This study examined the relation between early family relationship patterns and adolescents' regulation of negative affect; attunement to their partners' affect; and capacity to balance their needs with those of their partner during conflict. A total of 27 college women completed measures pertaining to their relationship with their parents and their parents' marital relationship. The women and their boyfriends separately completed an intimacy questionnaire that measured closeness, reliance, and conflict. Partner dyads participated in four interaction tasks. Coders rated their interactions for positive affectivity, emotional engagement, balance, and hostility. Results indicated that females who had experienced father-daughter alliances reported less ability to rely on their partner and more anger toward their partner than did females who had not experienced such a family pattern. They were also observed to show less positive affect and emotional engagement with their partner; less ability to balance their needs with their partner's; and more hostility. Females who had experienced mother-daughter triangulation reported less reliance on their partner and more distance in their relationship than did females who had not experienced such a family pattern. They were also observed to have difficulty balancing their needs with their partner's. Twenty-one references are cited. (BC)