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Adolescents who have never dated: friendship attributes as predictors of prolonged romantic development among Asian American and Latine youths

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Adolescents who have never dated: friendship attributes as predictors of prolonged romantic development among Asian American and Latine youths

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Content Copyright 2024 Jinsol Chung
Adolescents Who Have Never Dated: Friendship Attributes as Predictors of Prolonged Romantic
Development among Asian American and Latine Youths
By
Jinsol Chung
A Thesis Presented to be the
FACULTY OF THE USC DANA AND DAVID DORNSIFE COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS
AND SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(PSYCHOLOGY)
December 2024

ii
Table of Contents
List of Tables ...............................................................................................................................iii
Abstract........................................................................................................................................iv
Chapter1: Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1
Adolescents’ Prolonged Romantic Development and Differences in
Ethnicity and Gender ................................................................................ 2
Peer Context and Adolescents’ Prolonged Romantic Development......... 4
Friends’ Social Attributes and Prolonged Romantic Development:
Friends’ Popularity and Social Acceptance............................................... 4
Friendship Ethnic-Racial Composition and Prolonged Romantic
Development.............................................................................................. 6
Friends’ Academic Achievement and Prolonged Romantic
Development.............................................................................................. 7
Current Study............................................................................................. 8
Chapter2: Methods........................................................................................................................ 9
Overview ................................................................................................... 9
Participants................................................................................................ 9
Procedure ................................................................................................ 10
Measures................................................................................................. 10
Chapter3: Results........................................................................................................................ 13
Overview ................................................................................................. 13
Dating Status ........................................................................................... 13
Descriptive Analyses and Bivariate Correlations................................... 15
Inferential Statistical Analyses ............................................................... 16
Chapter4: Discussion .................................................................................................................. 20
Friends’ GPA as the Strongest Factor in Adolescents’ Prolonged
Romantic Development........................................................................... 20
Cross-ethnic Friendships and Romantic Behaviors of Asian
American Youths..................................................................................... 22
Friends’ Popularity as a Correlate of Prolonged Romantic
Development............................................................................................ 23
Strengths, Future Directions, and Limitations........................................ 25
Conclusions............................................................................................. 26
References................................................................................................................................... 27

iii
List of Tables
Table 1: Means and Standard Deviations ................................................................................... 33
Table 2: Bivariate Correlations among All Continuous Variables by Time Points.................... 34
Table 3: Cross-sectional Binary Logistic Regressions of Friends’ Social Attributes
Predicting Prolonged Romantic Development in T1 and T2 Samples....................................... 35
Table 4: Binary Logistic Regression of T2 Cross-ethnic Friendship Composition
Predicting Prolonged Romantic Development by Ethnicity and Gender ................................... 36
Table 5: Binary Logistic Regression of T1 Friends’ Academic Achievement Predicting
Changes in Dating Status............................................................................................................ 37

iv
Abstract
Transitioning to dating is a salient developmental task, which past research viewed as an
extension of preexisting peer relationships. A subset of youth initiates dating relatively late in
adolescence. The current investigation focused on the effect of friendship attributes (i.e., friends'
social competence, the proportion of cross-ethnic friendships, and friends' academic
achievement) on adolescents’ romantic development. Ethnicity and gender were examined as
moderators. The extant literature reports ethnic-racial differences in the developmental timing of
romantic development among Latine and Asian American youths. Research also documents
gender roles that comply with ethnocultural contexts are prevalent in adolescent dating. 566 high
school students (T1 Mage=15.09, 51.2% Asian American, 49.8% Latine) were followed
longitudinally for two years. Participants completed self-reported dating status and peer
nomination inventory assessing reciprocated friendships, popularity, and social acceptance. GPA
was obtained from the school records. As dating was relatively stable across the two time points,
we conducted logistic regressions examining cross-sectional correlates of prolonged romantic
development using T1 and T2 datasets, respectively. We also investigated T1 friendship
attributes predicting changes in dating status across T1 and T2. Findings showed that friends'
GPA was the most conclusive predictor of adolescents' dating behaviors regardless of gender and
ethnicity. Cross-ethnic friendship was negatively linked to prolonged romantic development only
for Asian American youths. Friends’ popularity was more closely associated with prolonged
romantic development. Results suggest the significance of peer context in adolescents’ romantic
involvement as well as the role of ethnocultural norms on dating behaviors.
Keywords: Adolescent Dating, Friendship, Ethnicity, Gender

1
Chapter 1: Introduction
Transitioning to early romantic experiences is a salient developmental task during
adolescence. The mainstream perspective in the extant literature considers romantic development
as a stage-like progression from earlier forms of dyadic intimacy (i.e., parent-child or platonic
friendships; Connolly et al., 2014; Furman & Wehner, 1994). As the absence of romantic
involvement has been regarded as a transient phase of romantic development in the existing
theoretical view, less is known about youths who never date throughout their teenage years.
Recently, however, several longitudinal studies confirmed prolonged romantic development as a
unique subset of adolescents' dating behaviors (Boisvert & Poulin, 2016; Connolly et al., 2004;
Meier & Allen, 2009). Furthermore, research shows that a lack of romantic involvement during
adolescence is negatively linked to developmental risk factors like depression and a lack of
social competence (Davila, 2008; Douglas & Orpina, 2019). The empirical findings question the
conventional approach that perceives romantic disengagement as a marker of delayed social
development, prompting a scholarly need to better understand this distinctive group of
adolescents who remain inexperienced in dating.
One factor that is central to the developmental timing of adolescent dating is ethnic-racial
differences (Connolly et al., 2004; Regan et al., 2004). Earlier findings report that youth with
Latin and Asian ethnocultural backgrounds initiate romantic engagement later than others, with
Asian descents particularly more likely to be absent in dating experience as teenagers
(Beckmeyer et al., 2020; Connolly & McIsaac, 2011; Regan et al., 2004). A literary gap that
continues to be underexplored is the predictors that result in these ethnic-racial differences in
adolescents’ romantic disengagement. It is worth noting that ethnocultural influences may
function differently depending on one’s gender. Dating scripts based on the gender roles that

