- When a friend starts making bad choices, the consequences can put a strain on friendships. Two friends who have been close drift apart because one friend starts being influenced by a new social circle, which may favor taking drugs or relying on violence. The dilemma is whether to tell an adult about a friend's harmful behavior and possibly risk ending the friendship altogether.
- Friendships between an adolescent boy and girl will become difficult, when one of them wants a romantic relationship, and the other one doesn't. Feelings of rejection may prompt an end to the friendship. The other adolescent may not rebuff the attention but instead will endure the stress of being in an unwanted role. Advice from an adult will be helpful, but the hard decision to openly talk to the friend will still be down to the adolescent to make.
- One of the advantages of being an adolescent is a keenness to become involved in new things. However, a new activity may leave one friend feeling left out because she does not share the same passion, or her friends may reject her for not being enthusiastic. She risks hurting her friends by telling them that she is not interested in their new activity, or she may feel pressured to go along for fear of losing their friendship.
- That adolescents disagree with parents on how loud music is played or not tidying up a bedroom is expected as they start to feel distinct in their self-identity. Things become much more difficult when parents have ethical views that are widely at odds with the views of the adolescent. An adolescent who loves his or her parents will find this distressing and try to balance how her own beliefs against how much she loves her parents.
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