Romantic Partner Selection and Relationship Quality in Adolescence: Do Parent or Early Peer Relationships Matter More? Joanna M. Chango, David E. Szwedo, Megan Schad, Erin M. Miga, & Joseph P. Allen University of Virginia This study was made possible by funding from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator (Grant # 9 R01 HD A11) Copies available online at Introduction Results Methods Discussion Research Questions Data obtained at three time points: Time 1: M age= 13.35, SD= 0.64 Time 2: M age= 16.35, SD= 0.87 Time 3: M age= 18.30, SD= 1.27 Median family income= $40,000 to $59,000 63% European-American, 27% African-American, and 10% mixed race or other race. Measures Time 1 (teen age 13): Adolescent behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with mothers and close peers were observed during an 8-minute disagreement task The Autonomy and Relatedness Coding System for Parent Interactions (Allen et al., 2000) and Peer Interactions (Allen et al., 2001) were used to code all observed interactions Example behaviors promoting autonomy: reasoned-based argument, confidence Example behaviors promoting relatedness: validation, engagement, collaboration Time 2 (teen age 16): Adolescent behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with close peers were re-observed during disagreement task Mother and close peer behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with teens were observed during disagreement task Time 3 (teen age 18): Adolescent behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with romantic partners were observed during disagreement task Romantic partner behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with teens were observed during disagreement task Teen report of antagonism within romantic relationship, criticism and punishment from romantic partner assessed using Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI; Furman & Buhrmester, 1985) Teen level of warmth and collaboration with romantic partner were observed during disagreement task 1)Do teen conflict negotiation patterns with parents and peers carryover to behaviors with subsequent romantic partners? 2)Do parent and peer conflict negotiation behaviors toward teens predict the type of romantic partner teens’ choose in terms of their partners’ conflict negotiation behaviors? 3)Are parent and peer conflict negotiation behaviors toward teens predictive of romantic relationship quality? Consistent with previous research (e.g., Connolly et al., 2000), results suggest that teen behaviors with close peers do a better job at directly predicting teen behaviors with romantic partners 5 years later. Results also imply, however, that parental relationships may have some indirect effect via close peer relationships on later teen romantic behavior. When focusing on how close others negotiate conflict with teens, mother and close peer behaviors are both related to romantic partner conflict negotiation behaviors 2 years later. However, close friend behaviors, but not mother behaviors during conflict predicted romantic relationship quality 2 years later. Overall, teens’ choice of romantic partners, how teens and their partners act towards each other in the face of conflict, and the quality of the relationship seem to depend more on the nature of adolescent friendships than parental relationships. Future research should continue focusing on teen friendships as important contexts for psychosocial and relational development 1a) Teen behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with close peers at 13 predict the same teen behaviors with romantic partners at 18. Teen behaviors with mothers at 13 do not predict teen behaviors with romantic partners at 18. Researchers have theorized that adolescent interaction patterns with parents and friends may be related to behavioral styles with their romantic partners, and several studies have documented these links (e.g., Collins & Sroufe, 1999; Connolly & Johnson, 1996; Furman et al., 2002; Furman & Shomaker, 2008). Some argue that because romantic experiences have roots in adolescent friendships, early peer experiences are more consistent with those in later romantic relationships (e.g.,Connolly et al., 2000; Furman, 1999). Additionally, the ability to establish autonomy while maintaining connection with close others in the face of conflict is viewed as a critical developmental task during adolescence, and has been predictive of various psychosocial outcomes (Allen et al., 1996; Allen et al., 2006; Kobak & Ferenz-Gillies, 1995; McElhaney & Allen, 2001). 2) Both mother and close peer behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with teens at 16 predict romantic partner behaviors toward teen at 18. Participants Longitudinal, multi-method data were obtained for 184 target adolescents (86 male, 98 female), their mothers and same-sex close friends Data were also collected for a subset of 96 adolescents and their opposite sex romantic partners 1b) Teen behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with mothers at 13 indirectly predict the same teen behaviors with romantic partners at 18 via teen behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with close peers at 16. 3) Close peer behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness with teens at 16 predict various indicators of romantic relationship quality at 18. Mother behaviors at 16 do not predict any of the indicators of relationship quality at 18. Using Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML), a series of hierarchical linear regressions revealed that: