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Relationships, the romantic kind, have been associated with happiness and the giddy feeling that you have but the same can also be the reason behind why you are depressed. Not dating during your teenage phase can prove out to be a boon for you instead of the opposite.
A new study (R) conducted by the researchers from the University of Georgia found that the teens and adolescents who were not involved in romantic relationships during their middle and high school were less depressed. Not just that, they also had a better social skill and fared better in comparison to the friends and peers in the same age cohort.
Even though dating during the teen years is considered as an important factor during that age phase in terms of self identity and to enhance one’s overall social skills and even grow emotionally over the course of years.
While this has been a very standard mode of assessment, it is now a factor that you need to keep in check for the better. Dating during the teen years isn’t necessarily a must for better social skills and such.
In the new conducted study, the researchers found that not dating has been associated with the prospect of better social skills along with the reduced risks of depression in them as well. The teens who didn’t date were found to even fare well in the other spectrums in life.
The study was published in the Journal of School Health and found that the adolescents who were not involved in romantic relationships during their middle and high school were found to have better social skills along with better mental health as well.
Brooke Douglas, a doctoral student in health promotion at UGA’s College of Public Health, who is also the lead author of the study suggested saying that it is very common for teenagers between the age of 15 to 17 years be in a relationship and be romantically involved. While it might seem butterflies and beautiful in the beginning, this isn’t, for the most part the best for them.
Douglas further said that the high frequency surrounding the same has led the researchers around to believe in the fact that dating during the teenage years is a very normal factor. In short, it means that the teens who are involved in romantic relationships are thus considered to be the ones on time with their normal psychological behaviour and development.
If dating was considered as a must when it comes to deducing the development and well being of the teens, Douglas was inquisitive as to what it said about the teens who decided not to date.
Douglas further suggested that what does it say about those individuals? She was confused as to what it meant, whether the ones who didn’t date were categorised under the maladjusted and misfits? Few of the studies have suggested saying that those seem to be possibilities which is why they wanted to make changes to those thoughts collectively.
In order to collect better data and intel on the same, lead author Brooke Douglas and Pamela Orpinas worked with 10th graders who suggested a lack of dating life or infrequent dating history. They got back again with the same participants around 7 years later to study their emotional and social skills in comparison to their peers who dated quite frequently during their teenage years.
The first set of collected data was gathered from the students from the Northeast Georgia region ranging from students from the sixth to twelfth grade. The reports dated from the year of 2013 and were collected by Pamela Orpinas.
On each spring, the students further shared the information whether they dated and then ended up reporting on the number of social and emotional factors involved with the same. They were also asked to report on the positive relationships that they have with their friends, family and relatives. Additionally, they also reported of any kind of depressive episodes and that of any lingering suicidal thoughts as well.
Additionally, the teachers also did complete certain questionnaires surrounding the student’s behaviour in terms of their social skills, leadership skills as well as the levels of depression that they have been struggling with.
Upon looking through the final results, the researchers found that the non-dating students better interpersonal skills in comparison to the ones who were frequently dating. The only thing constant between the two was the comparison between the positive relationship with that of the friends and the family around them.
They also found that the students who reported that they were depressed or sad were a lot lesser in this group in comparison to the other ones which was yet another one of the markers for the same.
In the teacher’s report, it was found that the reports for depression were actually a lot lesser for the students who didn’t date in comparison to the ones who did.
Following all of these collected data, Orpinas found that the non-dating students were the ones who were likely to be less depressed and even have a very healthy development trajectory in comparison to the ones who dated.
The main aim of the study was to build a relationship between the dating spectrum with being depressed. But, for the most part, it is necessary to understand that the adolescents do have a complete free hand when it comes round to choosing their life and how they wish to lead it.
