Preliminary Study on the Factors Influencing the Inception of Romantic Relationships in Adolescence

Abstract

Based on literature that highlighted the importance of romantic relationships in adolescence and highlighted that parental attachment may play a decisive role in the development of romantic relationships, the present research aim to analyse, using tests and questionnaires, possible factors affecting the emergence of romantic relationships in adolescence considering parental attachment, quality of romantic relationships and self-esteem as variables. The data refer to a sample consisting initially of 99 adolescents (43 females and 56 males) between the ages of 14 and 17 years, attending an Italian Professional Institute. Subsequently, the study focused on subjects who claimed to be currently in a loving relationship (N=29). SPSS statistical software version 20.0 was used in the data analysis. The main results showed that a large part of the sample has secure attachment (44.8%), detected by SAT. Some of the main characteristics of love relationships (conflict, friendship, help, safety, intimacy, sexuality and future perspective) were taken into consideration. From the present study, the correlation between attachment and loving relationship does not appear to be confirmed, as claimed so far in the emerging literature, although the limited number of subjects involved may have been a limitation.