Perceived Partner Responsiveness Is Associated With Adolescent Sexual Wellbeing Over 1 Year

Research on adolescent sexuality is primarily cross-sectional and often neglects interpersonal factors that may play a key role in promoting their sexual wellbeing, such as perceived partner responsiveness, that is, feeling understood, cared for, and accepted by a partner. The current study examined prospective associations between perceived partner responsiveness and sexual wellbeing (sexual satisfaction, sexual desire/arousal, orgasm difficulties, and sexual distress) among adolescents, as well as gender, sexual orientation, and partner continuity differences therein.

In two waves of a large, ongoing Canadian longitudinal study on adolescents' sexual wellbeing that took place between November 2019 and March 2022, a sample of 508 Canadian adolescents (M_age = 15.57 years old at baseline; M_age = 16.44 years old at T2; 56.5% cisgender girls, 42.5% cisgender boys, and 0.6% trans and nonbinary youth) in romantic relationships completed two self-reported surveys 1 year apart.

Path analyses revealed that perceived partner responsiveness at baseline was positively associated with sexual satisfaction and desire/arousal 1 year later, but not with orgasm difficulties and sexual distress. Moderation analyses indicated there were no differences in these associations based on gender, sexual orientation or partner continuity.

Findings underscore the importance of feeling understood, cared for, and accepted by a partner in fostering sexual satisfaction and desire/arousal among adolescents, irrespective of their gender and sexual orientation. Perceived partner responsiveness emerges as a key target for educational initiatives on healthy romantic relationships and interventions during adolescents' early intimate experiences.