Romantic Experience and Psychosocial Adjustment in Middle Adolescence, mgradam

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Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 38(1), 75–90, 2009
Copyright
#
Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1537-4416 print
=
1537-4424 online
DOI: 10.1080/15374410802575347
Romantic Experience and Psychosocial Adjustment
in Middle Adolescence
Wyndol Furman, Sabina Low, and Martin J. Ho
Department of Psychology, University of Denver
Concurrent and longitudinal relations between the amount of romantic experience and
psychosocial adjustment were examined in a 1-year study of a community based sample
of 200 tenth graders. Adolescents, parents, and friends completed measures of psycho-
social adjustment. The amount of romantic experience was associated with higher
reports of social acceptance, friendship competence, and romantic competence; at the
same time, romantic experience also was associated with greater substance use, more
delinquent behavior, and more frequent genital sexual behavior. The amount of roman-
tic experience predicted increased substance use and genital sexual behavior over a
1-year period, whereas social acceptance predicted increased romantic experience. These
relations with romantic experience were significant even when genital sexual behavior
and social acceptance were taken into account, underscoring the unique contribution
of romantic experiences.
Dating and the acquisition of romantic experience typi-
cally begin in adolescence in Western cultures. In early
adolescence, youth begin to interact more frequently
with other-gender peers, often in a group context
(Connolly, Craig, Goldberg, & Pepler, 2004). Eventually
some begin dating as part of the group activity or per-
haps as a dyad. By middle adolescence, most have begun
dating. For example, in one study of 15-year-olds, 88%
reported having started dating (Feiring, 1996). Many
middle adolescents also have boyfriends or girlfriends.
For example, 56% of girls and 49% of boys who are
15 years old report having had a ‘‘special’’ romantic
relationship in the last 18 months (Carver, Joyner, &
Udry, 2003). The estimates are even higher when more
casual romantic relationships are included (see Furman
& Hand, 2006). Although dating and romantic experi-
ences appear to be less formal and planned than in the
past, going places and doing things with a romantic
partner are very salient features of adolescents’ social
worlds. In fact, high school students report interacting
more frequently with their romantic partners than
they do with parents, siblings, or friends (Laursen &
Williams, 1997).
The existing literature and theory present a mixed
picture of the potential benefits and risks of dating or
romantic experience. On the one hand, adolescents com-
monly report that romantic partners provide support,
companionship, and intimacy (Feiring, 1996; Furman
& Buhrmester, 1992; Hand & Furman, 2007). Such
support could help adolescents cope with day-to-day
challenges and promote adjustment. Furthermore,
romantic experience is associated with social competence
with friends and in the general peer group (Neeman,
Hubbard, & Masten, 1995).
On the other hand, some research suggests that
romantic experiences may be linked to negative out-
comes. Adolescents have more negative interactions
with romantic partners than with close friends (Furman
Sabina Low is now at Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas,
and Martin Ho is now at User Centric, Chicago, Illinois. Preparation
of this article was supported by Grant 50106 from the National
Institute of Mental Health (W. Furman, P.I.) and Grant HD049080
from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(W. Furman, P.I.). Appreciation is expressed to the Project Star staff
for their contribution to the data collection and to Candice Feiring,
Brett Laursen, Jessica Winkles, Meredith Jones, Christine McDunn,
Pallavi Visvanathan, Hana Vujeva, Brennan Young, and the
Adolescent Reading Group for their suggestions regarding the article.
Thanks also go to the adolescents, families, and schools who are
participating in Project STAR.
Correspondence should be addressed to Wyndol Furman,
Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208.
E-mail: wfurman@nova.psy.du.edu
76
FURMAN, LOW, HO
& Shomaker, 2008; Kuttler & La Greca, 2004). Some
investigators have found that having a romantic
relationship is predictive of increases in depression
(Joyner & Udry, 2000). Having a romantic relationship
is also the strongest predictor of sexual intercourse and
its concomitant risks, such as pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases (Blum, Beuhring, & Rinehart,
2000). Sexual victimization is also common, with esti-
mates for girls ranging from 14% to 43% (Hickman,
Jaycox, & Aronoff, 2004). Moreover, more than 25% of
adolescents are victims of dating violence or aggression
(see Wolfe & Feiring, 2000). Dating is associated with
alcohol use, drug use, and adverse consequences of sub-
stance use (Aro & Taipale, 1987; Thomas & Hsiu,
1993). Finally, marked romantic experience, such as fre-
quent dating or having many partners, is associated with
poor academic performance, externalizing and internaliz-
ing symptoms, poor emotional health, and poor job
competence (Grinder, 1966; Neeman et al., 1995;
Zimmer-Gembeck, Siebenbruner, & Collins, 2001).
