Teenagers: the better the family bond, the more fulfilled they are

This study studied the responses of 37,025 adolescents aged 11 to 13 from 26 countries between 2016 and 2019. All of them answered different items relating to their family relationships. The results are published in the journal Pediatricson May 16th.

A study of more than 37,000 teenagers

The survey therefore looked at different aspects of daily life to assess the family relationship and other factors to measure the development of adolescents.

In the first case, the researchers were attentive to the results given on 5 items by the adolescents on the family bond: the care provided, the support, the safety, the respect and the participation in the help. While their development was assessed by six items: self-acceptance, purpose in life, positive relationships with others, personal growth, mastery of the environment and autonomy. The authors of this work considered that a score greater than 8 for these 6 items testified to good fulfillment.

More family ties, therefore more fulfillment

After analyzing all the data, the quality of the family ties of these adolescents directly influenced their development. “Secure, stable, and nurturing relationships within families protect children from negative outcomes resulting from adversity, but less was known about the association of family ties with childhood flourishing.” explain the authors.

For child psychiatrist Laure Legardinier, who practices at the Rouvray hospital center, “the family represents a figure of attachment from childhood, but this is replayed in adolescence. Teenagers are in a particular period, they need to detach themselves from their parents but also to feel that they will be there when needed.“explains the specialist. “When the attachment model is good, it is easier for them to project themselves into the future, and to be fulfilled“.

The researchers emphasize the lack of similar studies on the youngest, from 6 years old.

Adventurous games linked to less anxiety in 5-11 year olds

Another work on the mental health of children aged 5 to 11 (and in particular during confinement), has just been published in the journal Child Psychiatry and Human Development. The researchers wanted to focus on the behavior of children and their games.

Today, children have fewer opportunities to play adventure games out of sight of adults, but also games like climbing trees, riding bikes, or jumping from heights. The scientists wanted to test the theories that “adventurous games provide learning opportunities that help build resilience in children, and thus help prevent mental health problems”.

This seems to be visibly the case because children aged 5 to 11 who play more of these types of games have fewer problems”internalization” and therefore have better experienced confinement. In their findings, the authors explain that children who spend more time “adventurously playing” have fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression and were “happier during the first confinement”.

For Dr. Legardinier, once again, the results of this work are consistent. “Attachment in children, and the ability to detach from one’s parent is a mark of well-being in children. These are children who can allow themselves to take these risks because they know that they have a resource parent to turn to in case of need.“.

Activities to stimulate your child

If you want to push your child’s abilities and give him some opportunities to be scared, here are some games you can do with (or without) him:

• Take a torchlight walk in the dark;
• Camp overnight in a tent;
• Jump off a swing;
• Try new skills on a skateboard, roller skates or bike;
• Create obstacle courses indoors or outdoors…

Slide: Ten activities that stimulate the brains of toddlers