Adolescent experiences - adult relationships

Carver et al (2003) by the age of 16 most adolescents have experiences a romantic relationship.

Allen and Land (1999) suggest that adolescent relationships are based on an internal model of relationships formed from their own parent-child relationship plus their experiences in current relationships.

Madsen (2001) tested the effects of dating behaviour in adolescence (15-17yrs) on the quality of young adult romantic relationships (20-21yrs). She found that moderate or low dating frequency predicted higher-quality young adult relationships, whereas heavy dating predicted poorer quality relationships. This suggests that some dating in adolescence is advantageous for adult relationship quality, but too much can be maladaptive.

- Roisman er al (2004) found no effect of romantic experiences at age 20 on romantic relationships at age 30, suggesting that there is no consistent evidence that adolescent romantic relationships are the 'building blocks' of adult relationships.

- Simpson et al conclude that the study does not suggest that '...an individual's past unalterably determines the future course of his/her relationships'.

- Not all adolescent romantic relationships are healthy for later adult relationships. Haynie (2003) found that romantic relationships increased some forms of deviance in adolescents by as much as 35%.

- Many of these studies were done in the US, on small, highly selective samples from one school or city, therefore they do not adequately represent the experiences of adolescents in other areas or cultures.