Social Withdrawal and Romantic Relationships: A Longitudinal Study in Early Adulthood
Barzeva, Stefania A; Richards, Jennifer S; Meeus, Wim H J; Oldehinkel, Albertine J
(2021) Journal of Youth and Adolescence, volume 50, issue 9, pp. 1766 - 1781
(Article)
Abstract
Involvement in romantic relationships is a salient developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood, and deviations from normative romantic development are linked to adverse outcomes. This study investigated to what extent social withdrawal contributed to deviations from normative romantic development, and vice versa, and the interplay between withdrawal and
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couples' relationship perceptions. The sample included 1710 young adults (55-61% female) from the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey cohort and their romantic partners. Data were collected across 4 waves, covering romantic relationships from ages 17 to 29 years. The results showed that higher withdrawal predicted a higher likelihood of romantic non-involvement by adulthood, consistently being single at subsequent waves, and entering one's first relationship when older. Withdrawal moderately decreased when youth entered their first relationship. Male's withdrawal in particular affected romantic relationship qualities and dynamics. These results provide new insights into the developmental sequelae of withdrawn young adults' romantic relationship development.
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Keywords: Dating, Early adulthood, Late adolescence, Longitudinal, Relationship quality, Romantic relationships, Social withdrawal, Social Psychology, Education, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
ISSN: 0047-2891
Publisher: Springer New York
Note: Funding Information: TRAILS has been financially supported by various grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), ZonMW, GB-MaGW, the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the European Science Foundation, the European Research Council, BBMRI-NL, and the participating universities. Funding Information: This research is part of the TRacking Adolescents? Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Participating centers of TRAILS include various departments of the University Medical Center and University of Groningen, the University of Utrecht, the Radboud Medical Center Nijmegen, and the Parnassia Bavo group, all in the Netherlands. We are grateful to everyone who participated in this research or worked on this project to and make it possible. S.A.B. conceived of the study, participated in its design, performed the statistical analyzes, participated in the interpretation of data, and drafted the manuscript; J.S.R. and W.H.J.M. participated in the design of the study, interpretation of the data, and provided feedback on all drafts of the manuscript; TO participated in the design and coordination of the study, interpretation of the data, and provided feedback on all drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. TRAILS has been financially supported by various grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), ZonMW, GB-MaGW, the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the European Science Foundation, the European Research Council, BBMRI-NL, and the participating universities. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).
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