Parental relationship histories are associated with adolescents’ romantic and sexual relationships. However, no research examines the association between parents’ being in an on-again/off-again relationship (churning) and adolescent relationship outcomes, even though a substantial minority of youth experience this form of family instability. Using Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study data, the present study examines how parental relationship histories are associated with adolescents’ dating and sexual experiences. We find that differences in outcomes between adolescents who experience parental relationship churning and adolescents who experience other parental relationship histories are largely explained by variation in adolescent and parental characteristics. These findings suggest that adolescents who experience parental relationship churning are a distinctive group, but for reasons other than their parents’ tumultuous relationship histories.

父母关系史与青少年的浪漫和性关系有关。然而，没有研究研究父母之间处于不断/反复的关系（搅动）与青少年关系结果之间的关联，即使极少数年轻人经历了这种家庭不稳定的形式。本研究使用脆弱的家庭和儿童福利研究数据，研究了父母关系史与青少年的约会和性经历之间的关系。我们发现经历亲子关系搅动的青少年与经历其他亲子关系历史的青少年在结局上的差异在很大程度上是由青少年和父母特征的差异所解释的。