Katherine Little, Laura Widman, Deborah P. Welsh, Nancy Darling Predictors of Adolescent Romantic Relationship Trajectories: Break-up and Recovery Katherine Little, Laura Widman, Deborah P. Welsh, Nancy Darling

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank NICHD for funding this project (Grant # R01 HD39931, PI Deborah Welsh). We also extend our gratitude to the STARR lab graduate students, project coordinators, and undergraduate assistants.

Abstract Adolescent romantic relationships are ephemeral, yet they play an important developmental role in adolescence. This study used a sample of 198 adolescent dating couples assessed at two time points, and 162 of their closest friends, to examine: (1) the characteristics of adolescent dating relationships associated with break-up, and (2) the factors associated with depressive symptoms following breakup. Logistic regressions revealed that breakup was associated with younger age, more frequent sexual intercourse, males’ friends disliking their girlfriends, and female partners’ popularity. Among couples who broke up, males who used more ruminative coping strategies showed an increase in depression from time 1 to time 2, whereas females showed a decrease in depressive symptoms if they were dating a new partner at time 2. Results are discussed in terms of their support for developmental-contextual, interpersonal, and social exchange theories of adolescent romantic relationships, as well as the implications for coping with adolescent break-up.

Introduction The juxtaposition of the task of negotiating intimate romantic relationships in adolescence with the inherently ephemeral nature of these relationships raises two important questions: What are the qualities and contexts of adolescent romantic relationships that contribute to their frequent dissolution? When adolescents break up, why do some become depressed and others do not?

Relationship Dissolution: Quality & Context Individual Context: The desire and skill to maintain romantic relationships develops with age and experience (Brown, 1999). Couple Context: More sexually active couples have longer relationships (Rostosky et al., 2000). Peer Context: Close Friend’s Liking – The social network exerts powerful forces on romantic relationships (Brown, 1999). Social Acceptance – Greater popularity with peers exposes adolescents to more attractive alternative partners, which is linked to break-up (Felmlee, 2001; Thibaut & Kelley, 1959).

Depression and Break-up Recent breakup predicts a greater likelihood of depression, especially in females (Monroe et al., 1999). Ruminative coping styles may facilitate the development of depression following breakup, especially in females (Nolen–Hoeksema, 1994; Welsh, Grello, & Harper, 2003).

Sample The Study of Tennessee Adolescent Romantic Relationships (STARR) 209 adolescent dating couples1 Couples dating a minimum of 4 weeks (range: 4 weeks – 5 years; median: 11 months) Two assessments approximately 1 year apart (M = 14.8 months, SD = 4.6) Best friends of both partners for 162 couples 1Couples recruited from a previous study of 2201 high school students from 17 different high schools representing geographic (rural, urban, suburban) and economic diversity

Measures – Time 1 Relationship Commitment – (Levesque, 1993); ( = .81) Sexual Behaviors – Sexual Behavior Questionnaire (developed for the STARR study) Peer Liking of Partner (Peer Report) Social Acceptance – (Harter, 1988) The Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents ( = .82) (Peer Report) Depression – CES-D (Radloff, 1977) ( = .84) Ruminative Coping Style – Response Styles Questionnaire (Nolen-Hoeksema,1993) ( = .92)

Measures – Time 2 Current Dating Status – Dating original partner Dating a new partner Not dating Depression – CES-D (Radloff, 1977) ( = .90)

Results: What predicts break-up?1 Younger couples were more likely to break up ( = -.23, 2(1, N=198), = 5.69, p < .05). Couples that reported more frequent intercourse were less likely to break up ( = -0.05, 2(1, N=185) = 7.13, p < .001). Males whose friends liked the target girlfriends were less likely to break up ( = -0.32, 2(1, N=162) = 0.16, p < .05). There were no significant findings for females’ friends. Females who were more popular with their peers were more likely to break up ( = 0.53, 2(1, N=162) = 5.05, p < 0.05). There was no significant effect of popularity for males. 1Separate logistic regressions were conducted to predict couples’ dating status. Age was controlled in all of the analyses.

Discussion: What predicts break-up? Developmental Factors Age Interpersonal Factors Couples who have sex more often may feel more intimately connected and invested in the relationship. Contextual Factors Girls may be more likely to drop their friends to be with a boyfriend and his friends; thus, getting along with the male partner’s friends may be particularly important to the survival of the relationship. Social Exchange Factors Popular adolescents have many potential alternative partners, as well as access to a large group of non-romantic friends. Girls use close friends as well as romantic partners as sources of emotional support; therefore, a larger social circle gives girls a broader range of alternatives to the current relationship than perhaps boys experience.

Results: What predicts depression? Break-up predicted an increase in depression from time 1 to time 2 for females (B = 2.58, p < .05, R2 = .28, p < .001), but not for males. Among adolescents who broke up: Rumination: Ruminative coping styles predicted an increase in depression from time 1 to time 2 for males (See Table 1), but not for females. New Partner: Having a new partner at time 2 was associated with less depression in females (See Table 2), but not in males.

Discussion: What predicts depression? Among adolescents who broke up: Males’ increase in depressive symptoms was linked to the use of a ruminative coping style. This finding supports hypotheses suggesting that rumination is linked to increases in depression following break-up. However, we did not expect to identify this link only in males.   For females, having a new romantic relationship at time 2 seemed to be a protective factor against depression at time 2.

Change in males’ depression from ruminative coping style Table 1

Change in females’ depression from current dating status Table 2

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