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A 2026 study of 822 Norwegian adolescents found that greater reported conflict with fathers was associated with lower subsequent use of specialty mental-health services. The association was small, and the study cannot show that conflict caused teens to miss care. It also did not measure whether an adolescent needed treatment and went without it.
What the study found
Mina Moeineslam, Silje Steinsbekk, Lars Wichstrøm and colleagues followed adolescents across four waves, from ages 12 to 18, in a Norwegian community cohort. Their study, published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry on 11 August 2026, analyzed 822 participants and examined whether perceived relationship quality predicted later use of specialty mental-health services. Read the study.
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In the final model, higher father–adolescent conflict predicted lower later specialty-service use. The reported standardized coefficients ranged from β = −0.12 to −0.08, which the authors characterize as a small association. These figures are not percentages and do not mean that a particular share of teens were denied care.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The analysis adjusted for prior service use and factors related to need and access, including gender, parental occupation and cohabitation, parental depression and anxiety, adolescents’ emotional and disruptive-behavior symptoms, perceived need for help, impairment, and stressful life events. Adjustment makes the association more informative than a simple comparison, but it does not establish cause and effect.
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What the finding does—and does not—mean
The outcome was later use of specialty mental-health services. The study did not show that conflict caused a mental-health condition, that teens with more conflict had greater need for treatment, or that a teen who needed care was refused or unable to obtain it. Lower service use can have different explanations; this study does not identify which explanation applies.
Nor did the result mean that every aspect of family or peer relationships predicted care. In the final model, the researchers found no prospective association between later service use and father closeness, mother closeness or conflict, or closeness or conflict with a best friend. Father conflict was the only tested relationship-quality measure that predicted later use.
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Why the result may not apply everywhere
The cohort was in Norway, where health care is universal and specialist-service access is guided by clinical criteria such as symptom severity and impairment. The authors also note relatively high parental education in the sample. Differences in health systems, referral routes, family circumstances and the study population mean the finding should not be treated as a forecast for every teen or country.
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The study measured a relationship with a best friend, not all peer relationships, and could not determine whether participants named the same friend at each wave. The authors say future work should examine what father–adolescent conflict involves and consider service quality, treatment duration and outcomes.
How related studies add context
Other studies offer context, but they do not replicate the service-use result. A 2023 study of 326 father–adolescent dyads examined reports of harsh parenting and conflict in relation to adolescents’ mental-health symptoms. It found associations involving internalizing or externalizing symptoms, while results involving differences between father and adolescent reports were limited and mixed. That work concerned symptoms, not subsequent use of specialty services. Read the 2023 study.
A 2024 mixed-method study described communication experiences in which adolescents might fear burdening parents or having their concerns dismissed. Participants identified patience and open-mindedness as helpful. Those observations may matter when families talk about mental health, but they do not establish why father conflict was associated with later service use in the Norwegian cohort. View the 2024 study record.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What teens and families can take from it
The finding is a reason to take relationship difficulties and access concerns seriously, not evidence that a teen must resolve conflict with a father before seeking help. A teen worried about mental health can tell a trusted adult or contact a health professional directly; available routes vary by location. If talking with a parent feels difficult, another trusted adult may help the teen explain what is going on and ask about local support options.
For researchers and clinicians, the key unanswered question is how conflict relates to the path from need to service use. The study identifies a small prospective association, but it does not reveal whether communication, family involvement, referral decisions, service availability or another factor accounts for it.
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