Attributes and Friendships of Youths Who Have Not Dated by Mid-Adolescence

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of romantic relationships, but not all youths begin dating by mid-adolescence. We followed 566 high school students across one year to examine individual and friendship correlates of non-dating (reporting no prior romantic experience), and test moderation by gender and ethnicity using logistic regression models. Non-daters were likely to be Asian American, and most remained non-dating. Non-daters had low popularity, high GPAs, and their friends had low popularity, high social acceptance and high GPA. Asian American boys with predominantly same-ethnic friends were especially likely to be non-dating, whereas non-dating Latina girls with high social acceptance were likely to begin dating. Findings suggest that non-dating reflects adult-aligned values and is embedded in cultural ecologies.