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In the U.S., many young adults who have had contact with the criminal justice system are parents. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 1321), we drew on family demography and criminology literatures to examine the association between arrest, an understudied indicator of contact with the criminal justice system, and transitions to early parenthood. We also distinguished transitions to parenthood that occurred within four different relationship contexts: (1) single; (2) dating; (3) cohabiting; and (4) married. Using event history analyses, we found that young men and women who experienced an arrest transitioned to parenthood earlier than their counterparts who were not arrested. Further, men with an arrest, compared to men who had not been arrested, were more likely to report that they were dating the biological mother of their first child around the time of birth. In contrast, women with an arrest had an increased likelihood of having their first birth while cohabiting with the biological father. Our results highlighted the importance of a prior arrest for early transitions to parenthood and are relevant for understanding the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and the diverging destinies of children and parents. Furthermore, the gender differences in the results illustrated the importance of including women in criminal justice analyses and men in fertility analyses.

Social characteristics are prominent factors in mate selection, but they can be risk factors for intimate partner violence. Yet this prior work is limited, as it largely focuses on demographic differences (or asymmetries) between intimate partners. In addition to demographic asymmetries, we explored how differences in relational and risk behaviors were associated with intimate partner violence. Examining data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n=828), we found that either partner's unemployment is associated with greater frequency of relationship violence; and, compared to same-race relationships, interracial relationships reported higher frequency of partner violence. Additionally, relationships in which men compared to their partners were more invested, were characterized by lower frequency of violence. Relationships characterized by any asymmetry in power, compared to those in which both partners held equal power, were also characterized by higher frequency of partner violence. Relationships in which the female partner was more successful at school or work compared to the male partner were associated with more frequent partner violence. Lastly, compared to relationships in which neither partner engaged in antisocial/criminal activity, those in which the male, but not female partner was antisocial/criminal and those in which both partners engaged in antisocial/criminal activity reported greater frequency of partner violence. These findings highlighted the importance of considering different types of asymmetries for understanding intimate partner violence in young adult relationships.

We draw on structured data collected in connection with a three-generation study of a large heterogenous sample of youth to further develop our life-course perspective on parental incarceration and other family-based sources of risk and resilience. Whereas prior studies have inadequately accounted for negative dynamics connected to parents’ antisociality and problem behaviors, we uncover key differences in parents’ levels of crime, substance use, intimate partner violence, and parenting strategies among those with and without a history of incarceration. Looking beyond the parent-child dyad, we also identify important differences in youths’ broader social networks, including problem alcohol and drug use, mental health problems, criminal justice involvement, and employment difficulties among associates both within and outside the home. Despite this general portrait of greater social and economic disadvantage, we did find evidence of family-based strengths or resilience, as children exposed to parental incarceration fared better when they were also exposed to more positive parenting practices. We discuss the implications of approaches that similarly consider incarceration in tandem with other ongoing family experiences and dynamics for research, theorizing, and programmatic responses.

Although research suggests that parental incarceration is associated with intergenerational continuity in crime, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Using multi-population structural equation modeling and data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 1207), the current study explored specific experiences associated with labeling as well as internalizing labels, including experiencing corporal punishment during childhood, criminal arrests during adolescence, and identifying as a troublemaker/partier in young adulthood (measured with reflected appraisals), as potential mechanisms linking parental incarceration and young adults’ offending. We assessed whether this association differed by young adults’ level of emotional independence, that is, freedom from the need for parental approval. We found that parental incarceration indirectly influenced criminal activity particularly through identifying as a troublemaker/partier during young adulthood but only for those who sought parental approval. Overall, we concluded that high emotional independence, or not seeking parental approval, may be a protective factor that facilitates intergenerational discontinuities in crime.

OBJECTIVES: Researchers have found that experiencing parental incarceration has long-term consequences for children, such as involvement in crime. However, few studies have examined how parental incarceration influences identity endorsement. Given that self-identities influence behavior, including criminal activity, understanding precursors of self-identities is important. In the current paper, we examined the association between parental incarceration and young adult children’s deviant self-identities. Furthermore, we explored how this association varied by emotional independence, or freedom from the excessive need for parental approval. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 965), a sample of men and women interviewed five times over a period of ten years (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2011), and publically available official incarceration records. RESULTS: Parental incarceration was only positively associated with identifying as a troublemaker/partier during young adulthood among those with low emotional independence (i.e., for those with the need for parental approval) (p < 0.05). That is, parental incarceration was inconsequential for young adults’ identifying as troublemakers/partiers among those with high levels of emotional independence (i.e., for those with freedom from the need for parental approval). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the development of high emotional independence, or values, beliefs, and identities in contrast to and separate from an incarcerated parent, may attenuate the intergenerational transmission of antisocial identities and behavior.

