“Little children, little problems; big children, big problems”, as the saying goes. Today, in our Western societies, adolescence is unfortunately still associated with negative images. Adults and parents often worry about this developmental transition and expect it to be a particularly difficult and challenging period of life.
In this study, we examine how adherence to negative beliefs about adolescence (“Storm and Stress beliefs”) may impact on the parenting experience of couples of parents of adolescents. Our results suggest that adherence to these beliefs may lead parents to adopt overprotective practices, which in turn put them at risk of parental burnout.