Conflict and Intimacy in Emerging Adults’ Romantic Relationships and Depressive Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Identity and Couple Satisfaction

Romantic relationships in emerging adulthood may be associated with depression, but therole of possible mediators of this relationship remains to be explored. The present study tested a serialmediation model where intimacy and conflict in romantic relationships were predictors of depressivesymptoms through the mediation of couple satisfaction and identity satisfaction. The study wasconducted on a sample of 268 Italian emerging adults, 60% female (Mage = 19, ds = 1.4), all involvedin a heterosexual romantic relationship. The results showed that the association between intimacyand depressive symptoms was direct and sequentially mediated through couple satisfaction andidentity satisfaction. A single mediation pathway through identity satisfaction alone also emerged.The association between conflict and depressive symptoms was direct and sequentially mediatedthrough couple satisfaction and identity satisfaction. These findings suggest the importance ofhelping emerging adults develop appropriate skills in managing conflict and intimacy in romanticrelationships as useful resources for identity satisfaction and depression prevention.