Jealousy has been linked to a number of deleterious relationship outcomes; yet, few studies have explored the broader ways in which inducing jealousy affects intimate relationships. Using data on 892 young adults from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we examined correlates and consequences of intentionally inducing jealousy in intimate relationships. Results indicated that factors both unique and internal to the intimate dyad and those external to the intimate relationship were associated with jealousy-inducing behaviors. Dyadic factors included verbal conflict and partners’ infidelity and controlling behaviors, and external factors included childhood experiences of parent–child physical aggression. Jealousy induction was associated with experiences of partner violence after accounting for familial background, relationship, and sociodemographic factors. We discuss potential mechanisms linking these relationship dynamics and provide suggestions for future research.

Prior work examining intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adults often has emphasized familial characteristics, such as parent–child physical aggression (PCPA), and romantic relationship dynamics, such as jealousy and controlling behaviors, but has not considered these two domains simultaneously. Likewise, research examining how these two domains affect IPV perpetration over time for young adults is still limited. Using five waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study ( N = 950), the present study examined the influence of parent–child relationship factors and romantic relationship dynamics in both their main and interactive effects on IPV perpetration spanning adolescence through young adulthood. Results from random-effects analyses indicated that both familial and romantic relationship dynamics should be taken into account when predicting IPV perpetration. Importantly, these two domains interacted to produce cumulatively different risk for engaging in violence against a romantic partner. Individuals were more likely to perpetrate IPV when their romantic relationship was characterized by verbal aggression if they reported PCPA experiences.

The purpose of this study was to assess the longitudinal association between adolescent dating relationship dynamics (measures of intimacy and problem dynamics), mental health, and physical and/or sexual victimization by a dating partner. Gender-stratified analyses were conducted in a sample of 261 adolescents, ages 10-18 at baseline, interviewed in three annual waves (2013-2015) of the nationally representative Survey on Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV). Among male daters, better mental health at baseline was negatively associated with problem dynamics at follow-up, and aspects of problem dynamics at baseline predicted worse mental health at follow-up. However, unexpectedly, aspects of relationship intimacy at baseline were also negatively associated with mental health at follow-up. Male daters' victimization did not mediate longitudinal measures of mental health or of relationship dynamics, but did predict worse mental health at follow-up. Among female daters, we found no longitudinal associations between mental health and intimacy or problem relationship dynamics, in either direction. However, victimization mediated aspects of female daters' reported relationship dynamics. Dating violence prevention efforts should reflect that adolescent females reporting controlling behaviors and feelings of passionate love may be at increased risk for victimization. Positive youth development efforts should attend to the bidirectional associations of mental health and dating relationship dynamics over time, particularly for male adolescents.

Research has pointed to the salience of friendships in predicting abuse in adolescent dating relationships. The current study investigates the perpetration of physical and sexual dating abuse as predicted by individual conditional tolerance for dating abuse within the context of friendship behaviors and group characteristics. Using two waves of the National Survey of Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV; N = 511 daters aged 12-18 years), we investigated the effects of baseline individual tolerance for hitting dating partners and friendship factors on perpetration of physical and sexual adolescent dating abuse (ADA) approximately 1 year later. Conditional tolerance for hitting boyfriends was associated with ADA perpetration in the absence of friendship characteristics. Daters who reported recent discussion of a problem with friends and female daters who named all-girl friendship groups were more likely to report ADA perpetration. Close friendships are an avenue for preventing ADA perpetration. Furthermore, ADA perpetration may be reduced by targeting conditional tolerance for violence particularly against male partners within female friendship groups.

A common theme in the literature is that intimate partner violence (IPV) is not about anger, but about power and control. While prior research has focused either on respondents' or partners' controlling behaviors, an interactionist perspective provides the basis for hypothesizing that both respondent and partner control will be significantly related to the odds of reporting perpetration, and that emotional processes are a component of IPV experiences. Analyses rely on interview data collected at waves 1 and 5 of a longitudinal study (Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study; n = 928) of adolescent and young adult relationships. Results indicate that after controlling for traditional predictors, both respondent and partner control attempts and measures of anger (including a measure of relationship-based anger) contributed significantly to the odds of reporting perpetration. Further, these patterns did not differ by gender, indicating some areas of similarity in the relationship and emotional processes associated with variations in men and women's IPV reports.

Race–ethnic differences in a range of childbearing behaviors are long standing and well documented, and these differences are attenuated, but not eliminated, when accounting for socioeconomic disparities. The residual differences are often attributed to vague and untested variation across race–ethnic groups in knowledge, attitudes, psychological attributes, normative beliefs, and social context. We use the longitudinal Toledo Adolescent Relationship Study (TARS), which contains a rich set of such factors measured in early adolescence, to assess whether they contribute to race–ethnic differences in having a birth among men and women ages 17–24 (n = 1,042). Specifically, we test whether individual attitudes, religiosity, and academic behaviors; knowledge and behaviors regarding sex and dating; peer normative context; and parental communication about sex account for variation in the risk of an early birth. We find that socioeconomic factors attenuate but do not reduce differences between black, Hispanic, and white respondents. Including adolescent academic performance and early entry into sex reduces the black–white difference in the odds of early fertility to non-significance; however, beyond socioeconomic status, none of the broad range of factors further attenuate Hispanic–white differences, which remain large and statistically significant.

