Beyond sex: Examining the role of experiences and ideals in African American adolescents' romantic relationships

Many adolescents have romantic experiences, which impact their relationship satisfaction and shape their ability to form healthy relationships. For this reason, it is important to distinguish romantic characteristics that lead to negative outcomes from those that inform healthy functioning and development. Studies with low-income African American adolescents frequently focus on the former. This qualitative study explored heterosexual African American adolescents’ romantic experiences as they potentially impact positive functioning and development. Data on romantic and sexual behaviors, cognitions, and emotions were elicited using in-depth, face-to-face interviews with sexually experienced African Americans aged 14-17 living in impoverished urban neighborhoods (N = 52). Interviews were recorded, transcribed, entered into a qualitative data management program, coded and reliability coded, and analyzed using a cross-case comparative approach. We found that monogamy, commitment, trust, and respect were pivotal to adolescents’ romantic relationship experiences. Furthermore, participants had positive ideals about these relationship dynamics, but their experiences were different from their ideals. Our findings suggest that respondents understood the characteristics that provide a foundation for positive relationships, but this understanding did not often match their experiences. More knowledge about African American youths’ romantic experiences and ideals can inform the development of successful interventions designed to help youth build and navigate healthy relationships and increase relationship satisfaction. The results of our work should be used to inform sexual health education and violence prevention programs that teach communication, boundary setting, and conflict resolution in healthy relationships.