1. Romantic Relationships in Adolescence

2. Why are these relationships important? Early adolescents begin spending more time with peers than parents (Buhrmester & Furman, 1987; Connolly, Furman, & Konarski, 2000) Romantic and peer relationships are a key source of support (Berndt, 1990) By college, romantic relationships are considered the strongest source of support (Furman & Buhrmester, 1992)

3. Role of Romantic Relationships Identity/sense of self within relationship Romantic self-concept may affect global self-esteem

4. Early adolescent RR: prevalence 25% of 12 year olds reported involvement in romantic relationships By age 14, 44% of adolescents reported romantic involvement –(Carver, Joyner, & Udry, 2003)

5. Early adolescent RR Early adolescent romantic relationships are not trivial Median length of romantic relationships for adolescents aged 14 and under was 5 months 80% of early adolescents involved in romantic relationships thought of themselves as a couple Of these, 67% had told each other they loved each other (Carver, et al., 2003)

6. Early Adolescent Adjustment and RR - the “downside” Links to depression (Compas, Conner, & Hinden, 1998; Daley & Hammond, 2002; Monroe, Rhode, Seeley & Lewinsohn, 1999; Segal, 2001; Welsh, Grello, & Harper, 2003) Negative association to academics (Brendgen, Vitaro, Doyle, Markiewicz, & Bukowski, 2002; Neeman, Hubbard, Masten, 1995)

7. Risk for Aggression Attraction to aggressive peers increases in middle school (Bukowski, Sipploa, & Newcomb, 2000) Early adolescent romantic = higher risk of partner violence (Makepeace, 1986) Bullies date earlier and report more aggresion w/ Partner (Connolly, Pepler, Craig, & Taradash, 2000)

8. Links Between Peer and RR in Early Adolescence Intimacy with close friends = empathy with romantic partners (Connolly & Goldberg, 1999) Quality in friendships = later quality in adolescence RR (Connolly, et al., 2000; Furman & Wehner, 1994) Hostile talk about women between male peers = aggression toward partner at age 21 (Capaldi, Dishion, Stoolmiller, & Yoerger, 2001)

9. RR in later adolescence -Prevalence By age 18 4/5 of adolescents report involvement in RR By age 18, avg. length of relationship 9.5 mo. Higher prevalence for girls than boys by age 15 –Boys: higher prevalence before age 15 Ethnic differences?

10. Some consequences of adolescent romantic relationships Daters demonstrate more fighting with parents than non-daters Increased positive emotionality Increased opportunity for reciprocal altruism (and cooperation) Effect status in peer group –Gender diff in status?

11. Adolescence and Dating Violence 3% - 19% dating violence, range based on type of violence About equal reporting across genders Higher in late adol and young adulthood In adolescence DV is usually bidirectional

12. Adolescence and Dating Violence Possible causes: Maltreatment Social learning model of coercive escalation Positive reinforcement Insecure attachments

13. Issues with studying adolescent Romantic Relationships What’s a “good” relationship? Parental Consent When is the relationship “official” enough? Difficult to study sex and dating