The role of romantic relationships and romantic self-perceptions in understanding the mental health of adolescents

Cilj ovog diplomskog rada bio je dobiti uvid u obiljeţja romantičnih odnosa maturanata te ispitati ulogu nekih odrednica romantičnih iskustava, kvalitete romantičnih odnosa i romantičnog samopoimanja u razumijevanju internaliziranih problema mladih. Istraţivanje je provedeno putem online upitnika postavljenog na platformi Google Forms, koji je bio aktivan od 26. travnja do 24. svibnja 2021. godine. Prigodni uzorak činilo je 140 maturanata iz zagrebačkih srednjih škola. Kvaliteta romantičnih odnosa ispitivana je Skalom kvalitete romantičnih odnosa (eng. Romance Qualities Scale) (Ponti, Guarnieri, Smorti i Tani, 2010), a razina ozbiljnosti internaliziranih problema skraćenom verzijom Skale depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa (eng. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale – DASS-21) (Lovibond i Lovibond, 1995). Osim toga, za potrebe ovog diplomskog istraţivanja konstruiran je demografski dio upitnika kojim su, uz demografske karakteristike, ispitane neke odrednice romantičnih iskustava zagrebačkih maturanata poput trenutnog statusa veze, općeg zadovoljstva romantičnim odnosom, učestalosti iskustva „dejtanja“ u posljednjih 6 mjeseci, načina upoznavanja trenutnih i potencijalnih romantičnih partnera te iskustva verbalnog i fizičkog nasilja u partnerskom odnosu. Nadalje, za potrebe ispitivanja romantičnog samopoimanja, definiranog kroz percipiranu vaţnost romantičnih odnosa, sudionicima istraţivanja postavljena su pitanja o doţivljaju utjecaja romantičnih odnosa na njihovo mentalno zdravlje, vaţnosti istih te utjecaju koji romantična iskustva imaju na njihovo samopouzdanje i sliku o sebi. Rezultati su pokazali da je većina maturanata uključenih u istraţivanje u romantičnom odnosu duljem od 6 mjeseci. Sudionici istraţivanja općenito su zadovoljni svojim partnerskim vezama te iste procjenjuju visoko kvalitetnima. Nadalje, većina sudionika ovog istraţivanja smatra da romantični odnosi utječu na njihovo mentalno zdravlje, samopouzdanje i sliku koju imaju o sebi. Vezano uz ulogu koju romantični odnosi imaju u razumijevanju mentalnog zdravlja adolescenata, nije utvrĎena povezanost izmeĎu samog „statusa veze“ i rezultata na subskalama depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa. Ipak, niska pozitivna korelacija utvrĎena je izmeĎu rezultata na dimenziji konflikta i rezultata na sve tri subskale Skale depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa. Niska negativna korelacija izmeĎu dimenzija koje upućuju na višu kvalitetu romantičnih odnosa i subskala depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa utvrĎena je samo na uzorku djevojaka.The aim of the present thesis was to gain insight into the characteristics of the romantic relationships of high school graduates and to examine the role of some aspects of adolescent romantic experiences, the quality of romantic relationships and romantic self-perceptions in understanding the internalized symptoms of youth. The research was conducted through an online survey posted on the Google Forms platform and it was available from April 26th to May 24th, 2021. The convenience sampling consisted of 140 high school graduates from Zagreb. The quality of romantic relationships was measured by the Romance Qualities Scale (Ponti, Guarnieri, Smorti and Tani, 2010), while the level of severity of internalized problems was measured by a shortened version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) (Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995). In addition, for this graduate research, a demographic part of the questionnaire was constructed. Apart from demographic characteristics, it examined some aspects of romantic experiences of Zagreb graduates, such as current relationship status, general romantic relationship satisfaction, frequency of dating experiences in the last 6 months and the means of an acquaintance of current and potential romantic partners, as well as the experiences of verbal and physical violence in romantic relationships. Furthermore, to examine romantic self-perceptions, defined through the perceived importance of romantic relationships, participants were asked about their perception of the impact that romantic relationships have on their mental health, the importance of the former and the impact that romantic experiences have on self-concept and their self-esteem. The results suggest that most of the high school graduates involved in this study have been in a romantic relationship for more than 6 months. Participants were generally well satisfied with their relationships and rated them as high-quality. Furthermore, most participants in this study believed that romantic relationships affected their mental health, self-esteem, and their self-perceptions. Regarding the role that romantic relationships play in understanding adolescent mental health, no association was established between the ‘relationship status’ itself and outcomes on the subscales of depression, anxiety, and stress. Nevertheless, a low positive correlation was found between the results on the conflict dimension and the results on all three subscales of The Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale. Low negative correlations between the dimensions suggesting a higher quality of romantic relationships and subscales of depression, anxiety, and stress were found only in a sample of girls