Parent-Teen Relationship Influences Child’s Love Life: Study

Here's a Valentine's Day tip for youngsters, develop a healthy bond with your parents. Chances are that you will have a successful love life.

Bonding between teens and parents can determine the success rate of romantic relations of children in later life, a latest study by University of Alberta states.

The parent-teen relationship can predict whether the child's romantic life is a success or not, even after 15 years, University of Alberta relationship researcher Matt Johnson found.

For the study, the researchers examined data of 2,970 people who were questioned in three phases, from adolescence to young adulthood spanning ages 12 to 32.

The findings revealed "small but important link between parent-adolescent relationship quality and intimate relationships 15 years later," Johnson said in a news release. "The effects can be long-lasting."

The results showed that teens having a good relationship with their parents had quality romantic relationships in their adulthood.

"People tend to compartmentalize their relationships; they tend not to see the connection between one kind, such as family relations, and another, like couple unions. But understanding your contribution to the relationship with your parents would be important to recognizing any tendency to replicate behaviour-positive or negative-in an intimate relationship."

However, Johnson stressed that parents should not be held responsible for their child's bad love life. "It is important to recognize everyone has a role to play in creating a healthy relationship, and each person needs to take responsibility for their contribution to that dynamic."

The study findings were published in the February issue of Journal of Marriage and Family.