Adolescent Romance As adolescents …show more content…
Adolescents spend between five to eight hours per week just thinking about romantic partners, whether they are actual or potential partners. (Bouchey & Furman, 2005). In middle school and high school, adolescents are surrounded by relationships that come in a variety of forms. Each relationship is different depending on the individuals within that relationship, and adolescents spend numerous amounts of hours learning and observing through or from the relationships they interact with every day. There are times when adolescents are even trying to figure out whether or not they simply have a friendship with a member of the opposite sex or if it is a romantic relationship. (Shulman & Seiffge-Krenke, 2001). This is a hard time in their life because their hormones are raging, and they are emotional tinderboxes. When a relationship does end, it is one of the strongest predictors of depression, multiple-victim killings, and suicide attempts and completions among adolescents. (Bouchey & Furman, 2005). This may have to do with the attachment one has to their significant other and the security they felt in the relationship that has now vanished. There are both pros and cons when it comes to dating during adolescence, but in adolescent’s romantic involvement are thought to help and influence the adolescent’s intimacy and identity development. (Bouchey & Furman, 2005). Adolescents are able to learn many life lesson from the relationships that they are surrounded by or may be involved in during their