romantic partner selection and relationship quality in adolescence: do parent or early peer...

Romantic Partner Selection and Relationship Quality in Adolescence: Do Parent or Early Peer Relationships Matter More?

Joanna M. Chango, David E. Szwedo, Megan Schad, Erin M. Miga, & Joseph P. Allen University of Virginia

This study was made possible by funding from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator (Grant # 9 R01 HD058305-A11)

Copies available online at www.teenresearch.org

Introduction Results

Methods

Discussion

Research Questions

Data obtained at three time points:• Time 1: M age= 13.35, SD= 0.64• Time 2: M age= 16.35, SD= 0.87• Time 3: M age= 18.30, SD= 1.27

• Median family income= $40,000 to $59,000

• 63% European-American, 27% African-American, and 10% mixed race or other race.

MeasuresTime 1 (teen age 13):• Adolescent behaviors promoting autonomy and

relatedness with mothers and close peers were

observed during an 8-minute disagreement task

• The Autonomy and Relatedness Coding System

for Parent Interactions (Allen et al., 2000) and Peer

Interactions (Allen et al., 2001) were used to code all

observed interactions

• Example behaviors promoting autonomy:

reasoned-based argument, confidence• Example behaviors promoting relatedness:

validation, engagement, collaboration

Time 2 (teen age 16):• Adolescent behaviors promoting autonomy and

relatedness with close peers were re-observed

during disagreement task

• Mother and close peer behaviors promoting

autonomy and relatedness with teens were

observed during disagreement task

Time 3 (teen age 18):• Adolescent behaviors promoting autonomy and

relatedness with romantic partners were


• Romantic partner behaviors promoting

autonomy and relatedness with teens were


• Teen report of antagonism within romantic

relationship, criticism and punishment from

romantic partner assessed using Network of

Relationships Inventory (NRI; Furman & Buhrmester, 1985)

• Teen level of warmth and collaboration with

romantic partner were observed during

disagreement task

1) Do teen conflict negotiation patterns with

parents and peers carryover to behaviors

with subsequent romantic partners?

2) Do parent and peer conflict negotiation

behaviors toward teens predict the type of

romantic partner teens’ choose in terms of

their partners’ conflict negotiation behaviors?

3) Are parent and peer conflict negotiation

behaviors toward teens predictive of romantic

relationship quality?

• Consistent with previous research (e.g., Connolly et al.,

2000), results suggest that teen behaviors with

close peers do a better job at directly predicting

teen behaviors with romantic partners 5 years

later.

• Results also imply, however, that parental

relationships may have some indirect effect via

close peer relationships on later teen romantic

behavior.

• When focusing on how close others negotiate

conflict with teens, mother and close peer

behaviors are both related to romantic partner

conflict negotiation behaviors 2 years later.

• However, close friend behaviors, but not mother

behaviors during conflict predicted romantic

relationship quality 2 years later.

• Overall, teens’ choice of romantic partners, how

teens and their partners act towards each other

in the face of conflict, and the quality of the

relationship seem to depend more on the nature

of adolescent friendships than parental

relationships.

• Future research should continue focusing on

teen friendships as important contexts for

psychosocial and relational development

1a) Teen behaviors promoting autonomy and

relatedness with close peers at 13 predict the same

teen behaviors with romantic partners at 18. Teen

behaviors with mothers at 13 do not predict teen

behaviors with romantic partners at 18.

• Researchers have theorized that adolescent interaction patterns with parents and friends may be related to behavioral styles with their romantic partners, and several studies have documented these links (e.g., Collins & Sroufe, 1999; Connolly &

Johnson, 1996; Furman et al., 2002; Furman & Shomaker, 2008).

• Some argue that because romantic experiences have roots in adolescent friendships, early peer experiences are more consistent with those in later romantic

relationships (e.g.,Connolly et al., 2000; Furman, 1999).

• Additionally, the ability to establish autonomy while maintaining connection with close others in the face of conflict is viewed as a critical developmental task during adolescence, and has been predictive of various psychosocial outcomes (Allen et al., 1996; Allen et al., 2006; Kobak & Ferenz-Gillies,

1995; McElhaney & Allen, 2001) .

2) Both mother and close peer behaviors promoting

autonomy and relatedness with teens at 16 predict

romantic partner behaviors toward teen at 18.

Participants• Longitudinal, multi-method data were obtained

for 184 target adolescents (86 male, 98 female),

their mothers and same-sex close friends

• Data were also collected for a subset of 96 adolescents and their opposite sex romantic partners

1b) Teen behaviors promoting autonomy and

relatedness with mothers at 13 indirectly predict the

same teen behaviors with romantic partners at 18 via

teen behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness

with close peers at 16.

MotherBehaviors Promoting

Autonomy and Relatedness with

Teen

Romantic Partner Behaviors Promoting


Teen

Age 18Age 16

β = .33**

Gender

Income

Close PeerBehaviors Promoting


Teen

Romantic Partner Behaviors Promoting


Teen

Age 18Age 16

β = .28**

Gender

Income

3) Close peer behaviors promoting autonomy and

relatedness with teens at 16 predict various

indicators of romantic relationship quality at 18.

Mother behaviors at 16 do not predict any of the

indicators of relationship quality at 18.

MotherBehaviors Promoting


Teen

Antagonism within

relationship

Criticism from romantic partner

Punishment from romantic

partner

Age 18

Warmth toward

romantic partner

Collaboration with romantic

partner

Age 16

NS

NS

NS

NS

NSGender

Income

Close PeerBehaviors Promoting


Teen

Antagonism within

relationship

Criticism from romantic partner

Punishment from romantic

partner

Age 18

Warmth toward

romantic partner

Collaboration with romantic

partner

Age 16

Gender

Income

β = -.21*

β = -.19*

β = -.23**

β = .30**

β = .26*

Teen Behaviors Promoting

Autonomy and Relatedness with Mother


Autonomy and Relatedness

with Close Peer



Romantic Partner

r = .32***

β = .36***

Age 13

Age 18

Gender

Income

NS


Autonomy and Relatedness with Mother


Autonomy and Relatedness

with Close Peer Teen Behaviors

Promoting Autonomy and

Relatedness with Romantic Partner

β = .19* β = .42**Age 13

Age 16

Age 18

Gender

Income

NS

• Using Full Information Maximum Likelihood

(FIML), a series of hierarchical linear

regressions revealed that:

romantic partner selection and relationship quality in adolescence: do parent or early peer...

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