Romantic Relationship Experiences of Adolescents and Young Adults: The Role of Mothers' Relationship History.

Abstract

With most current studies focusing on the snapshot of family structure and offspring relationship outcomes, this study examined how children's exposure to mothers' cumulative relationship history affected the likelihood of their own romantic involvement in adolescence and relationship frequency from adolescence to young adulthood. Using a large, nationally representative dataset, this study found that the number of mothers' relationship transitions was positively associated with both the likelihood of romantic involvement among adolescent children and relationship frequency their children had from adolescence to young adulthood. Further, the association between mothers' relationship transitions and young adults' relationship frequency was mediated by mother-adolescent relationship closeness and young adults' attitude towards marriage and relationships. Finally, an interaction between mother-adolescent relationship closeness and adolescent gender on young adults' relationship frequency was found.