Associations between dimensions of security in romantic relationships and interpersonal competence among dating and non-dating high school adolescents

Abstract

The current study investigated the association between dimensions of security in romantic relationships, anxiety and avoidance, and general interpersonal competence among two groups of high school-aged adolescents: one currently in a dating relationship (daters) and one not currently involved (non-daters). Our findings show that daters were less anxious, less avoidant, and more competent than non-daters. A moderate negative association was found between avoidance and interpersonal competence for both daters and non-daters. A small positive association was found for anxiety and competence, but only for non-daters. More variance in interpersonal competence was explained in the model for daters than non-daters. The differences observed between the groups appeared to reflect the effects of current experience on self-assessed anxiety, avoidance, and interpersonal competence.