Most prior studies of intimate partner violence (IPV) have relied on traditional indices of parental support, control or coercion to examine the nature and extent of parental influences. We explore whether parents' more general attitudes toward their child's dating and associated parenting practices are related to the young adult child's report of IPV, once traditional parent factors and other covariates are introduced. Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (n = 625), results indicate that net of other parenting dimensions and controls for child and neighborhood characteristics, parental negativity about their child's dating and related parenting practices are associated with later reports of IPV during young adulthood. Parent-child conflict and the child's own feelings of gender mistrust were considered as potential mediators. Results suggest the importance of widening the lens beyond support, control and even the parents' own use of violence to include a range of parental attitudes and behaviors that influence the child's approach to and conduct within the romantic realm.

Recent research has demonstrated that gender mistrust influences the formation and stability of intimate relationships. However, several scholars have noted that individuals form unions despite high levels of mistrust. Yet limited work has examined the implications of gender mistrust for relationship quality, including the experience of intimate partner violence. Furthermore, few quantitative studies have examined correlates of gender mistrust, particularly with regard to identifying factors associated with changes in feelings of mistrust over time. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we examined longitudinal predictors of gender mistrust among a sample of adolescents and young adults ( n = 4,466 observations) and found that although parents’ gender mistrust and sociodemographic characteristics were associated with initial levels of mistrust, individuals’ own relationship experiences further shaped trajectories of gender mistrust over time. Additionally, feelings of mistrust corresponded to heightened odds of intimate partner violence perpetration, and this association appeared especially salient for women.

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has evolved over the last decade with increasing interest in how IPV develops over adolescence and young adulthood. Studies examining patterns of IPV over time have generally focused on victimization with less attention to temporal shifts in perpetration. While it is generally assumed that IPV peaks during young adulthood, this has not been empirically verified and documented. Additionally, prior longitudinal analyses of IPV have focused on identifying trajectories and their accompanying risk factors, with less attention given to within-individual change in IPV experiences across and within relationships. Drawing on five waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we examined patterns of the perpetration of IPV among a diverse sample of adolescents and young adults (51.1% female, 63.9% non-Hispanic White, 24.6% non-Hispanic Black, 11.5% Hispanic) spanning the ages of 13-28 years (N = 1,164). Analyses demonstrated that IPV patterns deviate from the age-crime curve, with women's involvement in IPV increasing, while their involvement in other antisocial behaviors is decreasing. Traditional behavioral and psychological risk factors (delinquency, alcohol and drug use, depressive symptoms) accounted for some of the age variation in IPV for men, but these factors did not account for age variation in IPV among women. Relationship risk factors including frequency of disagreements, trust, jealousy, validation and self-disclosure, however, accounted for substantial portions of the age-IPV perpetration relationship for male and female youth. These findings reinforce recent calls for prevention efforts that focus on the development and maintenance of healthy relationships.

The complexity of adolescents' dating and sexual lives is not easily operationalized with simple indicators of dating or sexual activity. While building on prior work that emphasizes the "risky" nature of adolescents' intimate relationships, we assess whether a variety of indicators reflecting the complexity of adolescents' relationships influence early adult well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, self-esteem, gainful activity, intimate partner violence, and relationship quality). Our analysis of longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study showed that the number of adolescent dating and sexual partners does not uniformly influence indicators of young adult well-being, which is at odds with a risk framework. The number of dating partners with whom the individual was sexually active, and not the number of "casual" sex partners, increased the odds of intimate partner violence during young adulthood. Relationship churning and sexual nonexclusivity during adolescence were associated with lower relationship quality during young adulthood. Sexual nonexclusivity during adolescence influenced self-reports of depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem among young adults. Future research should develop more nuanced conceptualizations of adolescent dating and sexual relationships and integrate adolescent dating and sexual experiences into research on early adult well-being. Language: en

Whether moving back home after a period of economic independence or having never moved out, the share of emerging adults living with parents is increasing. Yet little is known about the associations of coresidence patterns and rationales for coresidence for emerging adult well-being. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study ( n = 891), we analyzed depressive symptoms among emerging adults who (a) never left the parental home, (b) returned to the parental home, and (c) were not currently living with a parent. About one fifth of emerging adults had boomeranged or moved back in with their parents. Among those living with parents, nearly two fifths had boomeranged or returned to their parental home and they reported significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. Among coresident emerging adults, both intrinsic and utilitarian motivations (i.e., enjoy living with parents and employment problems) partially mediated the association between coresidence and depressive symptoms. Returning to the parental home was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms only among emerging adults experiencing employment problems. These findings are especially relevant because the recession hit emerging adults particularly hard. The ability to distinguish boomerang emerging adults and emerging adults who have never left home provides a more nuanced understanding of parental coresidence during this phase of the life course.

