As the Valentines' Day is approaching, a relationship researcher has revealed that the love between parents and teens- however stormy or peaceful- may influence whether those children are successful in romance, even up to 15 years later.
Therefore, Matt Johnson from University of Alberta has advised anybody who's had rocky relations with their parents while growing up, not to let it spill over into their current romantic partnership this Valentine's Day.
The study was co-authored by Johnson, whose work explores the complexities of the romantic ties that bind.
Being aware of that connection may save a lot of heartache down the road, according to Johnson, who reviewed existing data that was gathered in the United States over a span of 15 years.
The findings uncovered a "small but important link between parent-adolescent relationship quality and intimate relationships 15 years later," Johnson said. "The effects can be long-lasting."
While their analysis showed, perhaps not surprisingly, that good parent-teen relationships resulted in slightly higher quality of romantic relationships for those grown children years later, it poses a lesson in self-awareness when nurturing an intimate bond with a partner, Johnson said.
The results were gleaned from survey-based information from 2,970 people who were interviewed at three stages of life from adolescence to young adulthood, spanning ages 12 to 32.
The study was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.
