Life events and strains in families with teenagers

Abstract

The aims of this study are: a) to describe life events and strains that affect parents with teenagers, and b) to check the possible differences in the description of these events by parents according to the age of the first-born teenager: over or under 19. With this aim in view, a sample of 386 parents (193 married couples) with teenagers were evaluated using FILE (Hernández Córdoba 1991). The results obtained prove that: a) during the last year a higher average of intrafamilies strains take place, followed by the economic and work strains; b) parents with a 19 or over 19 first-born child undergo more strains due to illness, and due to the entrance or leaving of a family member, than parents with a first-born child under 19.