Recent research demonstrates that perceptions of gender mistrust are implicated in lower marriage rates among low-income populations. Yet few quantitative studies have examined the factors predicting gender mistrust during adolescence and whether it influences the quality of subsequent nonmarital romantic relationships. Analysis of three waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 1,106) indicates that in addition to neighborhood poverty rates, parents' own gender mistrust and parent-child relationship quality are related to adolescents' gender mistrust, suggesting that parents play an important role in influencing adolescents' developing feelings of gender mistrust. Perceptions of gender mistrust are not related to whether adolescents are involved in dating relationships, but are linked to higher levels of jealousy and verbal conflict in adolescents' subsequent romantic relationships, albeit only for male adolescents.

We know more about parent and peer influences than about the ways in which specific qualities of adolescent romantic relationships may influence sexual decision-making. Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, we focus on communication processes and emotional feelings, as well as more basic contours of adolescent romantic relationships, including power and influence dynamics. Controlling for traditional predictors and duration of the relationship, results suggest that subjectively experienced relationship qualities matter for understanding teens' sexual behavior choices. Further, findings indicate a similar effect of most relationship qualities on male and female reports of sexual behavior. However, influence and power dynamics within the relationship were not related to the likelihood that boys reported sexual intercourse in a focal relationship. In contrast, girls who perceived a more favorable power balance were less likely to report sexual intercourse than their female counterparts who perceived a less favorable power balance. Recognizing that the results capture reciprocal influence processes, longitudinal and qualitative data are used to further explore the complex nature of these associations.

Studies of teen dating violence have focused heavily on family and peer influences, but little research has been conducted on the relationship contexts within which violence occurs. The present study explores specific features of adolescent romantic relationships associated with the perpetration of physical violence. Relying on personal interviews with a sample of 956 adolescents, results indicate that respondents who self-report violence perpetration are significantly more likely than their non-violent counterparts to report higher levels of other problematic relationship dynamics and behaviors such as jealousy, verbal conflict, and cheating. However, we find no significant differences in levels of love, intimate self-disclosure, or perceived partner caring, and violent relationships are, on average, characterized by longer duration, more frequent contact, sexual intimacy and higher scores on the provision and receipt of instrumental support. Finally, violence is associated with the perception of a relatively less favorable power balance, particularly among male respondents. These findings complicate traditional views of the dynamics within violent relationships, add to our understanding of risk factors, and may also shed light on why some adolescents remain in physically abusive relationships.

Hirschi argued that delinquent youth tend to form relatively “cold and brittle” relationships with peers, depicting these youths as deficient in their attachments to others. The current analysis explores connections between delinquency and the character of adolescent romantic ties, drawing primarily on the first wave of the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, and focusing on 957 teens with dating experience. We examine multiple relationship qualities/dynamics in order to explore both the “cold” and “brittle” dimensions of Hirschi’s hypothesis. Regarding the “cold” assumption, results suggest that delinquency is not related to perceived importance of the romantic relationship, level of intimate self-disclosure or feelings of romantic love, and more delinquent youth actually report more frequent contact with their romantic partners. Analyses focused on two dimensions tapping the “brittle” description indicate that while durations of a focal relationship do not differ according to level of respondent delinquency, more delinquent youths report higher levels of verbal conflict.

Parenting practices are among the strongest predictors of juvenile delinquency identified in the criminological literature and have been intimately connected to adult offending.The prior research connecting early parenting experiences with crime, however, has not systematically assessed the long-term effect of parenting style on adult criminal offending, or the processes linking the parenting and crime, by race. In this study, we explore the extent to which experiences associated with minority status influence the nature of the relationship between parenting style and adult criminal offending as well as the mediating processes of adult social bonds and emotional self-concepts involved. Using two waves of a contemporary longitudinal sample of youth, the results show that parenting styles lacking in demandingness show significant and positive effects on adult criminal offending among the Black sample, but parenting styles exert little long-term effects on criminal offending among the White sample. Furthermore, negative emotionality, namely anger, significantly mediates the relationship between uninvolved parenting and adult criminality among the Black and White samples, but depression is also a mediator for the Whites. In this sample, adult social bonds do not mediate the relationship between parenting during childhood and adult criminality.

Prior research has documented general associations between dating and delinquency, but little is known about the specific ways in which heterosexual experiences influence levels of delinquency involvement and substance use. In the current study, we hypothesize that an adolescent’s level of effort and involvement in heterosexual relationships play a significant role in forming the types of friendship networks and views of self that influence the likelihood of delinquency involvement and substance use. Analyses based on a longitudinal sample of adolescent youth (n=1,090) show that high levels of dating effort and involvement with multiple partners significantly increases unstructured and delinquent peer contacts, and influences self-views as troublemaker. These broader peer contexts and related self-views, in turn, mediate the path between dating relationships, self-reported delinquency, and substance use. Findings also document moderation effects: among those youths who have developed a troublemaker identity and who associate with delinquent peers, dating heightens the risk for delinquent involvement. In contrast, among those individuals who have largely rejected the troublemaker identity and who do not associate with delinquent friends, dating relationships may confer a neutral or even protective benefit. The analyses further explore the role of gender and the delinquency of the romantic partner.

