Final answer:
Adolescents typically start to pull away from their parents and focus more on peer relationships as they form their own identities, despite maintaining positive feelings towards their parents. A strong parent-child relationship is still important for positive developmental outcomes. The focus can shift towards romantic relationships in late adolescence.
Step-by-step explanation:
During adolescence, the level of warmth and closeness between parents and their children typically changes as adolescents seek to form their own identities and become more independent. Adolescents often spend less time with their parents and more time with peers, as peer influence and the desire to conform to peer groups increase significantly. Despite this shift, most adolescents still report positive feelings towards their parents, and a healthy parent-child relationship is correlated with numerous positive outcomes, including better school performance and fewer behavior problems.
As adolescents mature sexually, their awareness of sexuality and interests in romantic relationships increase, often prioritizing these over other peer relationships by late adolescence. Nevertheless, proximity to parents and a strong parent-child relationship continue to play a crucial role in a child's well-being, especially in the context of changing family dynamics, such as after divorce.