Most teenagers are not your typical 'Kevin and Perry', according to new research.

Two new research reports supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said that today's youth was far removed from the stereotypical image of the obnoxious, monosyllabic teenagers as immortalised by comedian Harry Enfield's Kevin and Perry characters.

Today's young people are more concerned about forging friendships and communication with their parents, says research by the charity, Oxford Brookes, and Lancaster University.

Both studies find that teenagers and parents mostly take a positive view of family life as a source of love, care, help and trust.

One 14-year-old from Rochdale said: "When you are younger you think it's like the thing you look up to...But then as you get older, you find they are just human beings and they become more like really good friends..."

Both reports warn politicians that policies designed to tackle adolescent behaviour and other problems by invoking old-fashioned, parental control, risk being resented by parents as well as young people themselves.

Jane Ribbens McCarthy, co-author of the Oxford Brookes report, said: "Although our study highlights the contradictions and complexity in modern family life, we were impressed by how little the young people or their parents conformed to the stereotypes that are so often paraded about teenage years.

"The accounts we collected suggest that being a teenager, or the parent of one, is not necessarily as traumatic as we're often led to expect.

"Unlike Harry Enfield's comic creation, Kevin the teenager, many young people really do appreciate what their parents have to offer."

The Lancaster University showed that girls reported enjoying having talks with their mothers while teenagers regarded their fathers as the family disciplinarian.

Summaries of the findings from both reports are available on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.