Five domains of interpersonal competence in peer relationships.

In three studies we investigated the utility of distinguishing among different domains of interpersonal competence in college students' peer relationships. In Study 1 we developed a questionnaire to assess five dimensions of competence: initiating relationships, self-disclosure, asserting displeasure with others' actions, providing emotional support, and managing interpersonal conflicts. Initial validation evidence was gathered. We found that self-perceptions of competence varied as a function of sex of subject, sex of interaction partner, and competence domain. In Study 2 we found moderate levels of agreement between ratings of competence by subjects and their roommates. Interpersonal competence scores were also related in predictable ways to subject and roommate reports of masculinity and femininity, social self-esteem, loneliness, and social desirability. In Study 3 we obtained ratings of subjects' competence from their close friends and new acquaintances. Relationship satisfaction among new acquaintances was predicted best by initiation competence, whereas satisfaction in friendships was most strongly related to emotional support competence. The findings provide strong evidence of the usefulness of distinguishing among domains of interpersonal competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental aggression and young children's representations of family relationships.

Children's maternal, self, and marital representations were examined in 46 children 3 1/2 to 7 years old using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery. Children drawn from agencies serving battered women expressed fewer positive representations of their mothers and themselves, were more likely to portray interparental conflict as escalating, and were more avoidant and less coherent in their narratives about family interactions than children from a nonviolent community sample. Interparental aggression uniquely predicted representations of conflict escalation and avoidance after accounting for parent-child aggression, and the two types of aggression had additive effects in predicting positive maternal representations. The results suggest that witnessing aggression in the family affects children's developing beliefs about close relationships and may be a process by which these experiences give rise to later problems in social and emotional functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment, parenting, and peer interactions of toddler children

The relation of parenting variables and attachment classification to peer relations was studied for 156 families with toddler children. Children were observed at 18 months of age in the home with their parents and from 18 to 24 months of age in peer playgroups. Playgroup teachers rated the children's ability to get along with their peers. Also when children were 18 months, they were assessed with their mothers in the Strange Situation, and an attachment classification was made. There were significant differences in peer reactions to children of different attachment classifications. Insecure-resistant children received fewer positive reactions to their positive behaviors, and both resistant and avoidant children received more negative reactions to their positive behaviors. Hierarchical regressions were computed to examine the contribution of observed parent-child interactions and the attachment classification to peer interactions.     

Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic relationships.

Questionnaire measures of attachment style, attachment history, beliefs about relationships, self-esteem, limerence, loving, love addiction, and love styles were administered to 374 undergraduates. Attachment style was related in theoretically expected ways to attachment history and to beliefs about relationships. Securely attached Ss reported relatively positive perceptions of their early family relationships. Avoidant Ss were most likely to report childhood separation from their mother and to express mistrust of others. Anxious-ambivalent subjects were less likely than avoidant Ss to see their father as supportive, and they reported a lack of independence and a desire for deep commitment in relationships. The self-esteem measure and each of the scales measuring forms of love were factor analyzed separately. Analyses based on scale scores derived from the resulting factors indicated that attachment style was also strongly related to self-esteem and to the various forms of love discussed in other theoretical frameworks. The results suggest that attachment theory offers a useful perspective on adult love relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent and peer relationships and relational spirituality in adolescents and young adults.

Research showing the protective qualities of Relational Spirituality, the experience of an ongoing dynamic personal relationship with G-d, against psychopathology in adolescents prompted the current investigation of its developmental correlates. Relational Spirituality in adolescence has been shown to have an unfolding heritable contribution and to be intertwined with a process of spiritual individuation, to which the current study adds the contribution of parents and peers to the developmental process. Participants were 615 adolescents and young adults representing a diverse range of ethnicities and religious affiliations. To measure parenting and friend variables, the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), Parental Spiritual Support Scale, and Friends Spiritual Support Scale were utilized. Relational Spirituality was measured using items from several subscales of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality to obtain a composite score. Findings of multivariate regression analyses indicated that Maternal Spiritual Support, Paternal Care, and Friends Spiritual Support were significantly positively associated with Relational Spirituality, with Maternal Spiritual Support influencing the selection of peers who offer Friends Spiritual Support. These results underscore the importance of parents and peers in facilitating the development of Relational Spirituality, particularly through maternal openness to discussion about spirituality/religiosity and through paternal affection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences and consistency between same-sex and other-sex peer relationships during early adolescence.

Studied, with 3 samples, children's and early adolescents' preferences for same-sex peers and the consistency of individual differences in reputation and popularity across the same- and other-sex domains. Findings indicate that individual differences in the same-sex preference (1) derived from children's liking of other-sex peers, (2) were consistent over relatively long intervals, and (3) were related to children's preferences for activities requiring gross motor skills. Same- and other-sex popularity had the same reputational correlates, except that acceptance among other-sex peers was more closely tied to prominence in the peer group. These findings are discussed according to children's and early adolescents' perceptions of and experiences with same- and other-sex peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The pushes and pulls of close relationships: Attachment insecurities and relational ambivalence.

