While parenting a young child requires holding on and securing the girl or boy in the constancy of their care, parenting an adolescent increasingly demands more loss and risk from letting go.

Now the challenge is staying socially connected as the push for youthful independence and individuality creates growing separation between them. Love is not lessened, but getting along can now become challenging on three fronts as youthful separation sets parents and teenagers more socially apart. Consider three alterations.

1. Distance can create loneliness: “We’re not as close as we were.” Now parents must respect more youthful privacy and expect less confiding. “As our adolescent grows older, we........

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