Healthy, strong family relationships are foundational to young people's growth, learning and well-being. These relationships build strong social and emotional strengths that kids use throughout their lives. 

Understanding healthy brain development, supporting a teen's ability to cope with stress, supporting effective parent and adult communication, and building resilient teens all support moving teens toward healthy young adulthood. 

A framework of five protective factors that promote optimal development and strong families includes:

1. Parental Resilience
2. Social Connection
3. Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
4. Concrete Supports in Time of Need
5. Social and Emotional Competence of Children

How Parents Can Build Resilience

1. Begin with yourself!
   • Take care of your own emotional & physical health
   • Develop healthy coping devices (regular exercise, reading, listening to music, etc.)
   • Seek out healthy family/friends for support
   • Use community supports (counseling, substance abuse treatment, self-help programs, faith based groups, etc.
2.  Make connections
   • Good relationships with family, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from people who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience.
   • Get active in civic groups, faith-based organizations or other local groups for social support.
   • Assisting others in their time of need can benefit you as much as them.
3. Take control
   • Look for your own inner strengths.
   • Have a healthy, positive view of yourself.
4. Set goals
   • Set goals and take steps to move toward them.
5.  Expect the unexpected
   • Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems. You can’t change the fact that stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events.
   • Accept change as a part of living.

Additional Resources

• Keep Connected
• Center for Parent & Teen Communication
• Young Parents Learning (YouTube)
• American Academy of Pediatrics