Attachment theorists have emphasized that attachment-anxious individuals are ambivalent in their relational tendencies, wishing to be close to their relationship partners but also fearing rejection. Here we report 6 studies examining the contribution of attachment anxiety and experimentally induced relational contexts (both positive and negative) to explicit and implicit manifestations of (a) attitudinal ambivalence toward a romantic partner and (b) motivational ambivalence with respect to the goals of relational closeness and distance. Attachment-anxious individuals exhibited strong attitudinal ambivalence toward a romantic partner, assessed by both explicit and implicit measures. They also exhibited strong motivational ambivalence regarding closeness (both explicit and implicit), and this motivational conflict was intensified in relational contexts that encouraged either approach or avoidance tendencies. Participants who scored relatively high on avoidant attachment proved to be implicitly ambivalent about distance issues but mainly in negative relational contexts. Several alternative interpretations of the results were considered and ruled out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and parental hostility: Links with children's sibling and peer relationships.

The authors examined the associations between marital conflict and children's relationships with siblings and peers. Mothers' and fathers' hostility toward children and children's interpretations of parents' marital conflict (self-blame and feeling threatened) were investigated as mediators between marital conflict and children's sibling and peer relationships. The sample included 136 intact 2-child families. Children were 7 and 10 years old. Data were collected from observations of marital and family interaction and from family members' reports. Results showed that marital conflict was associated with problematic sibling and peer relationships. Both maternal and paternal hostility mediated the associations between marital conflict and sibling relationships. The link between marital conflict and sibling rivalry was also mediated by children's feelings of self-blame for their parents' conflict. Fathers' hostility toward children mediated the association between marital conflict and children's problematic peer relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's representations of attachment relationships in family drawings

Children's representational models of self and attachment figures were investigated in family drawings at age 8-9 in a high-risk, racially mixed sample. Drawings were scored using a series of specific signs and a group of theoretically derived, global rating scales. When specific signs were treated in a combined way (versus separately), they were significantly related to early attachment history in predicted ways. Similarly, specific rating scales were found to be significantly related to early relationship history. Analyses exploring the relative contributions of early attachment history and contemporary measures of child IQ, life stress, and emotional functioning revealed that even after contemporary influences were taken into account, attachment history made a significant contribution to the prediction of negative drawing outcome. Results were interpreted as supporting an organizational perspective on development where qualitative differences in early relationships are hypothesized to shape core representational models of the self and to exert an ongoing influence on later representational processes.     

Aspects of social reputation and peer relationships in Italian children: A cross-cultural perspective.

A group of Italian children (790 boys and 717 girls), 10–13 years old, were administered the Revised Class Play (Masten, Morison, & Pellegrini, 1985) in order to explore cross-cultural differences in social reputation with respect to North American studies. Children also were given sociometric nominations to examine the association between social reputation and peer acceptance–rejection. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed a 4-factor structure with the original Leadership-Sociability factor split in 2 separate dimensions: leadership and sociability. Leadership items seemed to draw a profile of a well-behaved, polite, and socially correct child, whereas Sociability items seemed to draw a profile of a child that is sociable, liked, exuberant, and ready to make friends and to interact with others. Moreover, the data suggested somewhat subtle forms of association between Aggression and Sociability. Results on relations between peer acceptance–rejection and social reputation confirmed North American findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and boys' peer relationships: The mediating role of mother-son emotional reciprocity.

This study examined the role of mother-son emotional reciprocity in connections between marital conflict and the quality of boys' peer relationships. Parents from 84 intact families with preadolescent boys reported on the level of conflict in their marital relationship. Observations of mother-son interaction were coded for emotional reciprocity, and assessments of boys' peer relationships were obtained from both teachers and classmates. No direct connection between marital conflict and boys' peer relationships was observed. Rather, marital conflict affected boys' social competence indirectly, through its effect on the emotions expressed between mother and son. The findings support the proposal that emotional processes play an important role in connections between marital conflict and children's peer relationships and suggest that family emotional expressiveness deserves greater attention in both research and intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment and the experience and expression of emotions in romantic relationships: A developmental perspective.

In this longitudinal study, the authors tested a developmental hypothesis derived from attachment theory and recent empirical findings. Target participants were 78 individuals who have been studied intensively from infancy into their mid-20s. When targets were 20-23 years old, the authors tested the way in which interpersonal experiences at 3 pivotal points in each target's earlier social development--infancy/early childhood, early elementary school, and adolescence--predicted the pattern of positive versus negative emotions experienced with his or her romantic partner. A double-mediation model revealed that targets classified as securely attached at 12 months old were rated as more socially competent during early elementary school by their teachers. Targets' social competence, in turn, forecasted their having more secure relationships with close friends at age 16, which in turn predicted more positive daily emotional experiences in their adult romantic relationships (both self- and partner-reported) and less negative affect in conflict resolution and collaborative tasks with their romantic partners (rated by observers). These results are discussed in terms of attachment theory and how antecedent life experiences may indirectly shape events in current relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's representations of multiple family relationships: Organizational structure and development in early childhood.

