Now, that's interesting...

Here's an article I found in today's Sun-Times. It's actually taking from September 9th's edition of the Wall Street Journal. I found it quite vindicating.

Fewer dating relationships may benefit teens in long run, studies say

When their son was a teenager, Doug and Suzanne Schiffman worried that he wasn't dating enough. Adolescence is a time to build relationship skills, the Chevy Chase, Md., couple believed - but their son had just one long-term girlfriend late in high school, and none in college.

As it turns out, the lack of dating didn't hurt. Their son married at 24 and now, at 33, is "the happiest married person we know," Schiffman says.

A growing body of research is challenging popular notions about teen romance.

As the Schiffmans saw, lots of dating isn't necessarily a good thing; new studies show fewer, deeper relationships are better preparation for happy adult partnerships.

The research shows teen dating can play a unique developmental role, helping to equip teens with the intimacy skills they need to form lasting, happy marriages.

It also holds valuable clues for parents on figuring out how well their teens are shaping up as future spouses, and how they as parents can best guide that development.

Conventional wisdom has long held that "dating around" gives kids the experience they need to make good choices about adult partners.

But two new studies, in particular, buck the idea that lots of dating is best.

One, based on a 28-year look at 180 Midwestern subjects at the University of Minnesota, shows teens who date a lot, or have more than seven to nine dating partners from the ages of 15 to 17, don't have a higher likelihood of developing healthy adult relationships. Instead, their romances in their 20s are likely to be more troubled.

Another new study shows deeper, more-lasting teen relationships also increase the likelihood of marriage. Released last month at an American Sociological Association convention by Ann Meier, a University of Minnesota sociology professor, and others, the research shows unmarried teenage girls who settle down with longer relationships or just one partner at 16 or 17 - and were still unmarried at age 21 - are more likely to eventually be married by ages 22 to 25; the pattern was less pronounced for boys.