TORONTO, February 11, 2004 -- Teenage girls are usually serial daters where the average romance lasts about four months.  Although parents may not approve of the assembly-line love, researchers at York University have discovered they teach girls life-long lessons about relationships.

 

But for a minority of teenage girls St. Valentine’s Day might be the worst day of the year. For them, a broken romance can lead to extreme emotional trauma and serious self-esteem issues.

 

“For the most part teenage girls recover quickly from a romantic break-up and learn a lot about what makes a good relationship when they have a positive dating experience,” explains York Psychology Professor Jennifer Connolly. “But there are some (about 20 per cent) who cannot recover quickly and take drastic measures to deny the reality of a break-up.”

 

Connolly, who is director of York’s LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution, is in the midst of an 18-month study on how teenagers in Grades 7-12 behave after breaking up.  The research will be used to develop a better understanding of the emotional dynamics involved in young love and ways to promote healthy relationships between teenage boys and girls.

 

“Romantic love can be tough for these teenage girls who have unrealistic expectations. Some even suffer from severe depression and occasionally attempt suicide. We want to find out how we can promote positive relationships to avoid those situations in the first place,” adds Connolly.

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For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

 

Ken Turriff, Media Relations, York University, 416-736-2100, ext. 22086,

kturriff@yorku.ca     

 

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