Given the centrality of romantic experiences in ado-
lescence, it is very important to understand the benefits
and risks associated with such experiences. Unfortu-
nately, the precise effects of romantic experience are
not very clear because the existing research is limited
in several important respects. With few exceptions
(e.g., Davies & Windle, 2000; Joyner & Udry, 2000;
Neeman et al., 1995), the existing work is cross-sectional
in nature. Any relation between romantic experiences
and adjustment could reflect the individual characteris-
tics of those who are dating and those who are not
dating, rather than the effects of dating per se. In other
words, adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment could
affect their romantic experience, rather than romantic
experiences affecting adjustment. Alternatively, a third
variable may be responsible for any associations.
In fact, it is unclear from past work whether romantic
experience per se is linked to psychosocial adjustment or
if the associations between romantic experience and psy-
chosocial adjustment are spurious. For example, roman-
tic experiences and sexual activity are related to each
other (Abma, Chandra, Mosher, Peterson, & Piccinino,
1997; Blum et al., 2000; Longmore, Manning, &
Giordano, 2001), as romantic relationships are the
primary context for adolescent sexuality (Miller &
Moore, 1990). Furthermore, sexual activity is associated
with delinquency and substance use (Elliott & Morse,
1989; Jessor & Jessor, 1977; Zabin, Hardy, Smith, &
Hirsch, 1986). Thus, it is possible that the links between
romantic experience and risky
=
problem behaviors are
spurious ones, which may stem from their common
association with sexual activity. Unfortunately, prior
research on romantic experience and adjustment has
not simultaneously examined the role of sexual
behavior, and prior research on sexual behavior and
other risky
=
problem behaviors has not examined the
role of romantic experience.
Similarly, because romantic experiences are rooted in
the peer social world, effects attributed to romantic
experience could reflect the effects of other aspects of
peer relations, such as peer social acceptance. For
example, adolescent popularity has been simultaneously
linked to friendship competence, substance use, and
minor delinquency (Allen, Porter, McFarland, Marsh,
& McElhaney, 2005)—a pattern similar to that found
for romantic experience. To date, research has not sim-
ultaneously examined romantic experience and peer
acceptance, which is required if we are to understand
the unique contributions they make to adolescent
psychosocial adjustment.
In addition, most of the existing literature has
focused on the difference between daters and nondaters,
but this distinction has both methodological and con-
ceptual limitations. Methodologically, the simple differ-
entiation between daters and nondaters has the inherent
limitation of being a dichotomous variable (MacCallum,
Zhang, Preacher, & Rucker, 2002). Specifically, adoles-
cents who have dated once or twice are treated as iden-
tical to those who have substantially more experience.
The dichotomization is particularly problematic in stu-
dies of middle adolescence, when the vast majority has
begun dating. Conceptually, the focus on dating pro-
vides a limited picture of the acquisition of romantic
experience in adolescence, which entails more than sim-
ply the onset of dating. Romantic experiences typically
occur in a fluid or soft-stage development sequence of
activities from mixed-gender interactions to dating to
having romantic relationships (Connolly et al., 2004).
It is important to examine the broad range of romantic
activities and experiences to understand the role that the
amount of romantic experience may play.
Moreover, most investigators have only examined a
few facets of adjustment in any particular study. As a
consequence, it is hard to determine precisely what is
and is not affected by romantic experience. In addition,
the variability of measures across studies has made it
difficult to obtain a coherent picture of the links
between psychosocial adjustment and romantic experi-
ence. Finally, much of the literature has relied on self-
report measures which, like any single method, have
their limitations.
THIS STUDY
The general purpose of our study was to further our
understanding of the benefits and risks of romantic
experience by addressing a number of the limitations
of prior research. In particular, our first specific aim
was to examine the longitudinal, as well as concurrent,
ROMANTIC EXPERIENCE AND ADJUSTMENT
77
links between romantic experience and psychosocial
adjustment while taking into account sexual activity.
Our second specific aim was to examine the links
between romantic experience and psychosocial adjust-
ment while taking into account social acceptance.