Spirituality is a component of many drug and alcohol treatment strategies, and faith-based programming is also common within prison settings. Yet research on religiosity—crime linkages has often relied on general youth or adult samples or has included a short time line for gauging positive effects. Life-course researchers focused on serious delinquents, in turn, have often emphasized other factors associated with long-term crime patterns, such as marital attachment and job stability, or the criminality of the individual's social ties. This study draws on quantitative and qualitative data derived from a long-term follow-up of a sample of serious adolescent male and female offenders to explore the role of spirituality and religious participation as influences on adult patterns of criminal involvement (N= 152). The respondents were first interviewed as adolescents, in 1982, and again as adults in 1995 and 2003. Results of longitudinal analyses that take into account self-report and incarceration histories at both time periods do not reveal a significant association between these indices of religiosity and the likelihood of evidencing a pattern of sustained desistance. Our analysis of indepth life-history interviews conducted with most respondents over these two time periods and 41 additional interviews focused specifically on spirituality and religion are used to explore in more detail the promise and challenges associated with relying on religiosity as a catalyst for sustained behavior change.

Cohabitation has become part of the pathway toward marriage. Prior work focuses on expectations to marry and has ignored cohabitation. Although most young adults are not replacing marriage with cohabitation, but instead cohabit and then marry, it is important to study adolescents’ joint expectations to cohabit as well as marry. Our analyses draw on recently collected data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 1,293). We find that adolescents are less certain about their cohabitation than marriage expectations. Dating and sexual experience, traditional values, prosocial activities, and parents influence adolescents’ union formation expectations. The findings from this work suggest that adolescents are including cohabitation as part of their future life trajectories but rarely envision cohabitation as substituting for marriage.

Dating relationships become increasingly important as individuals transition into young adulthood. Such relationships often involve positive and negative interactions, which may have implications for psychological well-being. We analyzed data from the fourth interview of the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS), when respondents were ages 18- 24, to assess the influence of relationship dynamics on depressive symptoms. Using ordinary least squares regression models, among individuals currently dating (n=422), we first examined the influence of a sense of mattering as well as strained dynamics of dating relationships (e.g., communication awkwardness, conflict, sexual non-exclusivity and influence attempts) as correlates of depressive symptoms. Next, we tested whether these correlates differed for male and female daters. We found that a sense of mattering, communication awkwardness, conflict, sexual non-exclusivity and influence attempts were significant correlates of depressive symptoms. However, gender interactions were not significant suggesting that these same correlates were associated with depressive symptoms in a similar manner for both men and women in dating relationships. We also found that a sense of mattering mediated the relationship between conflict and depressive symptoms, and partially mediated the relationship between communication awkwardness, partner sexually non-exclusivity and partner influence dynamics and depressive symptoms. This suggested that feeling that one matters is important in dating relationships and may reduce the risk of depressive symptoms.

More than one half of sexually active teens have had sexual partners they are not dating. However, remarkably little is known about the nature of these sexual relationships. Using survey and qualitative data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study the authors contrast the qualities of dating sexual relationships and sexual relationships that occur out-side the dating context. They find that adolescents having sex outside of the dating context are choosing partners who are friends or ex-girlfriends and/or boyfriends. Moreover, one third of these nondating sexual partnerships are associated with hopes or expectations that the relationship will lead to more conventional dating relationships. Boys and girls who experience sex outside of conventional dating relationships often share similar orientations toward their relationship. Results suggest that a more nuanced view is key to understanding adolescent sexual behavior.

While much attention has centered on the role of peer influence for adolescent delinquency, that of romantic partners has been largely neglected. Recent analyses of romantic relationships during the adolescent period suggest their general importance to development; research highlights that adolescents themselves frequently describe these relations as relatively intimate and influential. Thus, while classic theoretical frameworks such as differential association theory have often centered on the role of peers, their general logic is consistent with the notion that such relationships may indeed “matter” as a source of influence on delinquent behavior. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health are well suited for examining the role of romantic partners because they allow for the identification and recreation of friendship networks and connections between romantic partners. Forging these interconnections, we link friends' and romantic partners' delinquency to respondents' own delinquency, enabling an examination of romantic partner influence on adolescent delinquency, beyond that influence associated with friends' behaviors. Drawing on theories of gender stratification, we also explore whether the effect of romantic partners' behavior is conditioned by gender. Findings reveal that romantic partners' delinquency exerts a unique effect on respondents' delinquency net of friends' delinquency and control variables. Additionally, romantic partners' deviance has a stronger effect on female involvement in minor deviance. We find no evidence, however, that gender conditions the strength of romantic partners' more serious delinquency on respondents' serious delinquency.

