wrong doings  but I was not going to stay in bed. I was going to have a full breakfast and full day as planned."

The organization Dads and Daughters (DADS) recently conducted a national poll of fathers, in which they discovered that 75% of dads said they had a good or great relationship with their daughters, but only 1/3 believed their involvement was vital to their daughters' well-being. Read more at WinonaDailyNews.com.

The absence of a father figure in a teens' life can result in teenage drug abuse and addiction. Learn the signs of teen drug use at Adolescent-Substance-Abuse.com.

Labels: influences, fathers, role_models

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A study out of Britain has found that teenagers who regularly talk to their fathers about their struggles and stresses are less likely to smoke tobacco. The study was led by Dr. James White from the Cardiff University School of Medicine, and traced the habits of 3,500 teenagers.

“None of the children had ever smoked when the study began. They were asked about the frequency of parental communication, arguments with family members and how often they ate a meal as a family …

White’s research found that one of the major factors preventing teens from picking up the habit was how often fathers talked with their children about ‘things that mattered.’ He found that talks had to be one-on-one conversations because the frequency of family arguments and family meals didn’t have a significant effect.” (Source: QMI Agency)

White is presenting the study’s findings to the British Psychological Society’s annual conference. He hopes the results will encourage parents, and especially dads, to set aside one-on-one time with their kids.

 

Labels: parental influence, fathers, smoking

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments