1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study examined the associations between three dimensions of romantic involvement (i.e. romantic involvement status, number of romantic partners, and age difference with romantic partners) and alcohol use during middle adolescence (age 16) and late adolescence (age 20).» (p. 106)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«It was expected that alcohol use would be higher among adolescents who had at least one romantic partner compared with those who did not. It was also expected that, among those who were involved in at least one romantic relationship, the greater the number of partners they had and the greater the extent to which their romantic partners were older than they were, the higher their alcohol use would be. According to Brown’s model (1999) of the development of romantic relationships, it was expected that these effects would be observed in middle adolescence only. Lastly, these effects were also expected to be stronger among girls than among boys.» (p. 106-107)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The data used for this article were drawn from a longitudinal study on the social development of adolescents. This study began in 2001 among 390 grade 6 pupils (58% girls; mean age = 12.38, [...]) from eight French-speaking elementary schools in Quebec, Canada. […] Since one of the aims of this article was to examine two developmental periods, i.e. middle and late adolescence, two waves of data were studied. The first wave of data was collected when the adolescents were age 16 (middle adolescence) (N = 294; 61% girls) […] The second wave of data was collected when the adolescents were age 20 (N = 250; 62% girls). Of the 294 participants, 44 (15%) dropped out of the study from wave 1 to wave 2.» (p. 107)

Instruments :
Questionnaires

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The results show that adolescents who are involved in at least one romantic relationship in middle adolescence consume more alcohol than those who are not. […] The results also show that in middle adolescence, number of romantic partners is positively associated with alcohol use. Three possible explanations are proposed. First, romantic involvement with several partners necessarily entails a certain number of breakups. […] Second, adolescents who have many romantic partners are also more often exposed to new intimate contexts. Alcohol could thus be used to lessen shyness, facilitate communication, and help them express intimate emotions (Traeen & Lewin, 1999). […] Third, each romantic relationship provides a context where adult supervision is less present or absent and youth may be more prone to engage in a variety of delinquent behaviours, such as alcohol use (Wong, 2005), especially when their romantic partners are drinking themselves. […] The results also show that the greater the extent to which middle adolescents’ romantic partners were older than they were, the higher their alcohol use. […] At age 16, adolescents who have older romantic partners are thus in contact with individuals who are likely to present higher levels of alcohol use.» (p. 112-113)