Study shows that closeness to fathers and mothers in adolescence is linked with good relationships with partners later on in adult life.

According to a  study featured in the Journal of Family Psychology, a longitudinal study was conducted on a sample of about 17,000 children born in 1958 in England, Scotland, and Wales. This study explored the independent effects of (a) father and mother involvement on good relationships with parents in adolesence and (b) closeness to parents on good relationships with partners later in life. According to this study, the results showed that closeness to mothers and fathers in adolescence are explained by different factors. Good mother-child relationships in adolescence seemed to be associated with good father-child relationships, intact family structures, and high academic motivation; however, closeness to fathers showed to be unrelated to family structure but was instead explained by the father’s involvement in childhood and the fathers’ closeness to the mother of their children. Father involvement at age 7 significantly predicted closeness to father at age 16. In addition, closeness to father at age 16 was positively related to marital satisfaction at age 33. Adjustment to marriage at age 33 was related to good relationships with siblings and both parents in adolescence as well as an absence of psychological distress in adult life. The researchers of this study noted that their findings showed that closeness to fathers and mothers in adolescence is linked with good relationships with partners later on in adult life and that closeness to fathers is, to a great extent, due to high father involvement in childhood, especially for daughters.[i]  

[i]What Predicts Good Relationships with Parents in Adolescence and Partners in Adult Life: Findings From the 1958 British Birth Cohort, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 186-198.

Printed with permission from the Concerned Parents Report.