14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists announce in a new study that they've uncovered additional evidence for the fact that a good, close relationship between mothers and their children make the latter more likely to have better-quality romantic connections later in life. The role of mothers in their kids' relationships is known to be very important, and to carry far-reaching implications, but a connection such as the one in this particular research has never been demonstrated before. Romantic relationships were therefore found to be stronger and generally better if the two people forming it had close connections to their mothers.
The correlation the team established was found to hold valid in the case of children in their early adolescence. The effects were measured when those kids became young adults. The new datasets again reaffirm the role of mothers in their children's lives. The research group behind this investigation was detailed in a presentation held on May 28, at the Association for Psychological Science Convention. The meeting was held in Boston, Massachusetts, LiveScience reports.
“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. So if kids are not feeling close with their parents then they're probably not going to model the positive aspects of that relationship when they reach adulthood,” says Montclair State University in New Jersey study researcher Constance Gager. The scientist says that the intensity of the relationships between mothers and their children begins to bear little influence on the kids' future romantic life, if he or she has passed the age of 14.
“Adolescents may be more fully formed by age 14 so that there's not as much effect of their parents' relationship on them,” Gager explains. The investigation was conducted on a number of 7,000 married couples, children included. Data about the quality of their relationships were collected at regular intervals between 1992 and 1994, when the adults and their children (aged 10 to 17) were asked about the connections they had with each other. The second stage of the study took place 10 years later, when the former kids were now 20 to 27 years old.
The statistics revealed that children who had a close, warm relationship with their mothers tended to be involved in couples that experienced less argument, more communication, and were generally happier than others. The level of satisfaction these individuals showed was also considerably higher than that of peers who reported not being so close to their moms. Interestingly, the researchers determined that the general method of formulating questions aimed at children needed to change. The study correlations were based on mother's assessments, and the scientists say that this may have happened because kids are poor survey-takers. Rephrasing common questions may solve this issue.