June 11, 2010 -- A rocky romantic relationship can cause significant stress, but contrary to conventional wisdom, its impact may be harder on young men than on young women, new research indicates.

Though previous research has long suggested that unmarried young women are more vulnerable than men to tough times in romantic relationships, the opposite seems to be true, according to research by sociologists at Wake Forest University and Florida State University.

Robin Simon, PhD, a professor at Wake Forest, and Anne Barrett, PhD, of FSU, studied the emotional reactions of 1,611 unmarried adults between the ages of 18 and 23.

They conclude that:

The harmful stress of a roller-coaster relationship is more likely to affect the mental health of young men than young women.

A recent breakup from a romantic relationship affects the mental health of young women more than young men.

Young women are more emotionally affected than their romantic partners when it comes to being in a relationship or not. Young men, on the other hand, are more affected emotionally by the quality of their current relationships.

Simon tells WebMD that young men and women “are both affected by negative aspects, and by good ones, but when you look at both, men are more affected emotionally by both good and bad relationships.”

Women are more likely to become depressed; distressed young men are prone to turn to alcohol or other mind-altering substances, she says. And young men, she says, are more likely to develop substance abuse problems.

The study is published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Among other findings:

Young men see their romantic partners as their primary source of intimacy, while young women are more likely than men to have close relationships with friends and family.

Problems in relationships seem to threaten young men’s identity and feelings of self-worth, but this doesn’t seem to be the case for young women.

The study “sheds light on the association between non-marital romantic relationships and emotional well-being among men and women on the threshold of adulthood,” Simon says in a news release. “Surprisingly, we found young men are more reactive to the quality of ongoing relationships.”