Discrepancies in AdolescentRomantic Couples’ and Observers’ Perceptions of Couple Interaction and Their Relationship to Mental Health

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Volume

28

Publication Date

1999

First Page

645

Last Page

665

Abstract

Examined discrepancies in adolescent romantic couple members' and observers' perceptions of couples' conversations to further understand adolescents' romantic interactions and their association with adolescents' depressive symptoms. The authors used a video-recall procedure to assess 61 adolescent romantic couples' (aged 18–19 yrs) perceptions of their videotaped conversations with each other. Results suggest that although couple members and outside observers agreed that adolescent romantic couples' conversations were generally harmonious, adolescent dating partners and observers perceived couples' communications in systematically different ways and perceived inequalities in their interactions. Perceptions of discrepancies in power were more salient in females' perceptions. Both males and females perceived themselves more positively than their partners. Finally, discrepancies in couple members' perceptions of their conversations were somewhat associated with their mental health. Boys who viewed themselves more favorably than their girlfriends viewed them exhibited fewer depressive symptoms. Girls who perceived fewer inequalities between themselves and their boyfriends showed fewer depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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