Brief Report: Expressive and Collaborative Relationship Processes in Observations of Adolescents' Interactions with Parents and Romantic Partners

• NCJ Number: 225645
• Journal: Journal of Adolescence Volume: 31 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 789-794
• Author(s): Stephanie D. Madsen; W. Andrew Collins
• Date Published: December 2008
• Length: 6 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01-MH40864
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined adolescents’ (n=64) interactions with family members at age 13 and with romantic partners at age 20-21, with attention to expressive (positive affect, negative affect, conflict) and collaborative processes (hostility, conflict resolution, balance).

Abstract

The study found that within each relationship context (i.e., familial or romantic), expressive and collaborative processes were strongly related. Expressive processes observed in family interactions at age 13 were not predictive of either expressive processes or collaborative processes in romantic couple interactions at age 20-21. Further, collaborative processes observed in these same family interactions did relate to collaborative processes observed in romantic couple interactions at age 20-21. Collaborative processes in the family context were also found to be predictors of expressive processes in romantic couple interactions. Thus, processes that emphasize affect or expressivity apparently have some links to adolescent developmental status and relationship patterns. Thirty males and 34 females from the Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation participated in this study. They completed a family assessment at age 13 and a romantic relationship assessment at age 20-21. At age 13, adolescents and their parents participated in a series of videotaped activities; and at age 20, participants and their romantic partners of 4 months or longer completed a videotaped observation of interactions. Couples first completed the Relationship Problem Inventory (Cox, 1991) in order to rate significant problems in their relationship. Couples then reviewed the inventories together and selected a problem to discuss for 10 minutes. Couples then discussed areas of agreement in their relationship for 4 minutes before completing a collaborative Ideal Couple Q-sort adapted from the one completed at age 13. Observations were coded at the time of the assessment (i.e., 7-8 years apart). Coders were blind to the identity of original participants within the romantic couples. 1 table and 27 references