We examine whether self-esteem and depressive symptoms influence sexual onset when important controls such as age, dating, race, and income are examined. Analyses are based on the first two waves of the restricted-use sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We examine adolescents who reported at wave 1 that they had not had sexual intercourse. Using logistic regression models run separately for males and for females, we find that depressive symptoms, when entered simultaneously, exert a greater effect than self-esteem on sexual onset. Depressive symptoms have less effect on sexual onset for African-American girls than for white girls. Higher self-esteem is associated with greater likelihood of sexual debut at older ages for boys. Our findings suggest that although many positive benefits of self-esteem have been suggested, the conceptual and empirical link between depressive symptoms and adolescent sexual onset may be more crucial.

▪ Abstract In this chapter I review recent research on the nature, meaning, and impact of extrafamilial relationships during adolescence. I use findings of quantitative and qualitative studies to develop the idea that close friendships, wider networks of peers, and romantic relationships have distinct meanings and significance for the developing adolescent. Sociologists' work inevitably focuses attention on the ways in which the adolescent's social addresses and locations (gender, race, social class) influence many aspects of these early relationships. The review also highlights some limitations of the dominant perspective on adolescent relationships, attachment theory, and provides suggestions for future research (particularly in the area of romantic relationships, where the literature is growing but still relatively undeveloped).

We analyze life history narratives and structured data derived from a study of serious female and male offenders interviewed when incarcerated as adolescents and followed up thirteen years later. We highlight shifts in the influence of friends and in the nature of friendship choices, and suggest how these changes can facilitate desistance processes. While key events (e.g., marriage) are important to an understanding of such changes, shifts in the actor's perspective and identity are also integral to the process of making successful network realignments. Similarities and differences by gender in the effects of adult social influence processes are also examined.

Most theoretical treatments of intimate partner violence (IPV) focus on individual-level processes. Some researchers have attempted to situate IPV within the larger neighborhood context, but few studies have sought to link structural- and individual-level factors. The current analyses fill a research gap by examining the role of anger and depression in the association between neighborhood disadvantage and IPV. Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) and the 2000 Census, this study focuses on structural indicators of disadvantage as well as subjective disorder, and highlights the complex associations between neighborhood conditions, emotional distress, and IPV. Findings indicate that anger and depressive symptoms partially explain the association between neighborhood disadvantage and IPV. Additionally, the associations between disadvantage, disorder, and IPV depend on respondent’s level of anger. Results underscore the need to further consider the role of neighborhood factors (both objective and subjective) in relation to IPV, and also suggest the utility of introducing individual-level emotional measures to assess the circumstances under which neighborhoods matter most.

The prevalence of casual sexual activity among teens and emerging adults has led to much public attention. Yet limited research has investigated whether the number of casual sexual partners per year changes as heterosexual men and women transition from adolescence into emerging adulthood. We considered the influence of social context and life course factors on the number of casual sex partners. We examined four waves of interviews from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) and used negative binomial growth curve models to investigate patterns of change in the number of casual sex partners (N = 1,196) ages 15 to 22. Men and women both reported increases in the number of casual sex partners over time and did not differ from each other in the rate of change over time. In all, 40% of respondents reported a recent casual sex partner at age 22. Number of prior dating relationships, education status, substance use, and perceptions of peer sexual behavior significantly influenced the number of casual sex partners. Emerging adults who did not complete high school, compared to those enrolled in four-year degree programs, reported significantly more partners. The findings contribute to research on intimate relationships and provide insights for programs targeting emerging adults.

Most young adults have had some casual sex experience. However, it is important to understand the motivations for such behavior. We investigate the motivations for and consequences of casual sex using a life-course lens. We use the Toledo Adolescent Relationship Study to examine a diverse sample of young adults with recent casual sexual experiences ( N = 239). We draw on a subset of in-depth relationship narratives ( N = 44) to provide a more nuanced understanding of the motivations for and consequences of casual sex. We find that sexual pleasure and substance use remain the most common reasons for participating in casual sex. However, young adults report motives that are associated with the young adult stage in the life course including too busy for commitment, geographic mobility, and feeling too young to be tied down. These findings can inform service providers who work with the young adult population.

Adolescents interact with a variety of peers, in addition to the close friends generally emphasized in the literature. In this article I contrast the style and content of the communications directed to close friends and other youths characterized by varying degress of "nearness and remoteness." The handwritten messages found in high school yearbooks are analyzed and used to illustrate some of the distinct features of each type of discourse. This analysis suggests that while intimate relations undoubtedly play a key role in development, adolescents also learn a great deal about themselves and the social world they must navigate throught their interactions with the wider circle of friends.