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comply with one’s sociocultural contexts are prevalent in adolescents’ romantic interactions
(Connolly & McIsaac, 2011). Therefore, we believe that it is essential to take both ethnicity and
gender into account in terms of investigating the absence of romantic behaviors among
adolescents.
Another critical point that is relevant to adolescents’ romantic development is the role of
friendships. As mentioned previously, dominant views in the extant literature account for
adolescent dating as an extension of preexisting intimate relationships like non-romantic
friendships (Connolly & McIsaac, 2011; Connolly et al., 2014; Furman & Wehner, 1994).
Recognizing the theoretical importance of friendships in earlier studies, the present study
focused on friendship features as central predictors of romantic involvement. We believe that
friends’ attributes (i.e., friends’ social, ethnic-racial, and academic characteristics) provide
insights into adolescents’ social worlds including their never-dated status. Taken together, the
central aim of the current study is to explore the relationship between friendship attributes and
adolescents’ never-dated status with a particular interest in ethnicity and gender as moderators.
Adolescents’ Prolonged Romantic Development and Differences in Ethnicity and Gender
The theoretical understanding of the developmental changes in romantic involvement is
relatively well-documented (Brown, 1999; Connolly & McIsaac, 2011; Connolly et al., 2014;
Furman & Wehner, 1994). On the contrary, less is known about youth who remain romantically
disengaged. In the present paper, we use the term never-dated status/never-dating (or neverdater to indicate youth in this category) to refer to an absence of any kind of romantic behaviors
and experiences during adolescence
From a development-contextual perspective, adolescent dating relies on socio-contextual
factors, some of which include social norms and expectations (Connolly & McIsaac, 2011;

3
McCabe, 1984). In spite of the ongoing issue that most adolescent dating literature has focused
on predominantly White samples (Furman, 2018), early observations substantiate such emphasis
on ethnocultural influences in romantic development (Connolly & McDonald, 2020; Dhariwal &
Connolly, 2013).
To begin with, studies found ethnic-racial differences in the developmental timing of
dating. Compared to European-Caucasian adolescents, Asian and Latin descent initiate romantic
engagement at a relatively later age (Beckmeyer et al., 2020; Connolly & McIsaac, 2011; Regan
et al., 2004). Researchers view that the prolonged onset of romantic engagement in Asian and
Latin descents is attributable to the widespread influence of familism in these ethnic-racial
communities (Connolly et al., 2004; Killoren et al., 2022; Lau et al., 2009; Richard et al., 2023).
Concerning never-dated status, in particular, initial findings show that Asian Caucasian
adolescents are more likely to be absent of romantic experiences as teenagers compared to Latine
youth (Regan et al., 2004). Building on these reports of ethnic-racial differences in never-dated
status, some researchers point to the possibility that it may be developmentally normative for
Asian descent adolescents to forgo dating (Connolly et al., 2004; Connolley et al., 2013).
In addition to ethnic-racial differences, the extant literature has long shown gender
differences in romantic development. The dominance of gender roles in dating scripts is a wellestablished phenomenon (Eaton & Rose, 2011) that prevails in adolescence when romantic
relationships begin to emerge (Connolly & McIsaac, 2011). Furthermore, ethnocultural factors
and close interpersonal relationships including friendships are pivotal to gender role socialization
(Rogers et al., 2021). In consideration of the intertwined relationship between ethnicity, gender,
and friendships in adolescents’ romantic development, the present study postulated that the links

4
between friendship attributes and prolonged romantic development are modulated by ethnicity
and gender.
Peer Context and Adolescents’ Prolonged Romantic Development
Adolescence is a developmental phase where peer influence increases exponentially.
When it comes to transitioning from a never-dated status to further romantic involvement, the
function of peer context is vital (Connolly & McIsaac, 2011). Peer groups provide opportunities
for adolescents to begin their sexual and romantic explorations (Baker, 2017; Connolly et al.,
2004). Given the significant influence of friendships on romantic initiation, having a friendship
network that is organized around peers who are relatively unlikely to date would increase one’s
chance of prolonged romantic initiation. In particular, the present study focused on three themes
that emerged from the extant literature regarding the influence of friendship attributes on one’s
never-dated status: (1) social attributes of friends, (2) ethnic-racial composition of friendships,
and (3) friends’ academic achievement.
Friends’ Social Attributes and Prolonged Romantic Development: Friends’ Popularity and
Social Acceptance
Decades of research in peer relationship literature have accorded with the dual
component model of adolescent social status (Cillessen, 2011; Cillessen & Bellmore, 2011).
According to this theory, adolescents’ peer social status is organized into two distinctive forms.
The first is social acceptance, which refers to the extent to which an individual is liked among
peers. A myriad of findings show that social acceptance is positively linked to prosociality
(Bukowski, 2011). Popularity, the second form of peer social status, differs from social
acceptance in that it is positively related to aggression (Mayeux et al., 2011).

5
Dating requires active interpersonal interactions with potential partners (Connolly et al.,
2004; La Greca & Mackey, 2007), and often involves social exposure to peers (Kreager et al.,
2016). As friends share similar levels of social attributes, youths who are popular and socially
accepted tend to be friends with those who share similar social characteristics (Dijkstra et al.,
2013; Hartl et al., 2015). Thus, friends’ social status may be closely related to adolescents’
never-dated status.
That being said, the present study posits that the effect of friends’ popularity on neverdated status will be stronger compared to that of friends’ social acceptance. The influence of
popularity on peer attitudes and behaviors is greater compared to that of social acceptance
(Connolly & McIsaac, 2011; Sandstrom, 2011). Moreover, both theoretical (Mayeux et al., 2011;
Mayeux & Kleiser, 2020) and empirical evidence (Houser et al., 2015; Savickaite et al., 2020)
underline the significance of popularity in romantic development by accounting for dating
behaviors as one of the core objectives of popularity.
In contrast, the role of social acceptance in romantic development is less clear. Although
some studies show that social acceptance is positively related to general dating behaviors (Bower
et al., 2015; Houser et al., 2015), other research finds mixed results for never-dated status. A
concurrent investigation reported no significant relationship between social acceptance and
prolonged onset of romantic initiation (Volk et al., 2015). In other cross-sectional and
longitudinal studies, a lower level of social acceptance predicted a higher likelihood of having
never dated (Boisvert & Poulin, 2016; Miller et al., 2009).
Taken together, the present study hypothesized that friends’ popularity will negatively
predict adolescents' never-dated status. In addition, we expected that the effect of friends’ social
acceptance would be weaker than the effect of friends’ popularity. Owing to inconsistent reports

