Adolescence is considered a transitory phase in the life course. Failure in school during adolescence can carry with it the risk of an occupational and social downward mobility in the future life course in comparison to the family of origin. The stress associated with this risk can have detrimental effects on the social and emotional climate within the family and can manifest itself in psychosomatic symptoms. To examine this issue, 1,717 adolescent students in West German schools were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing psychosomatic disorders, failure in school and the risk of downward mobility, social conflict with parents, and emotional conflict with parents. The results support the hypotheses that psychosomatic frequency is reinforced when adolescents experience failure in school and when they experience social and emotional conflict in their relationships with their parents. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that these effects were interconnected. Failure in school had a direct effect on the frequency of psychosomatic disorders, and an indirect effect on disorders by influencing social and emotional conflicts in the family. The underlying causes for the tensions between adolescents and their parents are conceived in the social and economic opportunity structures of the society. (NB)