Adolescent Relationship Quality: Is There an Intergenerational Link?

This study examines intergenerational continuities in relationship instability, general relationship quality, and intimate partner violence (IPV) between mothers and adolescents.

A growing body of literature has observed similarities in relationship quality between parents and their adult offspring. Less attention has focused on whether intergenerational continuities are present in adolescent relationships.

Using age 3, 5, 9, and 15 data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing birth cohort study (N=3,162), the authors examined associations between maternal reports of relationship instability, general quality, and IPV in early and middle childhood and similar adolescent reports at age 15. Variations based on timing and persistence of exposures were considered.

In general, exposures to low-quality maternal relationships were associated with higher risk of forming adolescent partnerships and lower relationship quality. Intergenerational links in quality were predominantly construct-specific, consistent with observational learning processes. Adolescents exposed to maternal relationships of poor general quality in middle childhood were less likely to report high-quality relationships themselves, and those exposed to any maternal physical IPV victimization during childhood were more likely to perpetrate IPV in their own relationships. Exposure to maternal relationship instability in both early and middle childhood was associated with more adolescent romantic partners.

The study illuminates additional pathways through which healthy and unhealthy relationships are reproduced across generations.