6
in earlier studies, we did not hypothesize anything further on the effect of friends’ social
acceptance. We also did not postulate moderation effects by ethnicity and gender in these
relationships due to a lack of theoretical rationale.
Friendship Ethnic-racial Composition and Prolonged Romantic Development
As romantic interactions take place in peer contexts, understanding adolescents’ social
structure is often key to investigating their dating relationships (Connolly et al., 2004; Yoon et
al., 2017). Accordingly, research on adolescent dating has mainly focused on the gender
composition of friendships based on past findings that underscore progressions from samegender friendships into cross-gender peer networks (Connolly et al., 2004).
Conversely, other aspects of friendship social structure like ethnic-racial composition of
friendships, have received relatively little attention. Nonetheless, early evidence supports that the
ethnic composition of the friendship network is central to romantic development. Exposure to
diverse ethnic-racial groups can transform one’s cultural values, and subsequently influence
attitudes and behaviors (Smith et al., 2019). In addition, early studies show that Asian
Caucasians are more likely to be never-daters (Connolly et al., 2004) due to ethnocultural factors
(Dhariwal & Connolly 2013).
Taken together, the present study postulated that cross-ethnic friendships will negatively
predict Asian American adolescents’ never-dated status. We assumed that Asian American youth
may diverge from their traditional values in terms of their romantic behaviors as they interact
with their non-Asian American friends. Considering less prevalence of never-dated status among
Latine youth, we hypothesized no significant relationship between cross-ethnic friendships and
never-dated status for Latine adolescents in the study. Owing to a dearth of evidence, we did not
make any predictions about gender differences in the relationship between cross-ethnic

7
friendships and never-dated status. As we aimed to uncover the unique contribution of crossethnic friendships beyond other forms of friendship structure, we included cross-gender
friendships in the hypothesized models.
Friends’ Academic Achievement and Prolonged Romantic Development
One notable theme that stands out in qualitative studies on Asian descent dating
literature, but is absent in Latine research, is the importance of academic achievement. While
scholarly success is paramount to Asian values regardless of one’s gender, dating can be
detrimental to educational attainment (Lau et al., 2009; Richard et al., 2023). Past research finds
that academically oriented youth are more likely to be friends with similarly high-achieving
peers (Smirnov & Thurner, 2017) who are unlikely to engage in romantic behaviors (Honghao et
al., 2021). Given the importance of academic success in Asian values and the role of educational
outcomes in friendship formation, friends’ scholarly attainment may be positively related to
prolonged romantic development for Asian American youths. However, friendship based on
academic homophily is not unique to Asian Americans and has been reported in ethnically
diverse youth (Smirnov & Thurner, 2017; Wu & Yang 2016).
Therefore, the current investigation examined two competing hypotheses. The first
hypothesis assumed that friends’ academic achievement will positively predict Asian American
adolescents’ never-dated status. We expected a non-significant gender difference in this
relationship because the conflict between educational attainment and dating was irrespective of
gender in the Asian descent adolescent population.
The second hypothesis speculated that friends’ academic achievement is positively
associated with adolescents’ never-dated status regardless of their ethnicity. As the extant
literature shows that the social price of academic orientation exists for both genders (Zhang et

8
al., 2024), we postulated that the moderation effect by gender will not be significant in this
relationship.
Current Study
The extant adolescent dating literature has paid little attention to never-daters. To fill this
gap, the present study investigated predictors of adolescents’ never-dated status. According to
earlier studies, adolescents’ romantic development is interconnected to ethnic-racial and gender
differences (Lau et al., 2009). Moreover, friendships provide important contexts for adolescents’
romantic development. Therefore, the study aimed to explore the relationships between
friendship attributes (i.e., social, ethnic-racial, and academic) and never-dated status as well as
the moderation effects by ethnicity and gender.
Concerning the effect of friends' social attributes, we hypothesized that friends'
popularity would negatively predict adolescents’ never-dated status. We also expected that the
relationship between friends’ social acceptance and never-dated status would be weaker than the
link between friends’ popularity and never-dated status. Due to a dearth of theoretical reasons,
we did not make predictions about the moderation effect by gender and ethnicity.
Regarding the effect of friendship cross-ethnic composition, we presumed that it would
be negatively associated with never-dated status only for Asian American youth. Owing to a lack
of empirical support, we did not make any assumptions about gender differences.
Finally, on the effect of friends’ academic achievement on never-dated status, we had two
competing hypotheses. The first hypothesis postulated that friends’ academic achievement is
positively linked to never-dated status only for Asian American youth regardless of gender. The
second hypothesis assumed that friends’ academic achievement is positively associated with
never-dated status for both ethnic-racial groups and both genders.

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Chapter 2: Methods
Overview
The current investigation is a two-year longitudinal study, that was part of a larger project
on the academic and social development of ethnic-racial groups in an urban school district
(Kelleghan et al., 2019; Ryjova et al., 2021). We recruited the sample from an ethnically diverse
high school located in a semi-urban area in southern California. Around 70% of the initial
sample qualified for free or reduced lunch (EdData, 2019). The school was academically highachieving, with an above-state-average standardized test score. The school also had a relatively
low high school dropout rate that was roughly 10% lower than the state average (EdData, 2019).
Participants
During the spring semester of 2011, we sent out invitations to all eligible students to
participate in the study. A priori criteria for eligibility include all 9th and 10th grade students
who are not enrolled in special education or English classes for students with limited
proficiencies. Of the total of 1,151 eligible students, 70% returned positive parental consent.
Among these students, around 91% returned child assent and were present during data collection.
We followed a total of 735 T1 participants (56% girls; Mage=15.06) in the spring of 2012
when they were in the 10th and 11th grades (T2; n=632; 55% girls; Mage=16.00). The retention
rate was around 78%, similar to other longitudinal studies on urban areas (Bellmore et al., 2010).
In line with the central focus of our investigation, we performed data-cleaning procedures and
narrowed down the participants based on their ethnicity. We provide more information about this
practice in the results section. The ethnic-racial and gender composition (both assessed via selfreport) of the final sample (N=566; 58% girls) was as follows: 51% Asian American (n=290;
57% girls), and 49% Latine (n=276; 59% girls).

10
Procedure
Participants completed all measures in a group administration. Trained researchers read
standardized instructions to all the participants and both the researchers and school teachers were
present during the entire session to answer any questions. Identical measurements and
procedures were administered during the two consecutive years of data collection. The project
was approved by the University of Southern California’s Internal Review Board and was
conducted under the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association.
Measures
Dating Status
Never-dated Status. Consistent with the established procedures in the extant literature
(Furman & Collins, 2009; Kuttler & La Greca, 2004; Ryjova et al., 2021), participants selfreported their usual dating involvement among the four categories: “have never dated”, “rarely
date”, “date casually, without an exclusive commitment”, and “involved in an exclusive
relationship with someone.” We obtained this item from the Dating Questionnaire (Kuttler & La
Greca, 2004). Past research confirmed the validity of this item against Furman's (1994) dating
history questionnaire among American adolescents (Kuttler & La Greca, 2004). Following
earlier studies that acknowledged the wide range of variance in adolescents’ romantic
experiences, we did not provide a concrete definition of romantic involvement or specify any
time point to participants (Furman & Collins, 2009; Ryjova et al., 2021). In line with the primary
interest of the present investigation, we converted participants’ responses into a binary variable:
never-dated status (“have never dated” = 0) vs. dated status (all other categories = 1).
Change in Never-dated Status. We created a new binary variable based on participants’
self-reported never-dated status across T1 and T2. Considering the focus on the transformation of

