The dimensions of uncertainty and ambiguity in adolescents and young adults’ romantic relationships: A systematic review

Contemporary romantic relationships in adolescence and young adulthood\r\nno longer follow a linear trajectory but come to be increasingly characterized by\r\nhigh heterogeneity. Social networks have also constituted a new context for\r\ninteraction, which has given rise to the tendency to enact behaviors\r\ncharacterized by uncertainty and ambiguity. This study aims at providing a\r\nframework of the existing literature contributions on the dimensions of\r\nrelational uncertainty and relational ambiguity in adolescents and young adults’\r\nromantic relationships. A state-of-art systematic review was performed on\r\nPsycInfo, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science Direct, adopting the PRISMA\r\nstatement. Through a qualitative analysis, four themes emerged from the 23\r\nincluded articles: (a) the definitions of relational uncertainty and relational\r\nambiguity, (b) the impact on the quality of the romantic relationship, (c)\r\ncommunicative and individual outcomes, and (d) coping strategies.