1. Introduction Results Method Conclusions
Loneliness and Parallel Lives in Adolescent Romantic Relationships Spillover into Peer Relationships Jessica Kansky, Joseph Tan, & Joseph P. Allen University of Virginia. For more information please contact Jessica Kansky or visit We would like to thank the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for funding awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator, (R01 HD & R01-MH58066) for funding to conduct this study as well as for the write-up of this study.
Introduction
Figure 1: Association of Parallel Lives and Loneliness with Concurrent Adolescent Friendship Quality
Results
Age 17
Regression analyses using a Full Information Maximum Likelihood approach for handling missing data suggested that adolescent loneliness and isolation in romantic relationships was associated with poorer close friendship quality and attachment as reported by a close friend while only isolation was associated with poor self-reported close friendships (see Figure 1).
Controlling for gender, income, and baseline peer relationship functioning, only parallel lives at age 17 predicted decreased friend-reported attachment to peers at age 24. Age 17 loneliness did not predict any changes in friendship quality (see Figure 2).
Peer relationships can influence an adolescent’s engagement in and quality of a romantic relationship in late adolescence.
However, little research points to how relationships with peers and romantic partners overlap versus how they uniquely influence development.
In this study, we address how perceived loneliness and isolation in romantic relationships relate to concurrent and long-term changes in friendship quality.
Close Friendship (Self Report)
-.23*
-.15
Age 17
-.32**
-.34***
Parallel Lives
Loneliness
Close Friendship (Friend Report)
-.16
-.12
Attachment (Self Report)
Method
Note. Coefficients are standardized betas. Gender and income were controlled for.
*p < .05, **p<.01, ***p<.001
Conclusions
-.31***
-.23*
Participants
Participants were 184 individuals and a close friend assessed at age 17 and 24.
The sample was 63% European-American, 27% African-American, and 14% mixed race or other race/ethnicities.
Baseline median family income was in the $40,000 to $59,000 range
Procedure and Measures
Time 1 (Age 17) – Participants reported loneliness and parallel lives using the Distance and Isolation Cascade Scale (Gottman, 1994). Participants and friends also completed the 4-item close friendship subscale of the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988) and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA; Armsden & Greenburg, 1989) for overall attachment.
Time 2 (Age 24) – Participants completed adult-versions of the friendship quality measures including the Sociability subscale on the Self-Perception Profile for Adults (Harter, 1995) and the attachment subscale of the Social Provisions Scale (Cutrona & Russell, 1987), while close friends completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment for the target’s overall attachment.
Results suggest that loneliness and parallel lives in adolescent romantic relationships are associated with concurrent poor friendship quality and attachment.
Perhaps those teens who report feeling lonely and isolated in their romantic relationships are also struggling with their peer relationships which exacerbates both problems.
Those teens in disconnected parallel relationships with a partner appear to have long-term problems with developing healthy attachment to friends in adulthood as reported by a close friend.
Feeling disconnected in their romantic relationships may hinder the ability to develop deep, meaningful relationships such that others are unsatisfied with the friendship.
Surprisingly, adolescents reporting loneliness in their romantic relationships do not experience significant detrimental effects in their friendship quality over time.
Overall, our findings suggests that while concurrent loneliness and poor relationship quality seem to co-occur in friendships and dating, disconnected adolescent romances may not have long-lasting spillover impacts on future relationship functioning.
Future Directions
Does self-report bias the long-term consequences of disconnected adolescent romantic relationships?
What mediates the relationship between disconnected adolescent romantic relationships and adult friendships?
Attachment (Friend Report)
Figure 2: Parallel Lives and Loneliness Predicts Relatives Changes in Adult Friendship Qualities Controlling for Adolescent Friendship Functioning
Age 24
Close Friendship (Self Report)
.14
-.12
Age 17
.10
-.15
Parallel Lives
Loneliness
Close Friendship (Friend Report)
-.22
-.17
Attachment (Self Report)
Note. Coefficients are standardized betas. Gender, income and baseline social functioning were controlled for.
*p < .05, **p<.01, ***p<.001
-.24*
-.13
Self-Report Conflict
Attachment (Friend Report)