Indicators of Adolescent Depression and Relationship Progression in Emerging Adulthood

Establishing intimate relationships with romantic partners is a critical task of adolescence and emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000; Erikson, 1968). Adolescent romantic relationships are often short term and recreational (Arnett, 2000), as adolescents seek to separate from their parents and establish independence (Erikson, 1968). As adolescents progress into emerging adulthood, the developmental period from the late teens throughout the 20s, a central developmental task is the formation of satisfying, committed intimate relationships (Arnett, 2000). As such, emerging adults desire to establish serious, long-term relationships and emotional and physical intimacy with their partner (Arnett, 2000). Hence, romantic relationships in emerging adulthood are associated with higher well-being (Kamp Dush & Amato, 2005) and increased social support (Coombs, 1991; Frech & Williams, 2007).A history of depression in adolescence measured here as internalizing (depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) and externalizing (alcohol problems) symptoms, may be associated with emerging adults' entrance into and progression within romantic relationships. Manning, Trella, Lyons, and du Toit (2010) suggested that depressed women with internalizing and externalizing symptoms experience obstacles in the marriage market. Specifically, they suggested that depressedwomen were less "marriageable" and struggled to enter and sustain intimate relationships. Depression in emerging adulthood often has developmental roots in adolescence (Kessler, McGonagle, Swartz, Blazer, & Nelson, 1993), with potential implications for the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood. Thus, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health; see http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth), we empirically tested the hypothesis that emerging adults with a history of adolescent depression will face greater barriers to entering into and sustaining romantic relationships and unions as compared to emerging adults with fewer emotional or behavioral indicators of depression in adolescence.EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF ADOLESCENT DEPRESSIONAdolescence is a unique developmental period marked by rapid physical, psychosocial, and sexual development (SteinbergM Rao, Hammen, & Daley, 1999). Although depressive symptoms in adolescence are a risk factor for suicidal ideation for both genders (e.g., Kandel, Raveis, & Davies, 1991), adolescent women are slightly more susceptible than men to suicidal ideation (Harlow, Newcomb, & Bentler, 1986). Contrary to women, men may be more likely to underreport depressive symptoms on selfreported scales (Sigmon et al., 2005).Adolescent males are more likely to express distress through externalizing behaviors than females (Simon, 2002), engage in reckless behavior when dealing with depression (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000), and turn to alcohol when depressed (Harlow et al. …