If You Want Your Daughter To Succeed, You Have To Nag The Hell Out Of Her

We'd be willing to bet that neither you nor your teenage daughter likes it when you have to get on her case about everything from school to work to how many hours she spends on her phone. But according to one study, she's more likely to succeed if you nag her.

Researchers from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom studied over 15,000 British girls for ten years from their early teens to early 20s and concluded that "behind every successful woman is a nagging mom." Their findings showed that that if a teen girl's "main parent" (usually her mom) sets high expectations for her and continuously reminds her of those expectations, the girl is more likely to be well-off when she grows up. 

In this case, according to Inc., being more "successful" was defined as being:

• Less likely to get pregnant as a teenager;
• More likely to go to college;
• Less likely to get stuck in a low-paying, dead-end job; and
• Less likely to be unemployed for a long period of time. 

This isn't to say your teenager is going to become super rich and famous if you're pushier, but it does mean that she'll be less likely to engage in destructive behaviors that will sabotage her potential for success later on in life.

Believe me, this isn't going to be welcome news to your cranky, stubborn teenager. But apparently the experts also looked into teens' behavior – i.e. eye-rolling, back talking, door-slamming, sulking, and general angst — while conducting their research, and found that it actually means the nagging is WORKING. Who knew?

"In many cases, we succee(d) in doing what we believ(e is) more convenient for us, even when this (is) against our parents' will," wrote the PhD candidate who directed the study. "But no matter how hard we tried to avoid our parents' recommendations, it is likely that they ended up influencing (our) choices."

Basically, writes Bill Murphy, Jr. for Inc., "if your tween or teenage daughter rolls her eyes and says something like, 'Arrrrggghhh, Mom, you're so annoying,' what she really means, deep down in her subconscious mind is: 'Thank you for the helpful advice. I shall endeavor to act accordingly.' "

Good luck out there, moms!