The idea of a sexual double standard emphasizes that men have more sexual freedom, whereas women are subject to social sanctions for the same behaviors. This research uses a sample of adolescent women to examine the social consequences of reporting a greater number of sex partners. The research explores whether there are broader social costs and feelings of low self-worth associated with a high number of sex partners, and also focuses on characteristics of the adolescents' close friends. The analyses of quantitative data (n = 600) provide support for the emphasis on the adolescents' immediate network of friends: Friends' attitudes and behaviors were significant predictors of respondents' own sexual experiences, while those reporting a higher number of sex partners did not report a lack of popularity, desire for more friends, or lower self-esteem. In-depth relationship history narratives collected from a subset of respondents (n = 46) provide additional context. Women often recognized the existence of a double standard on a societal or school level, but support or acceptance provided by the more immediate network of similarly situated friends serves as a buffer against such negative attributions. The findings suggest that programs targeting sexual behaviors should focus on how peer norms influence girls' sexual choices.

I don't talk to her. Because I'm mad at her. She smokes something she shouldn't be smoking. I call her a crackhead all the time. I should be living with her right now if she wasn't smoking crack. The preceding chapters document that the original OLS respondents had numerous problems as adolescents, and our follow-ups indicate that many continued to have legal difficulties well into their adult years. Chapter Five details results indicating that many of their children had been victimized and also exhibited problem behaviors, with the severity of delinquency, drug/alcohol use, and violence often exceeding the types and levels we observe in a random sample of adolescents. We found a significant effect of the parents' substance-abuse problems on the variations in the children's self-reported delinquency, providing a general indication of intergenerational transmission processes at work within these families. In this chapter we describe in more detail the family and individual-level processes that we believe are important to a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying these cross-generational continuities, and also provide a framework for understanding variability in child outcomes. We outline a symbolic interactionist approach that can be conceptualized as a revised social learning perspective on intergenerational transmission, and illustrate with material drawn from the narratives of the children and adults who have participated in the OLS study.

CONTEXT: Research on adolescent condom use often focuses on the infl uence of parents, peers and environmental factors. Although most sexually active teenagers have sex within dating relationships, little is known about associations between the characteristics of these relationships and consistency of condom use. METHODS: Data on 269 participants in Wave 1 of the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study who had had sex in their current or most recent dating relationship were analyzed in logistic regression models to examine how positive and negative relationship qualities are associated with consistent condom use. RESULTS: Among teenagers who had had sex with their dating partner, both negative relationship dynamics (confl ict, partner’s controlling behavior, mistrust, jealousy, perceived partner inferiority) and positive qualities (love, enmeshment, salience, self-disclosure) were negatively associated with consistent condom use (odds ratios, 0.7–0.9). Asymmetries in partners’ age, race and school were not related to consistent condom use. Relationship duration was negatively associated with consistency (0.98–0.99), but the association was explained by feelings of relationship importance. Findings for relationship qualities were similar for males and females, with the exception of confl ict, which was positively associated with consistent condom use among females but not males. CONCLUSIONS: Although the relationship processes associated with consistent condom use are complex, such processes appeared to be more strongly associated with consistent condom use than were social and demographic characteristics. Programs should focus on relationship qualities and dynamics, recognizing that both negative and positive relationship features are associated with consistent condom use.

We investigate the social and behavioral characteristics of male adolescents who self-identify as players, focusing particularly on Anderson's claim that this social role is inextricably linked with poverty and minority status. Results indicate that African American respondents, those affiliated with liberal peers and young men who initially report a relatively high number of sexual partners are more likely to resonate with this identity label. Nevertheless, analyses reveal that a number of players within the sample are not disadvantaged African American youth, and there is considerable variability in their attitude and behavior profiles. Findings based on longitudinal analyses indicate that the player identity is a significant predictor of later variations in self-reported sexual behavior, net of traditional predictors, including prior behavior. Yet results of in-depth interviews conducted with a subset of the respondents complicate these quantitative findings, highlighting that young men's perceptions of this identity are not as uniformly positive as Anderson's depiction might lead us to expect.

An analytic sample of 1593 females who first had intercourse during adolescence (prior to age 18) was drawn from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression techniques were used to model the effects of sexual partners characteristics and relationship type on contraceptive use at first intercourse and contraceptive method selected at first intercourse. Approximately 31% of respondents used no contraceptive method at first intercourse. Roughly half (52%) of adolescents who had just met their sexual partner used no method compared with 24% of those who were going steady. Whereas 75% of teenagers who practiced contraception at first intercourse used a condom 17% relied on the pill. In multivariate models net of other variables adolescents who had just met their partner had 66% lower odds than those who were going steady of practicing contraception at first intercourse. Individual-level factors that influenced contraceptive use at first intercourse were age at first intercourse race or ethnicity family type parents education grades in school and receipt of birth control education prior to first intercourse. Differences between respondents and their partner in age and race or ethnicity mostly were not significantly related to method use at first intercourse. One exception was that adolescents who first had sex with a man 6 or more years older had reduced odds of practicing contraception. Type of relationship was significantly associated with method selection only among adolescents who were just friends with their first partner who had higher odds of using “other” methods rather than the condom. Variables associated with pill use rather than condom use were age at first sex race family type and mother’s education and school grades. Further efforts to understand contraceptive choice among adolescents should focus on relationship features. Research on the decision-making process surrounding contraceptive use may benefit from treating this as a partner decision and not just as a decision made by one member of the couple. Further research examining the qualities of the relationship may provide important clues for understanding adolescent contraceptive choice. (authors)

