Attachment contexts of adolescent friendship and romance

The purpose of this study was to compare memories of attachments to parents, friends, and romantic partners in relation to the maintenance of high school friendships and romantic relationships. College students recorded the length of their friendships and romantic relationships during high school and rated the quality of each. They also rated their memories of attachments to parents, friends, and partners during that time. Parental attachments were the most reliable predictor of friendship outcomes and romantic attachments the most reliable predictor of romantic outcomes, but attachments to parents, friends, and partners each predicted unique variation in maintenance of romantic relationships.