Strength-Based Parenting and Adolescent Wellbeing
Summary
Strength-based parenting is an approach that emphasises the identification and cultivation of a young person’s inherent talents and virtues, framing parenting as a partnership in which caregivers actively discover and reinforce their child’s character strengths. Grounded in positive psychology, it seeks to foster eudaimonic wellbeing—defined as flourishing through meaning, engagement and personal growth—rather than solely mitigating distress. In adolescence, a period marked by identity formation and heightened vulnerability to mental health challenges, strength-based parenting has been linked to improved life satisfaction, enhanced emotional regulation and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression. By nurturing self-efficacy and encouraging the application of personal strengths in everyday challenges, parents can bolster an adolescent’s sense of agency and resilience. Emerging evidence suggests that strength-based programmes, whether delivered in schools or through digital platforms, can promote adaptive coping and prosocial behaviour, with potential benefits across diverse cultural contexts. The growing interest in this paradigm reflects a shift towards preventive and developmental models of family support, underscoring its global significance for public health and educational policy.
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Strength-Based Parenting and Adolescent Wellbeing publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in strength-based parenting and adolescent wellbeing across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Strength-based parenting: A parenting style focused on identifying, cultivating and applying a young person’s inherent character strengths.
Subjective wellbeing: An individual’s self-reported evaluation of life satisfaction, positive affect and absence of negative affect.
Self-efficacy: A belief in one’s capacity to organise and execute actions required to manage prospective situations and achieve goals.
Prosocial behaviour: Voluntary actions intended to benefit others, such as helping, sharing or cooperating.
Mediator: A variable that explains the mechanism through which one factor influences another.
References
- The Mediating Effect of Self-Efficacy in the Connections between Strength-Based Parenting, Happiness and Psychological Distress in Teens. Frontiers in Psychology (2017).
- Observing Change Over Time in Strength-Based Parenting and Subjective Wellbeing for Pre-teens and Teens. Frontiers in Psychology (2019).
- Positive Parenting, Prosocial Behavior, Meaning in Life, and Subjective Well-being in Adolescents: a Parallel and Serial Mediation Analysis. Child Indicators Research (2024).
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