Romantic relationships are central in adolescents' social life and emotional experiences. Such relationships have important implications for socio-emotional adjustment and health. Surprisingly little work, however, has been done on middle adolescents' romantic relationships. A behavioral systems conceptualization is proposed in which it is hypothesized that these relationships develop over time into adult-form love relationships which involve the attachment, caregiving, affiliative and sexual systems. Experiences in parent-child, peer, and romantic relationships are expected to lead to individual differences in romantic views. These romantic views entail both conscious styles and unconscious working models of romantic relationships. Views are expected to be strongly related to relational quality, but only moderately related to dating history. A core sample of 147 high school seniors complete questionnaires about romantic styles, dating history, sexual behavior, social skills, and values/norms; additionally, they are interviewed about their romantic working models. Study A examines the hypothesized pattern of relations among these different facets of romantic relationships. Study B examines the pattern of relations among romantic styles, working models, and patterns of interactions. Specifically, 84 members of the core sample and their romantic partners complete questionnaires, are interviewed about romantic working models, and are observed interacting in 3 situations. Finally, in Study C, 84 members of the core sample complete additional attachment interviews about their relationships with parents and friends so that we can examine the links among working models and styles for relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners. The findings should have important implications for understanding adolescents' romantic and sexual behavior and the mental and physical health problems associated with them.
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