ABSTRACT

As emerging adults transition to college, they must adapt to new circumstances, both academic and personal. For partners involved in a romantic relationship prior to attending college, this transition has important relational implications, including potential fluctuations in relational uncertainty and interdependence. Guided by relational turbulence theory (RTT), we conducted the present study to model growth trajectories of first-semester students’ relationship parameters and experiences of relational turbulence during their transition to college (i.e., during the first eight weeks). Results of latent growth curve modeling revealed that students experienced higher levels of relational uncertainty, interference from a partner, and facilitation from a partner at the very beginning of their first semester in college, but each of these relationship parameters decreased over the first two months of the semester. Additionally, relational turbulence remained stable and did not change throughout the semester but correlated with contemporaneous relationship parameters as RTT predicts.

摘要

随着新兴成年人向大学过渡，他们必须适应新的环境，包括学术和个人环境。对于在上大学之前就已经谈过恋爱的伴侣来说，这种转变具有重要的关系影响，包括关系不确定性和相互依赖的潜在波动。在关系动荡理论 (RTT) 的指导下，我们进行了本研究，以模拟第一学期学生在向大学过渡期间（即前八周）的关系参数和关系动荡经历的增长轨迹。潜在增长曲线模型的结果显示，学生在大学第一学期开始时经历了更高水平的关系不确定性、来自合作伙伴的干扰和来自合作伙伴的促进，但是这些关系参数中的每一个在学期的前两个月都下降了。此外，关系动荡保持稳定，整个学期没有变化，但与 RTT 预测的同期关系参数相关。