Early Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Maternal Approval among Inner City Latino Families

Latino youth are at high risk for acquiring HIV during adolescence. The present study documented the nature of adolescent romantic relationships among 702 Latino eighth grade students and their mothers in the Bronx, NY. The study examined adolescent romantic relationships, the association between participation in such relationships and intentions to engage in sexual risk behavior, and maternal influences on adolescent's involvement in intimate behaviors in romantic relationships. Almost 50% of youth had been in a romantic relationship, which typically lasted 3-3.5 months. Mothers tended to approve of intimate behaviors and sexual activity in romantic relationships more so for males than females. Latino youth tended to underestimate maternal disapproval of a range of intimate behaviors, and the correlations between perceived and actual maternal approval were generally low in magnitude. Finally, maternal orientations towards their adolescent engaging in romantic relationships were associated with their child's intentions to have sexual intercourse in the future.