“Children will Love Like You Do”: How Adolescents’ Relationships with Parents Predict the Quality of Best Friendships and Romantic Relations

Abstract

Despite valuable insights into the predictors of high-quality romantic relationships, research has yet to examine the mediating role of peer relationship characteristics in linking parent-adolescent relationship quality to romantic relationship quality. In two longitudinal studies, the present research tested whether adolescents’ relationship quality with best friends mediates the associations between relationship quality with mothers or fathers and relationship quality with romantic partners. In Study 1, 164 adolescents in early to middle adolescence (Mage = 13.76, SD = 0.87; 64% female; 91.5% Dutch ethnical background; 87.4% from intact families) who were in a romantic relationship participated. The sample of Study 2 consisted of 272 adolescents in late adolescence (Mage = 17.23, SD = 0.64; 56% female, 98% Dutch ethical background; 81% from intact families) in a romantic relationship. In both studies, adolescents completed questionnaires about their relationship with their parents at T₁, their best friends one year later (T₂), and their romantic relationship another year later (T₃). The results of Study 1 showed that perceived best friend-adolescent relationship quality at T₂ was related to romantic relationship quality at T₃. No other significant longitudinal associations were found. The results of Study 2 (n = 272, Mage = 17.23) showed that perceived relationship quality with mothers and fathers was related to perceived romantic relationship quality at T₃, and best friends’ relationship quality at T₂ partially mediated these associations. Overall, the results show that especially during late adolescence, when adolescents have a warm and supportive relationship with their parents, they are more likely to form good quality relationships with peers and, ultimately, intimate and committed romantic relationships.