Changes in adolescents' daily interactions with their families from ages 10 to 18: Disengagement and transformation.

TLDR

The study followed 220 White working‑ and middle‑class adolescents across grades 5–12, collecting 16,477 momentary reports of family interactions. Family time fell from 35 % to 14 % of waking hours, yet adolescents maintained stable talking and alone time with parents, increased issue‑focused conversations (especially among girls), perceived greater agency in interactions, reported more positive affect after early adolescence, and the decline was driven by external opportunities rather than family conflict.

Abstract

In a cross-sequential study spanning 5th-12th grade, 220 White working-and middle-class youth provided reports on their experience at 16,477 random moments in their lives. Amount of time spent with family was found to decrease from 35% to 14% ofwaking hours across this age period. indicating disengagement. However, transformation and continued connection were evident in stability across age in time talking and alone with parents; an age increase in family conversation about interpersonal issues, particularly for girls; and with age, adolescents' more frequent perception of themselves as leading interactions. After a decrease in early adolescence, older teens reported more favorable affect in themselves and others during family interactions. Last, the age decline in family time was found to be mediated not by internal family conflict but by opportunities and pulls an adolescent experiences from outside the family.