1. Attachment and Development in Adolescent Romantic Couples’ Relationship Quality Sharon C. Risch University of Tennessee

2. Abstract We examine the link between attachment and couples’ perceptions of their digitally captured interactions and relationship satisfaction. We examine developmental differences in these models. Our sample includes 169 adolescent dating couples who have been dating at least 4 weeks. Couples participated in two conflictual issues conversations and then completed a video-recall procedure in which they rated themselves and their partners on 7 affective/behavioral dimensions. SEM analyses suggest that adolescents who report higher levels of attachment to their peers perceive interactions with their partners as more positive and less negative/power-related, which is related to higher relationship satisfaction. Contrary to our hypothesis, peer attachment rather than parent attachment is more salient in understanding adolescent romantic couples’ interactions and relationship satisfaction for both middle and late adolescents. Perhaps we would have found a relation between parent attachment and relationship quality if our late adolescent couples were slightly older.

3. Background Research for the past few decades has explored and documented the relation between attachment in parent-child relationships and adults’ romantic relationship quality. This literature suggests that relationships in which partners are more securely attached report and display more positive relationship qualities (such as positive conflict resolution, happiness, and trust) and fewer negative relationship qualities (such as negative conflict resolution, fear of closeness, and jealousy). They also report longer lasting relationships and healthier individual functioning. More recently, researchers have turned to adolescence to explore how attachment to parents and peers is linked with the development and quality of adolescents’ romantic relationships. They have also proposed models delineating developmental changes in these processes over the course of adolescence.

4. Hypotheses Adolescents’ perceptions of their interactional processes will mediate the association between attachment to parents and peers and satisfaction in their romantic relationships. Attachment to peers will be more salient in understanding the processes in middle adolescents’ romantic relationships; whereas, attachment to parents will be more salient in understanding the processes in late adolescents’ romantic relationships.

5. Sample The data for this project comes from The Study of Tennessee Adolescent Romantic Relationships (STARR), funded by NICHD 169 adolescent dating couples 1  102 couples between 14-17 yrs old  67 couples between 18-21 yrs old Couples dating a minimum of 4 weeks  (range: 4 weeks – 260 weeks; mean: 44 weeks) 1 Couples recruited from a previous study of 2201 high school students from 17 different high schools representing geographic (rural, urban, suburban) and economic diversity

6. Measures Relationship Satisfaction – (Levesque, 1993); 5-item scale to assess adolescents’ romantic relationships (alpha =.85) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment – (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987); 28-item and 25-item scale to assess adolescents’ attachment (alpha =.97 parent; alpha =.86 peer)

7. Interaction Procedure Digitally recorded couple having 2 interaction tasks  First Task: Conflictual Issue (as selected by one couple member) (8 min 40 sec)  Second Task: Conflictual Issue (as selected by the other couple member) (8 min 40 sec) Video-Recall Procedure (Welsh & Dickson, under review)  Conversations viewed twice Rate own behavior in first viewing Rate partner’s behavior in second viewing  40 twenty-second segments rated  7 codes rated for each segment: connection, conflict, sarcasm, trying to persuade, conceding, discomfort, and frustration

8. Analyses Couples’ perceptions of their communications were categorized into positive (connectedness) and negative/power-related (conflict, sarcasm, trying to persuade, conceding, frustration, and discomfort) interactional processes. SEM analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between attachment, interactional processes, and relationship satisfaction for middle and late adolescents.

9. Results We found partial support for the proposed mediation model. Middle adolescents (see Model 1 and Model 3)  Boys who reported higher levels of attachment to peers perceived interactions with their romantic partners as more positive and less negative/power-related. Boys who reported higher levels of attachment to parents perceived more positive interactions with their romantic partners.  Girls who reported higher levels of attachment to peers perceived their interactions with their romantic partners as less negative/power-related.  Boys’ perceptions of positive interactions were associated with both his and his partners’ relationship satisfaction. Girls’ perceptions of negative interactions were associated with her relationship satisfaction.

10. Results (continued) Late adolescents (see Model 2 and Model 4)  Boys and girls who reported higher levels of attachment to peers perceived more connectedness in interactions with their romantic partners.  Attachment was not related to perceptions of negative/power-related interactions for either girls or boys.  Boys’ perceptions of positive and negative interactions were related to his partners’ relationship satisfaction.  Boys’ perceptions of negative/power-related interactions and girls’ perceptions of positive interactions were related to boys’ and girls’ relationship satisfaction, respectively.

11. Conclusions Adolescents’ attachment to peers plays a significant role in their understanding of their interactions with romantic partners, which influences how satisfied they feel in their romantic relationships. Contrary to our hypothesis, peer attachment rather than parent attachment is more important in understanding adolescent romantic couples’ interactions and relationship satisfaction for both middle and late adolescents.  Our late adolescent couples may not be old enough for their romantic relationships to serve an attachment function. Perhaps we would have found a relation between parent attachment and relationship quality if our late adolescent couples were slightly older. Follow-up research will address such a possibility.

12. Correlations among Attachment, Interaction Processes, and Relationship Satisfaction Table 1 Male Parent Attachment (1) Female Parent Attachment (2) Male Peer Attachment (3) Female Peer Attachment (4) Male’s Perceptions of His Positive Interaction (5) Male’s Perceptions of Her Positive Interaction (6) Female’s Perceptions of Her Positive Interaction (7) Female’s Perceptions of His Positive Interaction (8) Male’s Perceptions of His Negative Interaction (9) Female’s Perceptions of Her Negative Interaction (11) Male’s Perceptions of Her Negative Interaction (10) Female’s Perceptions of His Positive Interaction (12) Male Relationship Satisfaction (13) Female Relationship Satisfaction (14) Middle Adolescents Late Adolescents (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)

13. Middle Adolescent Couples Negative Interactions Model 1 Female Peer Male Peer Male Parent Female Parent Male Satisfaction Male Perception s His/His Female Perception s His/Her Her/Her Her/His Female Satisfaction -.18 -.11 -.12 -.43*** -.07 -.25* -.30**.12 SEM of attachment, interaction, and relationship satisfaction of adolescent couples age 14-17. (Standardized Solution; N=102) CMIN/DF = 2.716, CFI =.845

14. Late Adolescent Couples Negative Interactions Model 2 Female Peer Male Peer Male Parent Female Parent Male Satisfaction Male Perception s His/His Female Perception s His/Her Her/Her Her/His Female Satisfaction -.32** -.16 -.30* -.09 -.13 -.20.02 -.06 SEM of attachment, interaction, and relationship satisfaction of adolescent couples age 18-21. (Standardized Solution; N=67) CMIN/DF = 2.716, CFI =.845

15. Middle Adolescent Couples Positive Interactions Model 3 Female Peer Male Peer Male Parent Female Parent Male Satisfaction Male Perception s His/His Female Perception s His/Her Her/Her Her/His Female Satisfaction.47***.07.23* -.03.20*.31** -.00.00 SEM of attachment, interaction, and relationship satisfaction of adolescent couples age 14-17. (Standardized Solution; N=102) CMIN/DF = 2.248, CFI =.88

16. Late Adolescent Couples Positive Interactions Model 4 Female Peer Male Peer Male Parent Female Parent Male Satisfaction Male Perception s His/His Female Perception s His/Her Her/Her Her/His Female Satisfaction.17.13.32**.25* -.00.38**.38** -.09 SEM of attachment, interaction, and relationship satisfaction of adolescent couples age 18-21. (Standardized Solution; N=67) CMIN/DF = 2.248, CFI =.88