Introverts experience the world very differently than extroverts - and they even process information differently in their brains, according to an article in USA Today. Extroverts gain their energy from being with people, while introverts prefer to be reflective, thinking, contemplating. New research indicates that actual brain activity varies between the two groups, as well.

Parenting teenagers of the opposite type than yourself can bring up some challenging family dynamics; the most important way parents can combat this is to gain information and an understanding about temperament as it is a tool that you can use in a very positive way. Family dynamics that have been puzzling can be explained by different temperaments; communication and understanding can be improved when you put strategies in place that take temperament into account.

The extrovert/introvert dimension is just one of the various ways temperament is expressed and evaluated, there are several others. Where to get more information? Link to this article (There’s Power in Understanding Temperament) and you’ll find several online links to web resources.

In addition, Please Stop the Rollercoaster! How Parents of Teenagers Can Smooth Out the Ride devotes an entire chapter - along with a simple 20 question instrument - to the topic. Many parents have expressed their enthusiasm for this concrete tool, and one mom gushed: “I now have a new level of understanding about some of our family dynamics that have puzzled me for a long time! In some very basic ways my son and I are complete opposites – and I never saw that before.�

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