11
one’s never-dated status across time, we generated this variable only for T1 never-daters who
reported their dating status at T2. If participants transitioned from T1 never-dated status to T2
dated status, we coded them as 1. For adolescents who remained in the never-dated status across
both time points, we coded them as 0.
Friends’ Attributes
Reciprocated Friendships. Participants nominated friends from an alphabetized roster
that included all consenting students in the same grade. The participants were asked first to
nominate their "very best friend" as well as 10 additional peers who were "really close friends."
In line with the extant peer relationships literature that emphasizes mutual agreement of
friendship in both parties (Bagwell et al., 2021), we defined friendship as reciprocated
relationships (participants mutually identifying each other as friends).
Friends’ Social Attributes. As in past research conducted with high school students in
North America (e.g., Schwartz et al., 2006), we used a random list approach to assess
adolescents’ social attributes. This methodology recognizes that peer interactions in adolescent
peer groups extend beyond the bounds of individual classrooms. Participants received a
randomized roster of 50 students who were in the same grade and gave an unlimited number of
nominations on popularity (“students that are popular”) and social acceptance (“students that you
really like”). We computed proportion scores for popularity and social acceptance by dividing
the total number of peer nominations received for each item by the total number of raters.
Afterward, we calculated the mean scores of each participant’s reciprocated friends’ popularity
and social acceptance to generate friends’ social attributes variables (i.e., friends’ popularity, and
social acceptance).

12
Gender and Ethnic Composition of Friendships. We created the proportions of crossethnic, and cross-gender friendships variables to assess the structural attributes of friendships.
We first coded reciprocated friendship ties as either cross-ethnic (coded as 1) or same-ethnic
(coded as 0). We also coded for cross-gender (coded as 1) or same-gender (coded as 0)
friendships. For example, if a participant is a Latine girl and the reciprocated friend is an Asian
boy, the dyad is coded as cross-ethnic, and cross-gender friendships. We then computed the
proportions of cross-ethnic and cross-gender friendships among each participant’s total
reciprocated friendship ties to generate the proportions of cross-ethnic, and cross-gender
friendships variables.
Friends’ Academic Achievement. We acquired grades for math, English, and science
from the school records during the summer following each round of data collection. We coded
the aforementioned subject grades on a 5-point scale (“F” = 1 ~ “A” = 5), which was averaged to
calculate each participant’s grade point average (GPA). We calculated the mean scores of each
participant’s reciprocated friends’ GPA to assess friends’ academic achievement.

13
Chapter 3: Results
Overview
Our analytic strategy involved multiple steps. After cleaning the data per the research
questions of the study, we first examined the distribution of all variables of interest and the
gender/ethnic composition of the dating status categories. We then moved to inferential analyses,
with a series of logistic regression models: (1) T1 friendship attributes (i.e., friends’ social
attributes, ethnic-racial friendship composition, and friends’ academic achievement) predicting
T1 never-dated status, (2) T2 friendship attributes predicting T2 never-dated status, and (3) T1
friendship attributes predicting changes in never-dated status across T1 and T2. In addition, we
examined whether the proposed models were moderated by gender and ethnicity. Specifically,
the main effects, the two-way, and three-way interaction effects were examined in three separate
analyses. We administered post-hoc analyses when results revealed either a two-way or threeway interaction effect. We did not further investigate the two-way interaction effects if we found
a three-way interaction.
Dating Status
Before conducting any analysis, we performed data cleaning practices per our research
agenda. As the central focus of the present paper is never-dated status, we eliminated
participants who did not give information about their dating status at both time points. We also
excluded participants who reported to have engaged in any form of dating at T1 but responded
that they “have never dated” at T2. We assumed these responses to be invalid given that the word
never was explicitly mentioned in the item, and that the apprehension on the concept of romantic
involvement reaches its near-fullest development around mid-adolescence (Carlson & Rose,

14
2007). The data cleaning process resulted in 705 students (57% girls; 46% Asian American, 43%
Latine, 6% multi-ethnicity, 4% European American).
Another crucial goal of the current investigation is to reveal ethnic-racial differences in
the correlates, prevalence, and changes in adolescents’ never-dated status. Though both groups
initiate dating behaviors at a relatively later age, a greater percentage of Asian American
adolescents remain in never-dated status until they reach adulthood (Regan et al., 2004). Thus,
the present study was particularly interested in a comparison between Asian American and
Latine youth. In line with the research agenda1
, we focused particularly on Asian American and
Latine youth. The final sample (N=566; 58% girls) was 51% Asian American (n=290; 57%
girls), and 49% Latine (n=276; 59% girls).
Overall, 26.13% (n=145) and 21.17% (n=93) of participants were never-daters at T1 and
T2, respectively. To examine differences in the ethnic compositions among never-daters, we
conducted z-score tests of proportions. Specifically, we analyzed whether the proportion of
Latine never-daters (T1: n=40, T2: n=18) in comparison to the total Latine sample (T1: n=271,
T2: n=197) was significantly different from the percentage of Asian American never-daters (T1:
T1: n=105, T2: n=75) in the Asian American sample (T1: n=284, T2: n=232). Results revealed
that the proportion of Asian American never-daters was significantly higher at both time points,
T1: z=-5.95, p<.001, T2: z=-5.81, p<.001. We also investigated differences in gender
proportions among never-daters using a similar logic and procedure. However, we did not find
any significant gender differences in both T1 and T2 samples.

1 To ensure that our data cleaning procedure did not lead to any biases in the results, we conducted
logistic regressions for all of the models we examined in our inferential analyses. We obtained equivalent
findings on all of the main effect models using the full sample that includes all ethnic-racial groups.

