Bonding with moms leads to better romance

Washington: Teenagers who share a close relationship with their mothers are more likely to enjoy a successful romantic life when they grow up, a new study has claimed. Researchers at the Montclair State University in New Jersey found that teenagers` bonding with their parents, especially with mothers, influence their romantic life in adulthood. "Parents` relationships with their children are extremely important and that`s how we develop our ability to have successful relationships as adults, our parents are our models," said Constance Gager, who led the study. "So if kids are not feeling close with their parents then they are probably not going to model the positive aspects of that relationship when they reach adulthood," Gager was quoted as saying by LiveScience. The findings, according to the researchers, highlighted the importance of the parent-child bond for building relationships later in life. However, they found that the strength of the parent-child connection later in adolescence, after the age of 14, did not seem to influence the children`s romantic relationships when they were older. This might be because late adolescence is too late to have an impact, Gager said. "Adolescents may be more fully formed by age 14 so that there`s not as much effect of their parents` relationship on them." For their study, Gager and her colleagues analysed the results of a national survey involving nearly 7,000 married couples in the US. Between 1992 and 1994, the mothers, fathers and children, aged 10 through 17, were asked about their relationships with each other. About a decade later, between 2001 and 2004, the children, now aged 20 to 27, were surveyed about their relationships with people they were dating (but not living with). In the first survey, the parents and children were asked to rate statements about the "warmth" and closeness of their relationships, while in the second one, the grown-up children had to answer questions regarding relationship satisfaction and how much conflict they were having with their dating partners. PTI