Behaviour in Childhood is Associated with Distinct Patterns of Romantic Partnering in Adulthood

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Steady romantic partnerships promise many benefits including social support, lower stress, higher wellbeing, better health and a longer life. This has stimulated much interest in the personal characteristics that might predict partnering success in adulthood – such as agreeableness, emotional stability, communication and trust – but little is known about the link between childhood traits and adult partnering patterns. OBJECTIVES: (1) describe patterns of partnering from age 18-35 years in a large population-based sample and (2) examine the association between childhood behaviour and adult partnering patterns. METHODS: Behavioural ratings were prospectively obtained from teachers when children (n=2960) were aged 10-12 years – for inattention, hyperactivity, aggression-opposition, anxiety and prosociality – and linked to their tax return records from age 18-35 years. We used group-based trajectory modelling to identify distinct trajectories of partnering (married or cohabitating) and multinomial regression models to examine the association between childhood behaviour and trajectory group membership. RESULTS: Five distinct trajectories of partnering were identified: early-partnered (n=420, 14.4%), mid-partnered (n=620, 21.3%), late-partnered (n=570, 19.2%), early-partnered-separated (n=460, 15.5%), and delayed-or-unpartnered (n=890, 30.0%). After adjustment for sex and family background, children rated as being anxious or inattentive were more likely to remain unpartnered from age 18 to 35 years, while those rated as aggressive-oppositional or inattentive were more likely to separate and return to unpartnered status. Conversely, prosocial children – those rated as being kind, helpful and considerate – showed earlier and more sustained partnership across early adulthood. Participants in the early-partnered-separated and delayed-or-unpartnered trajectories were also more likely to have left high school without a diploma and to have lower earnings and higher welfare receipt from age 18-35 years. Due to their tendency to partner later, males were more likely to be unpartnered than females. CONCLUSIONS: In this large population-based sample, childhood behavioural problems were associated with increased likelihood of being unpartnered and of partnership dissolution, which could affect the health and wellbeing of individuals and their families. Early support and prevention efforts for children with behavioural difficulties could improve life outcomes including partnership prospects with benefits for individuals and society.

Authors

• Francis Vergunst, University of Montreal
  Presenting Author

• Yao Zheng, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author

• Pascale Domond, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Frank Vitaro, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Richard E Tremblay, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Daniel Nagin, Carnegie Mellon University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jungwee Park, Government of Canada
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sylvana M Côté, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Non-Presenting Author