We used a continuous (vs. dichotomous) measure of
romantic experience and examined a range of indices
of psychosocial adjustment. We examined both indices
of positive psychosocial competence and indices of
risky
=
problem behavior. The selection of the specific
indices of positive psychosocial competence and risky
=
problem behaviors was guided by the idea that romantic
relationships and experiences are not isolated dyadic
phenomena in adolescence but instead are rooted in
the broader peer world. The nature of adolescent
romantic experiences is shaped by and shapes the peer
context (see Furman & Collins, 2008). Accordingly, we
selected indices that we expected to be linked to peer
experiences. Our indices of positive psychosocial
competence included friendship competence, romantic
competence, and social acceptance. Our indices of
risky
=
problem behavior included delinquent behavior,
substance use, and genital sexual activity.
Middle adolescents often meet potential romantic
partners through their friends. In fact, the number of
other-sex friends in one’s network is predictive of
whether one develops a romantic relationship subse-
quently (Connolly, Furman, & Konarski, 2000). Those
who are liked by many of their peers date more fre-
quently (Franzoi, Davis, & Vasquez-Suson, 1994), and
romantic experiences may serve as a means of promot-
ing one’s peer status (Brown, 1999; Roscoe, Diana, &
Brooks, 1987). Accordingly, we hypothesized that
bidirectional links would occur between the degree of
romantic experiences and our three indices of positive
psychosocial competence: social acceptance, friendship
competence, and romantic competence.
At the same time, we predicted that romantic experi-
ences would be associated with risky
=
problem beha-
viors, such as sexual intercourse, delinquency, and
substance use. Adolescents are thought to value and
engage in these risky
=
problem behaviors because they
serve as a means of acting older and obtaining status
in the peer group (Jessor & Jessor, 1977; Moffitt,
1993). Peer pressure to engage in risky
=
problem beha-
viors has been found to be associated with engaging
in such behaviors (Brown, Clasen, & Eicher, 1986).
Although dating or romantic experiences are not risky
or problem behaviors per se, they too are means of
seeming mature in the eyes of peers and acquiring status
in the peer group (Brown, 1999). Given the similarities
in some of the functions they serve in the peer world,
romantic experience and risky
=
problem behaviors were
hypothesized to be associated with and predictive of
each other.
We also hypothesized that the links between romantic
experience and psychosocial adjustment would occur,
even after taking into account genital sexual behavior.
Romantic experience and sexual activity are not ident-
ical. Half of middle adolescents have not had sexual
intercourse (Santelli, Lindberg, Abma, McNeely, &
Resnick, 2000), and romantic experiences have other
characteristics and serve other functions than just sexual
activity (Collins, 2003; Furman & Shaffer, 2003). The
functions that romantic experience may serve in the peer
social world were expected to occur, regardless of the
adolescents’ sexual behavior. Similarly, we expected that
romantic experience would be associated with and pre-
dict psychosocial adjustment, even after taking account
of social acceptance. Romantic relationships emerge
later in development and differ from other forms of peer
relationships (Feiring, 1996). Thus, the links romantic
experience has with psychosocial competence and risky
=
problem behaviors were expected to be distinct from
those of psychosocial acceptance.
METHOD
Participants
The participants were part of a longitudinal study inves-
tigating the role of relationships with parents, peers, and
romantic partners on adolescent psychosocial adjust-
ment. Two hundred 10th-grade high school students
(100 boys, 100 girls; M age
¼
15.27 years, range
¼
14–16
years old) were recruited from a diverse range of neigh-
borhoods and schools in a large Western metropolitan
area by distributing brochures and sending letters to fam-
ilies residing in various zip codes and to students enrolled
in various schools in ethnically diverse neighborhoods.
We were unable to determine the ascertainment rate
because we used brochures and because the letters were
sent to many families who did not have a 10th grader.
To ensure maximal response, we paid families $25 to hear
a description of the project in their home. Of the families
that heard the description, 85.5% expressed interest and
carried through with the Wave 1 assessment.
Designed to be relatively representative of the eth-
nicity of the United States, the sample consisted of
11.5% African American, 12.5% Hispanic, 1.5% Native
American, 1% Asian American, 4% biracial, and 69.5%
White non-Hispanics. With regard to family structure,
57.5% were residing with two biological or adoptive
parents, 11.5% were residing with a biological or adop-
tive parent and a stepparent or partner, and the remain-
ing 31% were residing with a single parent or relative.
The sample was of average intelligence (Wechsler Intel-
ligence Scale for Children–III vocabulary score M
¼
9.8,
SD
¼
2.44); 55.4% of mothers had a college degree, as
78
FURMAN, LOW, HO
would be expected from an ethnically representative
sample from this particular Metropolitan area.
