EmotionalandBehavioralEffectsofRomanticRelationshipsinChineseAdolescents

摘要

Adolescents’romanticrelationshipshavebeenassociatedwithhigherlevelsofdepression,althoughtheirlinkswithexternalizingbehavioralproblemsremainunclear.Thepresentstudyexaminedtheimpactofadoles-centromanticrelationshipsondepressionandexternalizingbehaviorsinalargesampleof10,509Chinesesecondaryschoolstudents(ages12–19,54.5%female).Theresultsshowedthatromanticinvolvementinadolescence,espe-ciallyinearlyadolescence,wasassociatedwithmoredepressivesymptomsandbehaviorproblems.Breakupsinromanticrelationshipswereanimportantfactorinproduc-ingthenegativeemotionalandbehavioralconsequences.Romanticallyinvolvedgirlsexperiencedhigherlevelsofdepressivesymptoms,whileromanticallyinvolvedboyshadhigherlevelsofexternalizingbehaviors,comparedtotheirnon-datingpeers.Theresultsalsoindicatedthattheadverseimpactwasstrongerforthoseinvolvedinromanticrelationshipsatyoungerages.