Romantic Relationships and Psychological Well-Being During the Transition to College

Despite normative shifts in interpersonal relationship dynamics during the transition to college, family and friends continue to promote enhanced psychological well-being. However, it is unclear how romantic relationships change and contribute to well-being during this period. The present study investigated trajectories of romantic relationship involvement, characteristics, and experiences across the college transition and their implications for concurrent internalizing symptoms.

Participants were 215 late adolescents in their first year of college in the United States (M_age = 18.15 years; 77.2% Female, 19.1% Male, 3.8% Other Gender; 51.6% Asian American, 24.7% White, 17.7% Latinx, 6% Other Ethnicity). Participants completed an online questionnaire in each of three academic terms (T1: October 2022, T2: January 2023, T3: April 2023) and 14 consecutive daily checklists at T1 and T3.

Of those in romantic relationships (34.4%), most reported that their relationship originated before college and was maintained across the first year of college. Relationship quality varied by time and relationship origin, being lower at T2 particularly for students in college-originating relationships. Quality rebounded at T3 for those in college-originating relationships while those in pre-existing relationships reported somewhat lower quality. Finally, higher relationship quality and fewer average number of daily negative relationship experiences predicted fewer concurrent depressive symptoms.

Romantic relationships may serve as promotive or risk factors for psychological well-being amidst challenging transitional periods. Given the stability of romantic relationships during this time, future research should investigate how romantic relationships can be bolstered to better support psychological well-being during this developmental transition.