Sex and romance: never the twain shall meet?

Adolescent Romantic Relations and Sexual Behavior: Theory, Research, and Practical Implications. Edited by Patti Florsheim. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003, 414 pages. Hardcover, $79.95.

Reviewed by Lucia F. O'Sullivan, Ph.D., HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 15, New York, NY 10032: e-mail: [e-mail].

This actually isn't the book that I originally thought I was reviewing. At first, it appeared to me from the title that somebody had finally produced a book that placed adolescents' sexual lives in the context in which they usually occur (in their romantic relationships) rather than in the contexts in which they are usually placed (STD clinics, introductory psychology classes, and courtrooms). This book is the closest yet to integrating adolescents' sexual and romantic behaviors; however, in many ways most of the contributors focus on romantic relationships, not sexual behavior within romantic relationships. When sexual behavior is addressed, often it is done so in a cursory or tangential way. Still, this book has a lot to offer those in the field.

The book is divided into three main parts: "Normative Perspectives on Romantic Relations and Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents"; "Perspectives on Romantic and Sexual Behavior among High-Risk Adolescents"; and "Commentary and Summary." The editor, Paul Florsheim, is clear from the outset that the primary objective of the book is to place romantic relations in a developmental context, and it behooves readers to remember this. Sexuality is part of this picture, but not the focus of the book.

In the first section, Wyndol Furman and Laura Shatter elaborate Furman's theory of relationship development in their chapter, "The Role of Romantic Relationships in Adolescent Development." This chapter helps establish the book as the successor to Furman's own landmark publication. The Development of Romantic Relationships in Adolescence (Furman, Brown, & Feiring, 1999). At the time, Furman's book broke new ground in this emerging field. Although published 4 years later, Florsheim's book still represents only the second major collection in the field. As with Furman's book, most of the contributors are from the human development field and have worked to understand how the ability to initiate and maintain romantic relationships is a normative process that moves along a developmental trajectory.

Karen Carver, Kara Joyner. and Richard Udry provide one of the most valuable chapters in the book. Using data from the Add Health Survey (the national longitudinal study of adolescent health behavior), they summarize the essentials of romantic relationships, such as the percentage of adolescents who have had a romantic relationship (by gender, age, ethnicity, etc.), partner selection factors, stability of adolescent relationships (they aren't as transient as we have been led to believe!), degree of commitment and intimacy in relationships, and finally how much sex and abuse is involved. I have referred to this chapter a number of times already in my writing and teaching, and I expect other readers are finding it equally useful.

This chapter is followed by a somewhat dry entry by Carolyn Tucker Halpern, another colleague of Udry's, summarizing the "Biological Influences on Adolescent Romantic and Sexual Behavior." This chapter focuses on the bio in the biopsychosocial perspective, but thereafter, the reader will find few references to biological factors. The book heavily emphasizes psychological and social factors.

The second section purports to address work on high-risk couples, but a more accurate description may be that it provides original data or reviews of work addressing negative or dysfunctional outcomes associated with sexual or romantic relationships. Although I have long argued about our need to move away from pathological or deficit models of adolescent sexuality, a number of the chapters in this section were exceptionally interesting (despite my uneasiness about reinforcing these traditional models). Deb Welsh and her colleagues address how romantic relationships constitute one of the most affectively charged domains of adolescent life--an issue that is often overlooked or dismissed altogether despite alarming rates of depression and suicide among adolescents reacting to problems within their relationships. These authors summarize what is known on such topics as unrequited love, infidelity, conflict, and breakups, and end with a call to design programs that encourage adolescents to develop effective coping strategies. Interestingly, while it becomes clear by the end of the book that adolescents face many of the hardships that adults face in their relationships, not one of the authors suggests couple counseling for adolescents. This again reinforces a view that these relationships are transitory way-stations that permit practice of new interpersonal and emotion-regulation skills but are not expected to become permanent or important.

Another chapter in this section, by Deborah Capaldi and Deborah Gormau-Smith, provides a fabulous summary of factors associated with the development of aggression in adolescent relationships. There is overall little focus on sex-related aspects. Even so, the data are extremely interesting, drawing from both the Oregon Youth Study and the Chicago Youth Development Study. The final chapter in this section, by Paul Florsheim and colleagues, describes "Romantic Relations Among Adolescent Parent." Once again, the authors do not discuss sexual relations (an omission that by this point in the book becomes somewhat irritating). Nonetheless, this is one of the first times I have read such a comprehensive treatment of both adolescent mothers and fathers and their relationship dynamics.

The third and last section of this book is in many ways the most noteworthy. This section comprises commentaries from three groups of outstanding researchers who were asked to address the content of the preceding chapters in three ways: in terms of their treatment of same-sex relationship issues (Ritch Savin-Williams), parallels to marital research (Amber Tabares and John Gottman), and implications for educators and policy makers (Bonnie Barber and Jacquelynne Eccles). Gavin-Williams rates each chapter on a 5-point scale on the extent to which the authors have adequately acknowledged, if not incorporated, issues pertaining to same-sex relationships. Only one received the highest rating (the chapter by Deb Welsh and colleagues): nearly half received his lowest rating. He chastises the authors for their "short-sightedness" and calls on researchers to be more sensitive to issues pertaining to sexual minority youth.

Tabares and Gottman's chapter falls a little flat: For the most part, they reiterate the adolescent romantic literature and conclude, over and over, that what is needed to advance the field is the study of "specific interaction patterns through observational study" (p. 343). Barbar and Eccles provide a truly excellent summary of the education and policy implications of the research described in the chapters. They also include some practical steps that are required in the near future to merge the research, education. and policy worlds.

Each of the chapter authors incorporates the theoretical model grounding his or her work or review. Most often, given the authors' developmental backgrounds, this theory is attachment theory or an off-shoot thereof. More than anything, the restricted theoretical coverage emphasizes the nascent character of this field. About half of the chapters incorporate original data, and the others review existing data. There is seine variation among authors in the clarity of their writing, perhaps reflecting differing views of the intended audience. Each author provides a section outlining the implications for program planning, health education, and clinical intervention, which, in tandem with the Barbar and Eccles chapter noted above, will help to make this book a practical purchase for those working in these fields. I expect teachers, graduate-level students, and parents would also benefit from reading this book. Further, there is excellent coverage of a number of rather specific research areas including identity formation, relationship skill building, emotional maturation, achievement socialization, and social competencies.

In sum, the primary goal of the book is to address romantic relations among adolescents, not to summarize the sexuality literature for adolescents in romantic relationships. The fusion of these two areas constitutes a book or special issue that we will hopefully see in the near future. The sexuality literature would do well to inform the relationship literature. As it stands, too much of adolescent relations work is really a downward extension from the marital literature--a fact that may have impeded scientific and theoretical advances in the field. As Florsheim acknowledges, "our current views of adolescent romantic relations are highly constrained by social and cultural expectations" (p. 373) about what occurs in the daily intimate lives of adolescents. This book advances the field of romantic relations considerably and, as such, is a worthwhile investment for interested readers.

REFERENCE

Furman, W., Brown, B. B., & Feiring, C. (Eds.). (1999). The development of romantic relationship in adolescence. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.