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Supportive Romantic Relationships as Predictors of Resilience Against Early Adolescent Maternal Negativity

  • Empirical Research
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Abstract

Negativity in parent–child relationships during adolescence has been viewed as a risk factor for teens’ future personal and interpersonal adjustment. This study examined support from romantic partners and close friends during late adolescence as protective against maternal negativity experienced during early adolescence. A combination of observational, self-report, and peer-report measures were obtained from a community sample of 97 youth (58 % female), their mothers, closest friends, and romantic partners assessed at ages 13, 18, and 20. Moderating effects suggested a protective effect of romantic support against maternal negativity across a variety of psychosocial outcomes, including depressive symptoms, self-worth, social withdrawal, and externalizing behavior. Protective effects were found even after controlling for initial levels of outcome behavior and observed support from close friends throughout adolescence. Receiving support from a romantic partner may provide teens with new, positive ways of coping with adversity and help them avoid more serious distress that may be predicted from maternal negativity when such support is not available.

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Acknowledgments

This study and its write-up were supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Mental Health (9R01 HD058305-11A1 and R01-MH58066).

Authors’ Contributions

DS: conceived of the study, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. EH: participated in data interpretation and coordination of the study. JA: conceived of the study, participated in design and data interpretation, and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Miller Hall, 91 E. Grace St., MSC 7704, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    David E. Szwedo

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4400, USA

    David E. Szwedo, Elenda T. Hessel & Joseph P. Allen

Authors
  1. David E. Szwedo
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  2. Elenda T. Hessel
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  3. Joseph P. Allen
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Correspondence to David E. Szwedo.

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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Adolescents provided informed assent, and their parents provided informed consent before each assessment (until participants were old enough to provide informed consent). The same assent/consent procedures were used for mothers, best friends, and romantic partners.

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Szwedo, D.E., Hessel, E.T. & Allen, J.P. Supportive Romantic Relationships as Predictors of Resilience Against Early Adolescent Maternal Negativity. J Youth Adolescence 46, 454–465 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0507-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0507-1

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