Some insight into what motivates girl bullying, usually referred to as "Mean girl." At the core of this phenomena is the way girls are not comfortable with expressing anger directly. Read Samantha Parent Walravens" article in The Huffington Post for more useful information

What's Wrong With Teenage Brains?

Good article about the development of teenage brains and how are teenagers develop earlier and take longer to grow up. They are younger and older at the same time.  Parents are focused on education that takes place in the classroom and neglect giving their teenagers the life skills that can't be learned in a classroom. Read more by Alison Gopnik for the Wall Street Journal. 

85 percent of the college grads move home for some period of time

The first question most parents ask after college student moves back home is, "Should I charge rent", and it's not the important question. Our children come home with a lot of debt and face a very tough job market, so charging rent may be unproductive.

The question is really, "How can I help my adult child mature into a responsible adult". Carolyn Butler of The Washington Post interviewed me for some tips for parents.

If you want to learn about foster the characteristics of adulthood download, Mom, Can I Move Back Home With You available as an e-book.

Most Teens Suffer Depression Alone

Boys under report their depression and often don't get help. Unfortunately this pattern continues into adulthood. Eight percent of all teenagers ages 12-17 report  feeling depressed two or more weeks in the last year and this number breaks down very differently for girls than boys.  

In older teens, 15-17, 15% of girls and 6.4% of boys say they had a major depressive period in the preceding year.

Early intervention is key because depressed teenagers abuse drugs and/or alcohol to self medicate. Author Melissa Healy discusses Teen Screen a standardized mental health screening test for adolescents in The Los Angeles Times.

There Are Better Ways to Say You're Angry!

One of the most difficult things for many people to do is express anger. Some people bottle it up until they explode with venom and others go silent. We all learn whether to show our anger or hide our anger from our parents and what we learn can have a profound impact on our marriage.
For a good discussion of a smarter way to express anger by Elizabeth Bernstein click this link to her article in The Wall Street Journal.

The Most Common Regret Involves Romance

One in five respondents in a survey asking people their biggest regret discussed a lost opportunity in love. The next most common regret involves a family issue. In this study women fret about a lost love twice as much as men. People expressed regret about the things that got away more than regrets about the actions they took.

This is a thought provoking question for all of us.
How would you answer it?
Read the article by Tara Parker-Pope as well as the comments in The New York Times.

For more discussion read the article on the blog The Situationist for an interesting perspective of this very complicated emotion.

Do we focus too much on being happy?

Research in Positive Psychology, which studies Happiness, has found that too much focus on feeling happy can backfire and actually leave you feeling less happy. They found that the things that really matter in life aren't ones that lead to short bursts of pleasure like eating a good meal or winning in sports.

Eudaimonia- the Greek word associated with happiness- is said to come from achieving one's potential. It comes from having purpose and feeling part of a community, rather than wealth and possessions. The Wall Street Journal discusses whether Happiness is Overrated in an article by Shirley Wang.