Engaging in a romantic relationship is a key developmental task of adolescence and adolescents differ greatly in both the age at which they start dating and in how romantically active they are. These ...differences in romantic relationship experiences could be relevant for adolescents’ short- and long-term psychosocial adjustment. The present study describes the diversity of relationship experiences during adolescence and examines their connection to psychosocial adjustment in adolescence and young adulthood.
N
= 2457 adolescents (49.3% female) from a German representative longitudinal study provided information on their relationship experiences between the ages 10 and 20, as well as on their psychosocial adjustment. Data were collected via annual assessments starting in 2008 at age
M
= 16.50 years (
SD
= 0.88) through young adulthood (
M
= 25.46,
SD
= 0.87). Latent profile analysis identified three romantic involvement groups: late starters, moderate daters, and frequent changers, which were further compared to adolescents without any romantic experiences (continuous singles). Growth curve analyses indicated that continuous singles reported lower life satisfaction and higher loneliness than the moderate daters in adolescence and young adulthood. The continuous singles were also less satisfied with their life in young adulthood and felt more lonely in both adolescence and young adulthood compared to the late starters. The findings of the study suggest great variability in adolescents’ romantic relationship experiences and point toward the developmental significance of these experiences for short- and long-term well-being.
Most people experience their first romantic relationship during adolescence. However, there is also a substantial proportion of youth who remain single during this time. Delaying the transition into ...the first romantic relationship may be associated with a decrease in self-esteem which might recover or even increase after youth engage in their first romantic relationship. The current study examined self-esteem development surrounding the transition into the first romantic relationship over a period of 10 years in a sample of N = 1395 adolescents (Mage = 16.22 at T1; Mage = 26.22 at T11) from pairfam, a German representative panel study starting in 2008. Results from multilevel piecewise growth curve models showed that self-esteem did not change before beginning the first relationship, but slightly decreased thereafter. There were no moderating effects of age at first relationship, single satisfaction, or relationship satisfaction. However, both single and partnered youth who were more satisfied with their current relationship status reported higher self-esteem on average. Overall, the findings extend the current understanding of self-esteem development surrounding the transition into the first romantic relationship. Being single during late adolescence and emerging adulthood does not seem to pose a risk for youth’s self-esteem development.
Physical attractiveness is a highly valued trait in prospective romantic partners. However, it is unclear whether romantic partners' attractiveness is associated with commitment to the relationship. ...We report the results of a study of 565 male-female couples residing in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland. Employing dyadic analytical methods, we show that both men and women were more committed to their relationships if they perceived their partners as attractive. However, attractiveness also had a negative effect on commitment: People tended to feel less committed the more attractive their partners perceived themselves. Furthermore, although partners perceived themselves as similar in attractiveness to their partners, analyses revealed that similarity was not associated with commitment. Together, the findings demonstrate that attractiveness does matter for commitment to existing romantic relationships and emphasize the value of dyadic approaches to studying romantic relationships.
Loneliness is gaining attention globally as a public health issue because elevated loneliness increases one's risk for depression, compromised immunity, chronic illness, and mortality. Our objective ...is to zoom into how loneliness has historically evolved through midlife and investigate whether elevations in loneliness are confined to the United States or are similarly transpiring across peer European nations. We use harmonized data on loneliness from nationally representative longitudinal panel surveys from the United States and 13 European nations to directly quantify similarities and differences in historical change of midlife loneliness trajectories. Compared with any other European nation/region, overall levels of loneliness in the United States are consistently higher by a magnitude of 0.3-0.8
. Middle-aged adults in the United States, England, and Mediterranean Europe today report higher levels of loneliness than earlier born cohorts, whereas no historical changes (if not historically lower levels) were observed in Continental and Nordic Europe. Our discussion focuses on possible reasons for cross-national differences in midlife loneliness, including cultural factors, social and economic inequalities, and differences in social safety nets. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
In Western societies, singlehood has become increasingly normative over historical time. But whether singles are more satisfied nowadays remains unclear. In this preregistered cohort-sequential ...study, we analyzed data from 2,936 German participants ( M = 21.01 years, SD = 7.60 years) from different birth cohorts. Singlehood satisfaction and life satisfaction were reported annually at two different time periods (2008-2011 and 2018-2021). This design allowed us to compare earlier-born and later-born singles during adolescence (14-20 years), emerging adulthood (24-30 years), and established adulthood (34-40 years). Results from multilevel growth-curve models indicated that adolescent singles born in 2001 to 2003 (vs. 1991-1993) were more often single and more satisfied with singlehood. No cohort-related differences emerged among emerging and established adults. Younger age and lower neuroticism predicted higher satisfaction, regardless of birth cohort. The results highlight the importance of considering both societal and individual factors to understand singles’ satisfaction.
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