Eighty-four percent of the participants in Wave 1 said
they had gone on dates. With regard to sexual orien-
tation, 94% said they were heterosexual
=
straight,
whereas the remaining 6% said they were bisexual,
gay, lesbian, or questioning. We chose to retain the sex-
ual minorities in the sample both to be inclusive and
because the majority of them reported that they were
either bisexual or questioning their sexual identity. Most
of the romantic experience items appeared to be appro-
priate for individuals of any sexual orientation. When
we repeated analyses limiting them to only heterosexual
youth, we obtained the same pattern of results.
To determine how representative the sample was, we
located comparable national norms of representative
samples for trait anxiety scores on the State-Trait Anxi-
ety Inventory (Spielberger, 1983), maternal report of
externalizing symptoms on the Child Behavior Checklist
(Achenbach, 1991), participant reports of internalizing
and externalizing symptoms on the Youth Self-Report,
and eight indices of substance use from the Monitoring
the Future survey (Johnston, O’Malley, & Bachman,
2002). The sample was more likely to have tried mari-
juana (54% vs. 40%, z
¼
2.23, p
<
.05). However, sample
scores did not differ significantly from the national
scores on the other 11 measures, including frequency
of marijuana usage.
TABLE 1
Proportion of Participants Endorsing Different Romantic Experiences
Item
%
Became romantically interested in boys
=
girls
94
Had a ‘‘crush’’ on someone
98
Felt at the time that you were ‘‘in love’’ with someone
you were dating
55
Hung around with both boys and girls
99
Went to movies, concerts, sports, activities, and places
with both boys and girls (but not as a date)
97
Met or went out with a group of boys and girls at night
91
Went to dances or parties where there were both boys and
girls
96
Had close friends of the opposite sex whom you were not
romantically involved with
92
Dated or went out with someone, but with a group
o friends
80
Dated or went out with someone, just the two of you
74
Dated or saw a few different people over the year
72
Dated or went out with one person on a fairly regular
basis for at least one month
76
Had a boy
=
girlfriend
82
Had a serious relationship
53
Had a committed relationship in which you were planning
to get engaged, married, or live together
9
Got engaged, married, or lived with someone
1
degree of romantic experience by asking participants
whether they had engaged in each of 16 different types
of romantic activities or experiences, from having a
romantic interest to having a serious committed
relationship. Because we were interested in assessing
the degree to which participants had experienced roman-
tic events that were normative at this age, we selected the
14 items that had been experienced by the majority of
the participants (see Table 1). The romantic experience
score was comprised of the proportion of the 14 items
endorsed as having experienced (Waves 1 and 2
as
¼
.86 and .86, respectively).
Procedure
For the purposes of our study, the data were drawn
from the first and second waves of yearly data collec-
tion. All 200 adolescents participated in both waves of
assessment. The mother figure and a close friend nomi-
nated by the participant also completed questionnaires
about the participant’s psychosocial competence and
risky
=
problem behaviors (Mothers: Wave 1 N
¼
200,
Wave 2 N
¼
191; Friends: Wave 1 N
¼
191, Wave 2
N
¼
162). Written informed consent or assent was
obtained from the participant, mother, friend, and
friends’ parents. Participants, mothers, and friends were
compensated financially for completing the question-
naires. The study was approved by the University of
Denver’s Institutional Review Board.
Social acceptance, friendship competence, and
romantic competence.
Participants, friends, and
mothers completed abbreviated forms of Harter’s (1988)
Adolescent Self-Perception Profile about the par-
ticipant. For the purposes of our study, we examined
three domains of the Adolescent Self-Perception Profile:
(a) social acceptance, (b) friendship competence, and (c)
romantic competence. The participants’, mothers’, and
friends’ reports served as three measures for each of
the three domains. The social acceptance domain is con-
cerned with competence in the overall peer group (e.g.,
‘‘Some teens are popular with others their age BUT
other teens are not very popular’’), whereas the friend-
ship competence domain focuses on skills in friendships
(e.g., ‘‘Some teens are able to make really close friends
BUT other teens find it hard to make really close
friends’’). Similarly, romantic competence is concerned
Measures
Measures were selected such that we typically had three
indices for each of the latent constructs of interest.
When appropriate, data from multiple reporters were
included.
Romantic experience.
