Abstract

This study is aimed at investigating, by a self-report questionnaire, whether adolescents (n = 328 of both genders, aged from 14 to 20 years, attending high school) who are involved in friendships characterized by different levels of support and conflict showed over time differences also with respect to romantic relationship, beliefs and attitude towards sex and finally sexual relationships (in terms of both involvement and ways of realizing sex as deepness of the relationship with the sexual partners and number of sexual partners) controlling for gender and age. The findings showed that are especially the adolescents with detached friendships (that is neither support and sharing nor conflict prevail) and those with conflicting friendships who differ from the others, indicating different developmental paths. The first group differ for a lower involvement in romantic relationships and the second for a higher involvement in sex. However, we did not find any relationship between patterns of friendship and ways of realizing sexual relationships.