ABSTRACT
For many adolescents, the teen years are a time of intense challenge and change, even though theorists continue to argue about the applicability of the German phrase stürm und drang (“storm and stress”; Hall, 1904) to adolescence (e.g., Arnett, 1999; Offer & Schonert-Reichl, 1992). According to Arnett (1999), adolescence is the developmental period during which individuals are most likely to face the triple strain of conflict with parents, severe mood swings, and a propensity toward risk-taking. For many adolescents, romantic relationships are an important source of extreme feelings, both positive and negative (Larson & Asmussen, 1991). The typical adolescent is moving away from parents as primary attachment figures, relying more on the opinions and support of peers, and—whether consciously or not—moving toward a time when his or her primary attachment figure will be a lover or spouse rather than a parent (Hazan & Zeifman, 1994, 1999). Adolescents typically experience emotional turmoil in connection with romantic relationships—those they have, those that go awry, and those they fantasize (Larson, Clore, & Wood, 1999).
