Citation

Beckmeyer JJ, Coleman M, Proulx CM. Fam. Relat. 2018; 67(4): 539-551.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, National Council on Family Relations (USA), Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/fare.12341

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To understand whether 15-year-old adolescents' reports of positive and negative interactions in their romantic relationships are associated with their depressive symptoms and externalizing behavior. Background To ensure that relationship education programs comprehensively address adolescent romantic development, there is a need for research focused on relationship dynamics during adolescence. In particular, there is a paucity of research on the associations between romantic relationship quality and adolescent adjustment.

METHOD Data were from adolescents in romantic relationships during the fourth wave of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 205). Adolescents reported the positive and negative interactions in their romantic relationships, depressive symptoms, and externalizing behavior.

RESULTS Negative interactions were positively associated with depressive symptoms and externalizing behavior. Positive interactions were not associated with adolescent adjustment but did moderate the associations between negative interactions and depressive symptoms. Specifically, and unexpectedly, positive interactions exacerbated the association between high (+1 SD) negative interactions and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION Adolescents in romantic relationships may be at risk for depressive symptoms and externalizing behavior when they experience negative interactions with romantic partners. They do not, however, appear to benefit from positive interactions. Implications A primary goal of adolescent-specific relationship education should be to minimize negative interactions between romantic partners.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescence; depressive symptoms; externalizing behavior; romantic relationship quality