The Initiation of Dating in Adolescence: The Effect of Parental Divorce. The TRAILS study

This article focused on the effect of parental divorce on the time it took adolescents to initiate their first romantic relationships. To examine this effect, individual differences in temperament and pubertal development, and the age of the adolescent at the time of divorce were taken into account. The hypotheses were tested using event history analysis with a representative sample of 1487 Dutch adolescents. The results indicated that marital dissolution sped up the transition to first dating relationship, but only when it was experienced in early adolescence (between the ages of 11 and 13). The results are discussed in light of findings that stressors which occur during transitional periods, such as the entry into adolescence, can have stronger effects on adjustment than if they are experienced at another time.