The Dating History Ques-
tionnaire (Furman & Wehner, 1992a) assessed the
ROMANTIC EXPERIENCE AND ADJUSTMENT
79
with skills in romantic relationships (e.g., ‘‘Some teens
feel that people their age will be romantically attracted
to them BUT other teens feel worry about whether
people their age will be attracted to them’’). All
measures consisted of four or five items using a
4-point structured alternative format (M a
¼
.82,
range
¼
.69–.86).
and the participant’s report of other drug use were all
standardized and averaged to derive a measure of drug
use. Finally, the friend’s two-item report of the parti-
cipant’s problems arising from substance use, the parti-
cipant’s report of consequences, and the participant’s
report of control problems were all standardized and
averaged to derive a measure of problem usage.
Delinquency.
Participants, friends, and mothers
each completed delinquency measures. In particular,
participants completed the delinquency subscale of the
Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 1991). At each wave
of data collection, participants rated how often they
engaged in each of 11 behaviors using a 3-point scale
(Waves 1 and 2 as
¼
.72 and .66, respectively). Friends
and mothers completed the delinquency subscale of
the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991). Each
of the 13 items is rated on a 3-point scale and then
averaged to obtain delinquency scores for each wave
(Ma
¼
.78, range
¼
.75–.80). The delinquency syndrome
scales were used instead of the general externalizing
symptom scales, because we expected stronger relations
between romantic experience and delinquency than
externalizing symptoms in general.
Genital sexual behavior.
The frequencies of inter-
course, oral sex, and risky sex were each used as
measures of genital sexual behavior. Participants
completed the Sexual Attitudes and Behavior Survey
(Furman & Wehner, 1992b), which asked how
frequently they had engaged in intercourse and oral
sex in the last year, using 5-point scales. Participants
also completed the Scale of Sexual Risk-Taking
(Metzler, Noell, & Biglan, 1992), a 13-item scale asses-
sing sexual risk-taking and risk for AIDS. The internal
consistency of the scale at the two waves was satisfac-
tory (Wave 1 and 2 as
¼
.65 and .75, respectively). Ques-
tionnaires on sexual behavior were administered by
computer assisted self-interviewing techniques.
RESULTS
Substance use.
Participants completed the Drug
Involvement Scale for Adolescence (Eggert, Herting, &
Thompson, 1996). For the present purposes, we exam-
ined use of beer and wine, liquor, and other drugs
(marijuana, cocaine, opiate, depressants, tranquilizers,
hallucinogens, inhalants, stimulants, over-the-counter
drugs, club drugs) over the last 30 days. Frequency of
each substance use was scored on a 7-point scale ranging
from never to every day. In addition, they completed a
15-item measure assessing negative consequences arising
from substance use and a 6-item measure assessing diffi-
culties in controlling substance use (Ma of problem
measures
¼
.95, range
¼
.94–.97). Questionnaires on sub-
stance use were administered by computer assisted self-
interviewing techniques to increase the candor of
responses.
Friends were asked four questions about the parti-
cipant’s substance use as part of their version of the
Adolescent Self-Perception Profile. Each question was
asked using Harter’s (1988) structured alternative for-
mat. One item assessed the participant’s alcohol use,
one item assessed drug use, and two items assessed
problems resulting from substance use.
The friend’s report of the participant’s alcohol use,
the participant’s report of beer and wine drinking, and
the participant’s report of drinking liquor were all stan-
dardized and averaged to derive a measure of alcohol
use. Similarly the friend’s report of the participant’s
drug use, the participant’s report of marijuana use,
Descriptive Information and Plan of Analysis
Tables of the pattern of correlations, means, and stan-
dard deviations of the variables are available from the
first author. All variables were examined to determine
if the assumptions of univariate and multivariate
analyses were met (Behrens, 1997). All variables had
acceptable levels of skew and kurtosis. Outliers were
adjusted to fall 1.5 times the interquartile range below
the 25th percentile or above the 75th percentile (e.g.,
to the whiskers in Tukey’s, 1977, boxplot).
The primary analyses entailed a series of structural
equation models, which are depicted in Figures 1 to 7.
To ensure factorial invariance, paths between latent
variables and manifest variables were constrained to
be the same for corresponding variables at Wave 1
and Wave 2. To model shared method variance, covari-
ance paths between the specific variances of the corre-
sponding manifest variables at the two waves were
included (Kenny & Kashy, 1992). An average of 6.2%
of the data was missing; missing scores were estimated
using full information maximum likelihood estimates
as this approach yields less biased results than either
pairwise or listwise deletion (Schafer & Graham,
2002). Finally, goodness of fit for each model was
assessed by examining the comparative fit index (CFI)
and root mean square error of approximation
(RMSEA); according to conventional guidelines, a
CFI of .95 and an RMSEA of .08 or less are considered
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Romantic Experience and Psychosocial Adjustment in Middle Adolescence, mgradam

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