Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The aim of the study was to explore whether and how emerging adults talk about their romantic relationships with their close others, especially their parents and friends, also considering gender differences.
Data were collected via eight single-sex focus groups conducted with 50 Italian emerging adults aged 18—25 , and were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Two main themes emerged. Keywords: seeking advice, romantic relationships, parents, close friends, emerging adulthood, sexuality. Communication and self-disclosure about romantic relationships have been found to be typical in adolescence, especially with friends and less with parents Fry et al.
Research on emerging adults seeking advice revealed that they look for parental support when they experience difficulties in different areas of their lives, but less with regard to how to manage their romantic relationships Carlson, It could be that they prefer to turn to their friends to have support and to self-disclose about their romantic issues. Few studies have been conducted on whether and how emerging adults talk about their romantic relationships with their parents and friends, especially in Italy.
In order to fill this gap, the present qualitative study aimed to explore whether and how emerging adults talk about their romantic relationships with their parents and friends, also considering possible gender differences that have been found in adolescence.