15
Lastly, given the longitudinal nature of our data, we checked the descriptive statistics of
changes in never-dated/dated status across the two time points. Findings showed high stability of
adolescents’ romantic behaviors over the course of a year. Among the total of 433 participants
who reported their dating status at T1 and T2, 72.52% (n=314; 45.22% Asian American; 55.10%
girls) were stable daters and 20.79% (n=90; 80% Asian American; 55.56% girls) were neverdaters. Only 6.70% (n=29; 65.52% Asian American; 68.97% girls) were never-daters at T1 but
began dating at T2.
Descriptive Analyses and Bivariate Correlations
Before conducting inferential analyses, we investigated descriptive statistics of all
continuous variables by ethnicity, gender, and never-dated/dated status. We conducted a series of
t-tests to explore mean differences by ethnicity, gender, and dating status (Table 1).
At T1, Asian American adolescents had friends who were more well-liked, popular, and
academically high-achieving than their Latine counterparts. Friends’ of Asian American youth
were also more popular and academically successful at T2. In comparison to Asian Americans,
Latine youth had a higher proportion of cross-ethnic friendships at T2.
Boys had a higher proportion of cross-gender friendships compared to girls at both T1
and T2. No other gender differences existed among the variables of interest.
Compared to the T1 never-daters, T1 daters were friends with adolescents who were
more popular, academically less successful and had a higher proportion of cross-gender
friendships. Similarly, friends’ of T2 daters were more popular, academically low achieving, and
had a higher proportion of cross-gender friendships. Unlike T1 findings, T2 daters also had a
higher proportion of cross-ethnic friendships.

16
Per assumptions of logistic regression (Stoltzfus, 2011), we checked histograms of all of
the variables of our interest and did not find any extreme outliers.
Finally, we examined bivariate correlations between friends’ attributes at T1 and T2
(Table 2). Given that the associations between predictors are not central to the research questions
of the present investigation, significance was assessed with the critical value of .001. Friends’
social acceptance was positively associated with friends' popularity and GPA at both time points.
Friends' popularity was positively linked to the proportion of cross-gender friendships at T1 and
T2. The relationship between the proportion of cross-gender friendships and friends' GPA was
negative at T1 but was non-significant at T2.
Inferential Statistical Analyses
Prior to conducting logistic regression analyses, we standardized all continuous variables
across the full distribution. Standardization facilitates the interpretation of logistic regression
parameters by presenting predictors on comparable scales (Menard, 2011).
Main Effect Models in Cross-sectional Analyses
We conducted a series of logistical regressions predicting never-dated status at each time
point from friends' attributes with gender and ethnicity in each of the models. We examined the
following three models on T1 and T2 datasets, respectively. Results show that findings are
generally equivalent across T1 and T2 cross-sectional analyses for all three models.
The first model considers the effects of friends’ social attributes. Grounded in the dual
component model of adolescent social status (Cillessen, 2011; Cillessen & Bellmore, 2011), we
entered friends’ social acceptance and popularity as simultaneous predictors. As presented in
Table 3, friends’ popularity negatively predicted adolescents’ never-dated status in both T1 and

17
T2. Although marginally significant at T1, friends’ social acceptance was positively associated
with never-dated status in both time points.
The second model focuses on the ethnic-racial composition of friendship. The main
predictor of this model was the proportion of cross-ethnic friendships. Nevertheless, we also
entered the proportion of cross-gender friendship variable in consideration of the extant literature
that consistently reported its strong relevance to adolescents’ romantic development. Findings
revealed that the relationship between the proportion of cross-ethnic friendship and never-dated
status was non-significant in both T1 and T2.
The third model accounts for the effect of friends’ academic achievement where we
entered friends’ GPA as the predictor. Results showed that friends’ GPA was positively linked to
never-dated status at both time points (T1: β =0.93, p<.001; T2: β =0.90, p<.001).
Moderation in Cross-sectional Analyses
Next, we respecified the models depicted in the previous section (i.e., friends’ social
attributes, ethnic-racial composition of friendships, and friends’ academic achievement) to
further explore moderation effects by gender and ethnicity. As in main effect analyses, we
investigated the following three models on T1 and T2 datasets, respectively. To conduct analyses
on two-way interactions, we added the variable(s) of interest by gender and variable(s) of interest
by ethnicity, and gender by ethnicity terms to the main effect model. To perform three-way
interaction analyses, we included variable(s) of interest by gender by ethnicity term to the twoway interaction model. We carried out post-hoc analyses when we found significant interaction
effects. We did not further decompose two-way interactions if we found a three-way interaction
in the same model.

18
For the friends’ social attributes analyses, we examined two different models to assess
moderation by gender and ethnicity. In one model, we assessed the moderation effect of friends’
social acceptance by gender and ethnicity with the main effect of friends’ popularity in the same
model. In a separate model, we conducted moderation analyses of friends’ popularity by gender
and ethnicity with the main effect of friends’ social acceptance. The inclusion of both the main
effects of social acceptance and popularity was in line with the dual component model of
adolescent social status (Cillessen, 2011; Cillessen & Bellmore, 2011). When we conducted
analyses using the two aforementioned models, we found no two-way and three-way interaction
effects in both T1 and T2 samples.
Regarding the ethnic-racial friendship composition model, we entered the main effect of
the proportion of cross-gender friendships when investigating the moderation effect of the
proportion of cross-ethnic friendships by gender and ethnicity. This practice aligns with the main
effect analysis that recognized the significance of cross-gender friendship in adolescents’
romantic development. Results showed a significant two-way interaction between the proportion
of cross-ethnic friendship and ethnicity at both time points Even though the two-way interaction
at T2 was only marginally significant (T1: β =0.29, p<.01; T2: β =0.29, p=.05). The three-way
interaction of the proportion of cross-ethnic friendship by ethnicity by gender was only
significant for the T2 sample (β =0.32, p<.05). Thus, for the T1 model, we decomposed the twoway interaction between the proportion of cross-ethnic friendship and ethnicity. For the T2
model, we decomposed the three-way interaction.
Post-hoc analyses were generally similar across T1 and T2 models. T1 proportion of
cross-ethnic friendship negatively predicted T1 never-dated status only for Asian American
youth (β =-0.28, p<.05). The relationship was non-significant for Latine youth. Per logic

19
suggested by Holmbeck (2002), we decomposed the T2 three-way interaction by conducting
main effect analyses of the ethnic-racial friendship composition model on four groups by
ethnicity and gender (i.e., Latine boys, Latine girls, Asian American boys, Asian American
girls). As presented in Table 4, the T2 proportion of cross-ethnic friendship negatively predicted
T2 never-dated status only for Asian American boys.
Concerning the friends’ academic achievement model, we found a two-way interaction of
friends’ GPA by gender for the T1 sample (β =-0.34, p<.05). Our results did not show any twoway and three-way interactions in the T2 sample. Follow-up analyses showed that T1 friends’
GPA positively predicted T1 never-dated status only for girls (β =1.23, p<.001).
Prediction of Change in Never-dated Status
Finally, we conducted analyses to examine relations between T1 friendship attributes and
changes in never-dated status from T1 to T2. As in cross-sectional analyses, we examined the
main effect model first. We then ran separate models to examine the two-way and three-way
interactions, respectively.
As for the friends’ social attributes model and the ethnic-racial friendship composition
model, we did not find any main effect or the two-way and three-way interaction effects. In
terms of friends’ academic achievement model, T1 friends’ GPA negatively predicted change in
never-dated status (Table 5). In other words, having academically high-achieving friends
decreased one’s chance of transitioning from T1 never-dated status to T2 dated status. In
addition, we examined moderation by gender and ethnicity but did not find any two-way or
three-way interaction effects.

