For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the team included 7,152 people and followed them for at least 24 years. Both the number of marriages and the number of cohabiting partners by mothers had similar effects on how many partners their children had. However, siblings exposed to their mothers' cohabitation for longer periods had more partners than their siblings exposed to less cohabitation. "You may see cohabitation as an attractive, lower-commitment type of relationship if you've seen your mother in such a relationship for a longer time," Dush said. "That may lead to more partners since cohabiting relationships are more likely to break-up."
Mothers' personality traits influence stability of kids' relationships
For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the team included 7,152 people and followed them for at least 24 years. Both the number of marriages and the number of cohabiting partners by mothers had similar effects on how many partners their children had. However, siblings exposed to their mothers' cohabitation for longer periods had more partners than their siblings exposed to less cohabitation. "You may see cohabitation as an attractive, lower-commitment type of relationship if you've seen your mother in such a relationship for a longer time," Dush said. "That may lead to more partners since cohabiting relationships are more likely to break-up."
