Twins and the Struggle with Emotional Distress into Adolescence

There are many challenges associated with parenting. While many children learn to accommodate to their life experiences, there are some children who require a less traditional approach to parenting. As the parent of twins, you have probably experienced the variation and degree to which your children adapt and respond to your parenting styles.

From the time your twins are born, you begin to notice varying differences within their personalities. While your twins may look very similar, their personalities are often quite different. Learning how to parent these varying personalities is important to the emotional health of your children, and in managing the emotional health of your entire family. Even siblings, extended family members and individuals who interact with your child, on a daily basis, play an important role.

Emotional distress is not uncommon to find in one twin. Because the other twin child may not exhibit complications involving emotional distress, parents are often confused as to why there is this imbalance in twin behavior. With age, and especially into adolescence, the emotional distress can be compounded and far more difficult to manage. In essence, the distressed twin will always feel as if there is comparison between themselves and their twin sibling.

At an early age, you can determine which of your twins will exhibit complications with distress in adolescence simply by examining the bonding behavior. Often, when a teenager develops emotional distress, especially as a twin, there is an early complication involving maternal bonding, bonding with teachers and even show little interest in engaging in religious activities with the family. If your young child shows any of these bonding or spiritual complications, it may be a sign of the distress commonly seen among twin children.