20
Chapter 4: Discussion
Despite a significant portion of adolescents who forgo romantic involvement, dating
literature has exerted relatively less interest in this particular subset of youths. Nonetheless, early
evidence stresses the role of friendship as well as ethnic-racial and gender differences in
romantic initiation (Connolly et al., 2004; Connolly et al., 2014; Connolly & McIssac, 2011;
Furman & Wehner, 1994; Regan et al., 2004). Building on these pioneering studies, the current
paper examined the role of attributes of friends for adolescents who do not date and how these
associations are moderated by ethnicity and gender.
Friends’ GPA as the Strongest Factor in Adolescents’ Prolonged Romantic Development
Among various friendship attributes we examined in the current study, friends’ GPA was
the most conclusive factor in determining adolescents’ prolonged romantic development. Dating
literature documents that scholarly success appeared to be a more prominent theme for Asian
American youth. In contrast, we find that friends’ GPA was consistently linked to delayed onset
of dating regardless of gender and ethnicity across T1 and T2 samples.
We speculate that the incongruence between past literature and the current results can be
further explained by ethnic-racial differences in the factors that are associated with prolonged
romantic development. Asian American culture places much emphasis on academic attainment
(Lau et al., 2009; Richard et al., 2023). Friends' educational success may delay the onset of
dating for Asian American youths due to ethnocultural emphasis on academic accomplishments
(Zhang et al., 2024). Friends' scholarly orientation may be associated with Latine youths'
prolonged romantic initiation because it reduces their attractiveness in peer social groups
(Houser et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2024).

21
Another possibility is that friends’ GPA may be an indicator of adolescents’ deviance
from values that are encouraged by parents, teachers, and other adult authority figures. Parental
involvement is a strong predictor of adolescents’ academic achievement for both Asian
American and Latine youths (LeFevre & Shaw, 2012; Sy et al., 2007). Friends’ academic
achievement and developmental timing of romantic initiation share a commonality in that they
are both related to the degree of autonomy development. Youths who are friends with other
adolescents with low GPAs are probably more likely to be engaging in romantic relationships
because they are both correlates of divergence from the adult world. This explanation is further
supported by scholarly perspectives that view youths' romantic development as a transition from
the preexisting forms of dyadic intimacy that are best represented by parent-child relationships
(Furman & Wehner, 1994).
Results from the current investigation may hint at the underlying peer process that could
be embedded in adolescents' romantic development. Adolescents’ romantic development takes
place within a peer context where youths encounter opportunities to interact with their potential
dating partners (Baker, 2017; Connolly et al., 2004). Research finds that romantic relationships
develop from mixed-gender affiliations that bring multiple peer groups together (Kreager et al.,
2015). Adolescents are more likely to begin dating with members who are outside of their close
friendships (Kreager et al., 2015). The fact that dating opportunities emerge from adolescents'
preexisting friendships that are organized around similar academic achievements (Smirnov &
Thurner, 2017; Wu & Yang 2016) implies that adolescents have a higher likelihood of
connecting with potential romantic partners with comparable academic performance. As
educational outcomes are strong predictors of prolonged romantic behaviors (Orpinas et al.,
2013), youths with high scholarly orientation may be surrounded by peer networks that do not

22
engage in dating behaviors. This interpretation is further supported by past research which
reports that academic homophily is closely related to adolescents' selection of dating partners
(Giordano et al., 2008).
Cross-ethnic Friendships and Romantic Behaviors of Asian American Youths
Our results document that friendship ethnic-racial composition was related to prolonged
romantic development for Asian American youth, particularly boys. To examine the ethnic
composition of adolescents’ friends, we measured the extent to which youths had friends who
shared the same or different ethnic-racial backgrounds with them. We assumed that cross-ethnic
friendships would be negatively linked to the prolonged onset of dating only for Asian American
adolescents. This hypothesis was in consideration of the fact that Asian American youth have a
greater tendency to abstain from dating compared to any other ethnic-racial groups (Connolly et
al., 2004). The findings supported our hypotheses.
We believe that the ethnic constitution of peer networks is relevant to adolescents' dating
behaviors because exposure to diverse values may shift one’s interests, attitudes, and behaviors
including romantic involvement (Smith et al., 2019). It is interesting to note that intercultural
encounters changed only the romantic development of Asian American youth. Cross-ethnic
friendship did not influence Latine adolescents’ dating behaviors.
We speculate that the demographic composition of the sample may have contributed to
these results. The present study is conducted on a sample of high school students. For the vast
majority of American youth, romantic interactions begin to take place at a much earlier age
(Connolly et al., 2014). It is plausible that a large portion of Latine youth may have already
begun their first romantic experience at earlier stages of their lives. The proportion of Latine
adolescents who reported that they have never dated was significantly lower in the present study.

23
The unique features of Asian American values may also have strengthened the negative
association between cross-ethnic friendships and prolonged romantic development. The
traditional Asian cultural values discourage adolescents' romantic engagement and view it as a
divergence from more desired behaviors like academic achievement (Lau et al., 2009; Richard et
al., 2023). Having a higher proportion of cross-ethnic friendships may imply that Asian
American adolescents are moving away from conventional values that are endorsed by their
families (Lau et al., 2009). This account is further supported by Furman and Wehner's (1994)
theoretical conceptualization of adolescent dating, which views it as a transition from the
preexisting intimate relationships with their parents and close others.
Our findings further revealed preliminary evidence that the associations between crossethnic friendship and prolonged onset of dating may be particularly stronger for Asian American
boys. This finding was not consistent with our hypothesis but we posit that the emphasis on
masculine gender norms that are dominant among Asian Caucasian boys (Richard et al., 2023)
may have played a role. To abide by the social norms that expect men to play a leading role in
romantic relationships, Asian American boys may recognize the need to acquire romantic
experiences and shift their romantic behaviors as they interact with their non-Asian American
friends.
Friends’ Popularity as a Correlate of Prolonged Romantic Development
As per the existing research on the distinction between popularity and social acceptance
(Cillessen, 2011; Cillessen & Bellmore, 2011), we hypothesized that the predictability of friends’
popularity on the prolonged onset of dating will be a stronger compared to that of friends’ social
acceptance. Findings supported our hypothesis in that friends’ popularity, in contrast to friends’
social acceptance, was consistently associated with adolescents’ absence of romantic initiation.