The authors examine mutual family influence processes at the level of children's representations of multiple family relationships, as well as the structure of those representations. From a community sample with 3 waves, each spaced 1 year apart, kindergarten-age children (105 boys and 127 girls) completed a story-stem completion task, tapping representations of multiple family relationships. Structural equation modeling with autoregressive controls indicated that representational processes involving different family relationships were interrelated over time, including links between children's representations of marital conflict and reactions to conflict, between representations of security about marital conflict and parent-child relationships, and between representations of security in father-child and mother-child relationships. Mixed support was found for notions of increasing stability in representations during this developmental period. Results are discussed in terms of notions of transactional family dynamics, including family-wide perspectives on mutual influence processes attributable to multiple family relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental management of adolescent peer relationships in context: The role of parenting style.

Three hundred 9th-graders and their best friends participated in this short-term longitudinal study. Confirmatory factor analysis of the Parental Management of Peers Inventory (N. Mounts, 2000) suggested that the 4-factor structure provided a good fit to the data. Significant differences in adolescents' perceptions of parental management of peers occurred across 4 parenting style groups. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relation among 5 aspects of parental management of peers and adolescents' Time 1 drug use, friends' Time 1 drug use, and adolescents' Time 2 drug use. The parental management styles of monitoring, guiding, prohibiting, and supporting all had significant paths in the model, whereas neutrality was not significant. Multiple group comparisons were used to examine whether parenting style moderates the relation between parental management of peers and the drug use outcomes. Parenting style functioned as a moderator for 7 of the paths in the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectant parents' representations of early attachment relationships: Associations with mental health and family history.

The association between adult representations of early attachment relationships and history of individual and family mental health was examined in a sample of 233 expectant mothers and fathers. As predicted, security of attachment was linked to mental health. Parents classified as Preoccupied were more likely than other parents to report suicidal ideation, whereas parents classified as Unresolved more- often reported suicidal ideation, emotional distress, and substance abuse. With respect to family history, Unresolved and Preoccupied attachment classifications were significantly related to child abuse involving a relative and parental separation or divorce. These findings support theoretical conceptualizations regarding the link between adult attachment and mental health in middle-class American adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting behaviors and parent-child relationships: correlates of peer victimization in kindergarten?

This study examined features of parenting behavior and the parent-child relationship as correlates of peer victimization in young children. A sample of 197 kindergartners (94 girls and 103 boys) and their primary caregivers were videotaped in their homes while engaging in multiple interactional tasks, and peer victimization data were gathered on children as they began kindergarten. The video-recorded interaction data were used to create measures of parenting behavior (e.g., intrusive demandingness, responsiveness) and relationship quality (i.e., intense closeness), which were examined as predictors of peer victimization. High intrusive demandingness and low responsiveness were associated with peer victimization in both boys and girls, and parent-child relationships characterized by intense closeness were associated with higher levels of peer victimization in boys. Results are discussed in terms of the role that caregiver socialization plays in the development of child behaviors that may increase children's risk for peer victimization.     

Cognitive representations of power in caregiving relationships: Biasing effects on interpersonal interaction and information processing.

Relationship schemas were explored as organizers of responses to challenging encounters with children. Adults who see themselves as lacking power as caregivers were predicted to show increased "defensive" activity and reduced processing capacity when primed for thoughts of caregiving challenge. In Study 1, 160 mothers engaged in experimentally manipulated interactions with unrelated children who appeared to be responsive or unresponsive to them. Mothers with low perceived power manifested "defensive" activity (i.e., appeasement smiles) and difficulty recalling their thoughts after challenging interactions. In Study 2, 150 unmarried women carried out a cognitively demanding task after activation of thoughts of easy or challenging interactions with children. Women with low perceived power showed cognitive interference effects after they had been primed to think about challenging interactions. Activation of low power schemas was interpreted as leading to reduced cognitive capacity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' representations of their relationships with their toddlers: Links to adult attachment and observed mothering.

Mothers (N?=?125) and their firstborn sons were studied over an 11-month period to examine relations between mothers' representations of their relationships with their children (measured at 15 months by using the Parent Development Interview [PDI]), adult representations of attachment (measured at 12 months by using the Adult Attachment Interview [AAI]), and observed mothering (measured at 15 and 21 months). Results indicate (a) that mothers classified as autonomous on the AAI scored highest on the joy-pleasure/coherence dimension of the PDI and mothers classified as dismissing on the AAI scored highest on the anger dimension of the PDI and (b) that mothers scoring higher on the joy-pleasure/coherence dimension of the PDI engaged in less negative and more positive mothering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)