Affective Bonding of Adolescents in Partner Rerlationships
Affective Bonding of Adolescents in Partner Rerlationships

Summary/Abstract: The paper explores affectional bonding of adolescents in emotional partner relationships. The research aimed at identifying the four types of attachment, defined by the four-category attachment model (Kim Bartholomew, 1990) - secure, preoccupied, dismissing and fearful - in intimate partner relationships on a sample of Belgrade adolescents, as well as the relatedness of these types to the variables child-parent relationship, sex, marital status of parents, and an early-childhood separation experience. The sample included 231 adolescents of both sexes, aged 17-19. To assess the types of bonding we used the multi-item scale of self-evaluation - Intimate Relationships Experience Scale (Brennan, Clark and Shaver, 1998) which allows for assessing the type of bonding of the examinee on the basis of general attitudes, beliefs, and expectations from the partner and intimate relationship, the feeling of pleasure or discomfort caused by intimacy, as well as on the basis of usual behaviour towards the intimate partner. The perception of the relationship with the parents was assessed by applying a modified version of the SRDI scale (modified by Opacic and Kos, 1988), while the data on the marital status of the parents and an early-childhood separation experience were assessed by applying a questionnaire specially designed for the purpose of this research. The results confirmed the presence of four main types of bonding in partner relationships on the sample of Belgrade adolescents. The fearful type of bonding is significantly more present in the girls. It was observed that there was a combination of dimensions of the perceived relationship with the parents which accurately discriminates between the four types of adolescent bonding in intimate partner relationships: unrealistic expectations, control and neglect on the part of the father, lack of intimacy with him, unrealistic expectations and control on the part of the mother. There are significant differences between boys and girls with respect to the relatedness of partner bonding to the perceived relationship with the parents: the perceived quality of their relationship with the parents in girls corresponds to the quality of later bonding in partner relationships, while in boys it is not the case. No significant relatedness was determined between the types of bonding in partner relationships of adolescents on one hand and the variables such as the marital status of the parents and an early-childhood separation experience on the other.

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