24
The gender prototypicality theory of adolescent popularity considers that one of the
central functions of popularity is dating (Mayeux & Kleiser, 2020). It also views that the role of
dating is less clear in any other forms of social competence including social acceptance (Mayeux
& Kleiser, 2020). Our findings provide further support for this theory by showing that friends’
popularity, rather than friends’ social acceptance, is associated with adolescents’ prolonged
romantic development.
It is important to note that the gender prototypicality theory is constructed around
adolescents’ popularity rather than their friends’ popularity (Mayeux & Kleiser, 2020). Findings
from the present study stress the significance of peer relationships in adolescents' romantic
development (Baker, 2017; Connolly et al., 2004). The extant literature showed that the
predictability of adolescents' popularity in dating is robust (Houser et al., 2015; Mayeux et al.,
2011; Mayeux & Kleiser, 2020; Savickaite et al., 2020). The present study pinpoints the
possibility that friends' popularity may serve as a mediating mechanism in the relationship
between adolescents' popularity and dating behaviors. This interpretation is further supported by
the theory of popularity contagion, which reports that only adolescents' popularity predicts their
friends' popularity (Marks et al., 2012).
Our hypotheses on the association between friends' attributes and prolonged romantic
development are grounded on the gender prototypicality theory of adolescent popularity
(Mayeux & Kleiser, 2020). Empirical evidence supporting this theory is largely based on North
American populations (Houser et al., 2015; Kleiser-Polk & Mayeux, 2023). However, early
findings in non-Western contexts reveal that popularity may be shaped by cultural values (Niu et
al., 2016). The large variabilities of ethnocultural contexts and correlates of popularity imply that
findings from the current study may not be replicated in other settings. We believe that the

25
relationship between friends’ social acceptance and prolonged romantic development may be
stronger in contexts where the association between social acceptance and popularity is more
robust (Niu et al., 2016).
Strengths, Future Directions, and Limitations
To our knowledge, this multi-informant, longitudinal study is the first to extensively
investigate the role of friendship attributes in predicting adolescents' never-dated status with a
particular interest in the role of ethnicity and gender as moderators. We believe that future
studies can expand the current state of knowledge on adolescents' prolonged romantic
development by considering the following issues. Despite shedding light on the understudied
adolescents who have never dated from the friendship attributes perspective, the present study
has several limits.
First, the current study did not obtain information on adolescents’ sexual orientation or
gender identity. Although peer culture is largely heteronormative, sexually marginalized youth
may undergo a distinctive developmental trajectory as opposed to their heterosexual counterparts
in terms of their romantic development (Kornienko et al., 2016; Mayeux & Kleiser, 2020).
Because our dating status measure did not include any definition of dating, we allowed
participants to appreciate romantic behaviors from their own viewpoints based on their sexuality.
Nonetheless, we admit that the lack of sexuality assessment is an undeniable limitation of the
present paper and recognize that never-dated status may be an exploratory stage for youths who
are questioning their sexuality. Considering ethnic-racial differences in romantic experiences for
sexually minoritized youth (Mereish et al., 2021), we highly encourage future researchers to take
the intersection of sexually and ethnically marginalized statuses into consideration when further
investigating adolescents' prolonged onset of dating.

26
Second, we had a relatively small observed variance in our changes in adolescents’
never-dated status variable. In our sample, the absence of romantic behavior was largely stable
during the first two years of high school. Future studies should examine changes in never-dated
status during a longer time frame to paint a broader picture of the developmental trajectories of
adolescents’ prolonged onset of dating.
Third, while longitudinal, the present study was a two-wave design conducted at a single
school located in Southern California. Future studies should be conducted on a larger scale using
multiple timeframes and a wide variety of schools in diverse settings to enrich the current state of
knowledge on adolescents’ absence of romantic initiation.
Conclusions
Despite evidence that a considerable portion of youth do not undergo romantic
involvement, dating has long been considered a normative behavior in the extant literature.
Recognizing the developmental significance of friendships during adolescence, the present paper
filled the gap in the existing literature by examining the links between friendship attributes and
adolescents’ abstinence from dating. Furthermore, this paper investigated ethnic and gender
differences in these relationships and was able to draw a more sophisticated picture of the
complexities behind adolescents’ lack of romantic engagement. Our results show that friends’
popularity, ethnicity, and academic achievement are related to never-dated status in unique ways
depending on adolescents’ ethnicity and gender. The present examination has impactful
implications to help parents, educational professionals, policymakers, and fellow researchers
acquire a better knowledge of American adolescents' romantic development.

27
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Table 1
Means and Standard Deviations
T1 variable
T1 Full
sample
(n=566)
M(SD)
Ethnicity Gender T1 Dating status
Latine
(n=276)
M(SD)
Asian
American
(n=290)
M(SD)
Boys
(n=240)
M(SD)
Girls
(n=326)
M(SD)
Never-dated
(n=145)
M(SD)
Dated
(n=410)
M(SD)
T1 friends’
social
acceptance
0.12(0.04) 0.11(0.03) 0.13(0.04)*** 0.12(0.04) 0.13(0.04) 0.12(0.04) 0.12(0.03)
T1 friends’
popularity
0.06(0.04) 0.05(0.04) 0.07(0.04)*** 0.06(0.03) 0.06(0.05) 0.05(0.04) 0.06(0.04) ***
T1 proportion
of cross-ethnic
friendship
0.22(0.26) 0.23(0.26) 0.21(0.25) 0.24(0.25) 0.22(0.26) 0.21(0.28) 0.23(0.25)
T1 proportion
of cross-gender
friendship
0.23(0.23) 0.25(0.23) 0.22(0.24) 0.28(0.26) 0.20(0.21)*** 0.14(0.22) 0.26(0.23) ***
T1 friends’
GPA
3.88(0.58) 3.50(0.47) 4.24(0.42)*** 3.84(0.53) 3.91(0.61) 4.21(0.45) 3.76(0.57) ***
T2 variable
T2 Full
sample
(n=437)
M(SD)
Ethnicity Gender T2 Dating status
Latine
(n=204)
M(SD)
Asian
American
(n=233)
M(SD)
Boys
(n=191)
M(SD)
Girls
(n=246)
M(SD)
Never-dated
(n=93)
M(SD)
Dated
(n=336)
M(SD)
T2 friends’
social
acceptance
0.13(0.04) 0.12(0.04) 0.13(0.04) 0.12(0.04) 0.13(0.04) 0.13(0.04) 0.12(0.04)
T2 friends’
popularity
0.06(0.05) 0.05(0.04) 0.07(0.05)** 0.06(0.05) 0.06(0.04) 0.05(0.04) 0.06(0.05)**
T2 proportion
of cross-ethnic
friendship
0.22(0.28) 0.25(0.29) 0.19(0.26)* 0.21(0.28) 0.23(0.28) 0.17(0.23) 0.23(0.29)*
T2 proportion
of cross-gender
friendship
0.24(0.26) 0.26(0.27) 0.23(0.25) 0.28(0.28) 0.22(0.24)* 0.16(0.25) 0.27(0.26)***
T2 friends’
GPA
3.86(0.59) 3.51(0.53) 4.16(0.45)*** 3.81(0.55) 3.90(0.61) 4.23(0.46) 3.76(0.57)***
A series of t-tests were conducted to make ethnicity and gender comparisons.
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001

