Teenage Psychological Transition: How To Handle Your Child’s Changes

Children can experience grief due to changes in their lives, such as relocating to a new place or having a new sibling. 

This can have a detrimental effect on their emotional well-being during an already challenging time – adolescence. 

Therefore, providing a safe environment and establishing open communication channels is important. 

Adolescence is a critical period of physical and emotional development, and proper nutrition, exercise, sleep, and hygiene can help manage the changes that occur during this time. 

Children between the ages of 12 and 14 are more prone to negative effects from relocation because they still develop their sense of independence and have heightened emotions. 

Parents should be mindful of their children’s well-being while providing guidance, consistency, and space to explore themselves.

Understanding The Phases Of Adolescence

As children develop their identities, they spend more time with friends than family. Tweens and teens must blend in with classmates and enjoy social outlets with their peers. 

While this means less time with parents, it’s essential to growing up and dealing with stress. Children often rely on friendships and confide in their peers as they become more independent. 

Regular communication is key to discussing important topics with your child, such as vaping, healthy relationships, consent, bullying, and stress management. 

These conversations help young people resist harmful peer pressure and feel like they belong. They should learn about these issues from reliable sources, such as their parents, rather than from pop culture figures or social media. 

One way to facilitate communication is to have a jar of discussion starters on the dinner table where anyone can anonymously drop a question.

The Major Steps To Support Your Adolescent

Given below are the three most important steps that every parent must take for their adolescent child to support and encourage healthy growth—

1. Accept The Changes

Adolescence can be a tough time for both parents and children alike. The changes that come with puberty can be awkward and hard to comprehend. 

However, it’s essential to understand that these changes are a part of life, and they are normal. 

To help their children navigate through this stage, parents can share their own puberty experiences and acknowledge their child’s feelings. 

Parents can help alleviate puberty’s stigma and confusion by providing their children with the right education.

2. Communicate Freely

As children grow into adolescence, their roles change drastically. Parents’ reputations can also shift from being admired to being disliked. 

Children may distance themselves from their parents during puberty as they develop their own identities. 

To encourage open communication, creating a comfortable environment, finding common interests, and establishing open communication channels are important. 

During this time, children may seek solace from their friends and look to their closest loved ones for approval and support. 

By identifying shared interests, parents can build a relationship of trust, respect, honesty, and acceptance with their children.

3. Keep A Check On Their Mental Health

Adolescence is a critical time for one in six individuals aged between 10 and 19 years due to the physical, emotional, and social changes that make teenagers more susceptible to mental health issues. 

To ensure adolescents’ health and well-being throughout their teenage years and adulthood, it is crucial to protect them from harm, encourage socio-emotional learning, and provide access to help for youth mental health care. 

Despite affecting 14% of 10 to 19-year-olds worldwide, mental health disorders are often undiagnosed or left untreated. 

Good mental health is crucial for healthy adolescent development, as it enables them to develop good social, emotional, cognitive, and communication abilities, laying the foundation for better mental health and well-being in adulthood. 

Children who enjoy good mental health can lead a more fulfilling life and are better equipped to thrive at home, school, and communities.

Ending Note

Create a new daily routine, locate fun activities, or become involved in community activities to respond to unexpected events and assist your adolescent in learning to cope with change. 

Discuss with your teen the enjoyable and calming things they enjoy, such as volunteering, painting, music, or physical activity. Acknowledge their agency and keep the good things in mind. 

Adolescents may experience anxiety as they encounter unfamiliar situations and become more independent.

Discuss your ideas with one another and look into potential answers. They might develop greater self-assurance by acting out challenging situations. 

Try new sports, hobbies, or after-school activities to widen their social network. Remember that your adolescent is developing into autonomous people who want to choose their friends, interests, and physiques.