The future is present in the past: A meta-analysis on the longitudinal associations of parent-adolescent relationships with peer and romantic relationships.
Susanne SchulzStefanie A NelemansHana HadiwijayaTheo KlimstraElisabetta CrocettiSusan J T BranjeWim MeeusPublished in: Child development (2022)
Positive peer and romantic relationships are crucial for adolescents' positive adjustment and relationships with parents lay the foundation for these relationships. This longitudinal meta-analysis examined how parent-adolescent relationships continue into later peer and romantic relationships. Included longitudinal studies (k = 54 involving peer relationships, k = 38 involving romantic relationships) contained demographically diverse samples from predominantly Western cultural contexts. Multilevel meta-regressions indicated that supportive and negative parent-adolescent relationships were associated with supportive and negative future peer and romantic relationships. Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (k = 54) indicated that supportive parent-adolescent relationships unidirectionally predicted supportive and negative peer relationships, while negative parent-adolescent relationships were bidirectionally associated with supportive and negative peer relationships. Maintaining mutually supportive relationships with parents may help adolescents to develop positive social relationships.