The more time teens spend with their parents, the more confident they feel. According to a study published in Child Development, time with fathers proved to be particularly beneficial to teens. “Mothers weren’t unimportant, but they are kind of a given in most families,” says Susan McHale, a professor of human development at Penn State University and co-author of the study. Fathers, meanwhile, are not always in the picture—and if they are, they’re often not as involved in a child’s life. So when a father does take time to spend with his children, it makes a big difference. While the study suggests that teens spend more time with their families than we might think, Marta Flaum (a psychologist not a part of the study), worries that we could be doing better. “With the growing influence of screen time and everyone more plugged in than ever, I fear there is less, not more, family-together time,” she says. (U.S. News and World Report)