While differing in etiological emphasis, a variety of theoretical perspectives seem to coalesce around the notion that youthful friendships are "good" for development. Sociometric studies have documented that low status youth are at risk for a variety of negative outcomes, but there has been little longitudinal research focused on the qualities of youths' relations with peers. We conducted interviews focusing on adolescents' relations with their friends with 942 adolescents in 1982. In 1992, follow-up interviews (N = 620) allowed us to determine whether level of intimacy with friends was associated with a range of adult outcomes, once sociodemographic characteristics and level of family intimacy were taken into account. Adolescents who reported greater levels of intimacy with friends do not, as adults, indicate that they have significantly higher self-esteem, better relations with their parents, or increased marital satisfaction. In addition, the level of intimacy is not related to adult reports of psychological distress, involvement in criminal activity, or use of violence against one's spouse. In contrast, sociodemographic characteristics and level of attachment to parents are related to many of these kinds of outcomes. We also discuss implications for attachment or relational perspectives on youthful friendship. Language: en

This study examines how perceptions of rewards and regrets of childbearing vary with race gender materialism marital status and fertility circumstances. Data were obtained from a subsample of 412 White and Black persons who were tracked as adolescents aged 12-19 years in 1982 until adulthood in 1992-93. A varimax rotation was used to provide two strong factors of childbearing (rewards and regrets) from 25 items. Regrets or rewards are examined within a demographic competing wants and marital fertility context. The percentage distribution of regrets or rewards did not vary by age. More Blacks expressed regrets and more Whites expressed rewards. 28% of males and 16% of females were indifferent and 26% of females and 14% of males were ambivalent. Regrets were associated with the most education and rewards with the least education. Parents who scored low on the materialism scale were more likely to perceive rewards (32% vs. 27%) or to be indifferent (25% vs. 15%). Parents who emphasized money were more likely to perceive regrets (35% vs. 24%). Married parents found parenting more rewarding. Single parents were twice as likely as married parents to perceive parenting as regretful. Cohabiting parents were similar to single parents concerning rewards and ranked between single and married parents concerning regrets. Parents with three or more children were more likely to express ambivalence and regrets. Parents who had mixed or negative feelings about the pregnancies were three times more likely to express regrets. Women tended to view childbearing as rewarding but gender and marital status did not predict regrets. The findings demonstrate that regrets and rewards are not opposites. Regrets were associated with first pregnancy feelings materialism race and number of children. Findings suggest that ambivalence may be partially a response to competition between family and monetary interests.

Major delinquency theories differ significantly in the ways in which they have portrayed the friendship patterns of male and, more recently, female delinquents. Psychological studies and control th...

The popular notion that the women's movement is responsible for an increase in female crime oversimplifies the concept of liberation. Distinctions are made between women's traditionality or nontraditionality in various roles—societal, familial or interpersonal, and within the realm of the criminal act itself. Data derived from a questionnaire administered in three urban high schools and two state institutions for girls suggest that there is little or no association between liberated attitudes and self-reported delinquency involvement. But at the level of the criminal act itself, there is evidence of perhaps more significant change. Females are most likely to commit delinquent acts in groups, particularly mixed-sex groups, in contrast to the traditional stereotype of females passively accompanying a romantic partner. Their explanations for their participation also depart from feminine stereotypes and resemble explanations most often associated with male delinquents.

The role of blocked or limited opportunity has commanded considerable attention in the sociological analysis of juvenile delinquency. The typical stance taken is that many juveniles are "pushed" into delinquency because they lack access to those opportunities which are defined as legitimate avenues for the realization of a relatively universal set of success goals. Those who are denied the opportunity to implement these socially approved means often turn to delinquency as an alternative or more expedient way of reaching desired goals or as a means of striking back at what is defined as an unfair system.' For the most part, the importance of adolescent aspirations and expectations, as well as the relative availability of the institutionalized means for realizing personal goals, has been developed mainly with reference to their etiological role in male delinquency. The potential utility of such variables in accounting for female misbehavior, by contrast, has been largely ignored. Primarily, this appears to be a function of the view that the aspirations and expectations of adolescent females, in comparison to those of their male counterparts, are quite circumscribed, not only in quantity, but also in content. That is, while males are conceived as "status strivers," preoccupied with short and long-term status and economic success, the female adolescent is more often viewed as possessing no such aspirations and, instead, is satisfied to occupy a role dependent to the male, basking in whatever attendant status her partner's relative success confers. Coleman2 presented the most popular and classic conception of this with his contention that the greatest status enhancement for girls is in dating the "right boys." The implication is that while boys have a variety of actual and potential roles as sources of achievement and status, girls have relatively little in the way of alternatives to the "popularity with the opposite sex" role.3 As a result, and to the extent that female aspirations and expectations have been examined at all in connection with