A Peaceful Adolescence.

This article discusses a study on the relationship between teenagers and their parents. Amanda Hund, 17, credits her parents for her relatively easy ride through adolescence. Is the Hund family for real? Did they get the memo that says teens and their parents are supposed to be at odds? Actually, they are very much for real, and according to scientists who study the transition to adulthood, they represent the average family's experience. "Research shows that most young people go through adolescence having good relationships with their parents," says Richard Lerner, Bergstrom chair of applied developmental science at Tufts University. The roots of misconceptions about teenagers goes back to the fact that psychologists were primarily looking for explanations of why things went wrong. But in the last 15 years, developmental scientists have begun studying the dynamics of success. At the head of the pack are Lerner and his colleagues, who are in the midst of a six-year longitudinal study of exactly what it takes to turn out okay and what adults can do to nurture those behaviors.