Adolescent adjustment and family processes 4 1/2 years after parental separation were examined through telephone interviews with 517 adolescents (10 1/2 to 18 years old) living in mother, father, or dual residence. Residence differences in adjustment were small in magnitude, with adolescents in father residence adjusting somewhat more poorly than adolescents in other arrangements, especially in comparison to dual-resident adolescents. The link between residence and adjustment was primarily indirect, mediated by differences in closeness to and monitoring by the residential parent. Father residence was directly related to poorer adjustment only for certain subgroups of adolescents: Those who had shifted residences one or more times since parental separation, and those whose parents were still hostile 3 1/2 years after separation.

In this study, we examine the predictions of a storm and stress characterization of adolescence concerning typicality and trajectories of internalizing, externalizing, and wellbeing from late childhood through late adolescence. Using data from the Parenting Across Cultures study, levels and trajectories of these characteristics were analyzed for 1,211 adolescents from 11 cultural groups across eight countries. Data were longitudinal, collected at seven timepoints from 8 to 17 years of age. Results provide more support for a storm and stress characterization with respect to the developmental trajectories of behavior and characteristics from childhood to adolescence or across the adolescent years than with respect to typicality of behavior. Overall, adolescents’ behavior was more positive than negative in all cultural groups across childhood and adolescence. There was cultural variability in both prevalence and trajectories of behavior. The data provide support for arguments that a more positive and nuanced characterization of adolescence is appropriate and important.

The nature of parenting and parent–child relationships is often dramatically affected by the historical period in which one raises children