34
Table 2
Bivariate Correlations among All Continuous Variables by Time Points
1 2 3 4 5
1. Friends’ social
acceptance
- .55* .01 .08 0.25*
2. Friends’ popularity .54* - .13 .17* .08
3. Proportion of crossethnic friendship
.10 .10 - -.05 -.09
4. Proportion of crossgender friendship
.06 .19* .02 - -.15*
5. Friends’ GPA .26* .12 -.09 -.02 -
Note. Correlations by T1 and T2 variables are presented in the upper, and lower triangles, respectively.
*p<.001

35
Table 3
Cross-sectional Binary Logistic Regressions of Friends’ Social Attributes Predicting Prolonged
Romantic Development in T1 and T2 Samples
T1 full sample (N=566)
Β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T1 friends’ social
acceptance
0.24 0.12 3.79 .05 1.27 (1.00~1.61)
T1 friends’ popularity -0.83 0.16 28.51 <.001 0.44 (0.32~0.59)
Ethnicity1
-0.72 0.11 40.64 <.001 0.24 (0.15~0.37)
Gender2
-0.03 0.11 0.06 .80 0.95 (0.62~1.44)
Full model: R
2=0.12, LR 𝜒
2= 73.56 (df=4), p<.001
T2 full sample (N=429)
Β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T2 friends’ social
acceptance
0.56 0.16 12.71 <.001 1.75 (1.29~2.38)
T2 friends’ popularity -0.94 0.19 25.46 <.001 0.39 (0.27~0.56)
Ethnicity1
-0.89 0.15 35.62 <.001 0.17 (0.09~0.30)
Gender2
0.12 0.13 0.89 0.35 1.28 (0.77~2.13)
Full model: R
2=0.15, LR 𝜒
2= 67.76 (df=4), p<.001
1Latine=1, Asian American=3
2Male=0, Female=1

36
Table 4
Binary Logistic Regression of T2 Cross-ethnic Friendship Composition Predicting Prolonged
Romantic Development in Four Groups by Ethnicity and Gender
T2 Latine Boys (n=83)
β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T2 proportion of crossethnic friendship
0.53 0.43 1.52 0.22 1.70 (0.73~3.96)
T2 proportion of crossgender friendship
-0.70 0.52 1.83 0.18 0.50 (0.18~1.37)
Full model: R
2=0.03, LR 𝜒
2= 2.71 (df=2), p=0.26
T2 Latine Girls (n=114)
β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T2 proportion of crossethnic friendship
0.14 0.28 0.26 0.61 1.15 (0.67~2.00)
T2 proportion of crossgender friendship
-0.19 0.36 0.28 0.60 0.83 (0.41~1.68)
Full model: R
2=0.01, LR 𝜒
2= 0.67 (df=2), p=0.72
T2 Asian American Boys (n=105)
β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T2 proportion of crossethnic friendship
-0.98 0.33 8.54 p<.01 0.38 (0.20~0.73)
T2 proportion of crossgender friendship
-0.28 0.22 1.66 0.20 0.76 (0.50~1.16)
Full model: R
2=0.12, LR 𝜒
2=13.37 (df=2), p<.01
T2 Asian American Girls (n=127)
β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T2 proportion of crossethnic friendship
-0.18 0.22 0.64 0.42 0.84 (0.54~1.29)
T2 proportion of crossgender friendship
-1.06 0.32 10.74 p<.01 0.35 (0.18~0.65)
Full model: R
2=0.11, LR 𝜒
2= 15.15 (df=2), p<.001

37
Table 5
Binary Logistic Regression of T1 Friends’ Academic Achievement Predicting Changes in Dating
Status
T1 Never-daters who Reported Their T2 Dating Status (n=119)
β SE Wald 𝜒
2 p OR 95% CI
T1 friends’ GPA -0.88 0.38 5.44 0.02 0.42 (0.20~0.87)
Ethnicity1
-0.09 0.31 0.09 0.76 0.83 (0.25~2.80)
Gender2
-0.37 0.24 2.24 0.13 0.48 (0.19~1.26)
Full model: R
2=0.08, LR 𝜒
2= 9.46 (df=3), p<0.05
1Latine=1, Asian American=3
2Male=0, Female=1

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Transitioning to dating is a salient developmental task, which past research viewed as an extension of preexisting peer relationships. A subset of youth initiates dating relatively late in adolescence. The current investigation focused on the effect of friendship attributes (i.e., friends' social competence, the proportion of cross-ethnic friendships, and friends' academic achievement) on adolescents’ romantic development. Ethnicity and gender were examined as moderators. The extant literature reports ethnic-racial differences in the developmental timing of romantic development among Latine and Asian American youths. Research also documents gender roles that comply with ethnocultural contexts are prevalent in adolescent dating. 566 high school students (T1 Mage=15.09, 51.2% Asian American, 49.8% Latine) were followed
longitudinally for two years. Participants completed self-reported dating status and peer nomination inventory assessing reciprocated friendships, popularity, and social acceptance. GPA was obtained from the school records. As dating was relatively stable across the two time points, we conducted logistic regressions examining cross-sectional correlates of prolonged romantic development using T1 and T2 datasets, respectively. We also investigated T1 friendship attributes predicting changes in dating status across T1 and T2. Findings showed that friends' GPA was the most conclusive predictor of adolescents' dating behaviors regardless of gender and ethnicity. Cross-ethnic friendship was negatively linked to prolonged romantic development only for Asian American youths. Friends’ popularity was more closely associated with prolonged romantic development. Results suggest the significance of peer context in adolescents’ romantic involvement as well as the role of ethnocultural norms on dating behaviors.

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Creator Chung, Jinsol (author)

Core Title Adolescents who have never dated: friendship attributes as predictors of prolonged romantic development among Asian American and Latine youths

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Degree Master of Science

Degree Program Psychology

Degree Conferral Date 2024-12

Publication Date 12/02/2024

Defense Date 04/21/2024

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