This project explores the link between exposure to family instability through
maternal repartnering and the development of romantic interest and involvement during
childhood and preadolescence. Family instability has long reaching consequences,
especially for children's well being. Exposure to family instability spills over into
children's own lives, implying parents and children's lives are inextricably linked. The
actions, experiences, and choices of parents have a direct and measurable impact on
children's lives, as evidenced by links between parents' marital lives and their offspring's
romantic involvement during adolescence and adulthood.
The goal of this project is twofold. First, I build on this literature to explore how
maternal repartnering impacts children's romantic interest and involvement. Through
various mechanisms such as increased awareness of romance or searching for a substitute
in response to maternal repartnering, I expect children's romantic interest and involvement will be associated with maternal repartnering behaviors and attitudes. The
second goal of this project explores this association among a sample of children and
preadolescents, examining this link during an earlier period in the life course than
existing literature. This includes an in depth examination of the characteristics and
developmental trajectories of romantic interest and involvement beginning at age five and
extending to age 13.
Results suggest that romantic interest and involvement emerges during childhood
and is associated with both individual and family level characteristics. As children
mature, they report substantially greater levels of romantic involvement with each
passing year. Changes in romantic involvement correspond to greater social and pubertal
development. Children's reports of romantic interest did not show developmental change
but were relatively stable over time.
There were no consistent effects of maternal repartnering on children's romantic
involvement. Children's romantic interest was linked with maternal repartnering attitudes
however. Higher levels of maternal focus on repartnering were associated with greater
romantic interest among children, suggesting that maternal repartnering does impact
children's romantic trajectories. / text
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTEXAS/oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/6621 |
| Date | 22 October 2009 |
| Creators | Sullivan, Molly Kathleen |
| Source Sets | University of Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | electronic |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works. |
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