ERIC Number: EJ1049504
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Dec
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Physiological Reactivity Moderates the Association between Parental Directing and Young Adolescent Friendship Adjustment
Tu, Kelly M.; Erath, Stephen A.; Pettit, Gregory S.; El-Sheikh, Mona
Developmental Psychology, v50 n12 p2644-2653 Dec 2014
This study examined whether the longitudinal association between parental directing of friendships (i.e., encouraging or discouraging certain friendships) and young adolescents' friendship adjustment (i.e., friendship quality and friends' positive characteristics) was moderated by skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) to peer stress. Participants included 123 young adolescents (M age = 12.03 years at Time [T]1; 50% boys; 58.5% European Americans). At T1 (summer before the transition to middle school), parents reported on the extent to which they directed adolescents toward or away from certain peers, and adolescents' SCLR was assessed during a lab-based peer evaluation task. At T1 and T2 (spring of the first year of middle school), adolescents reported on the quality of their friendships and positive peer affiliations. Controlling for T1 friendship adjustment, parental directing predicted higher friendship quality and more positive peer affiliations, but only among young adolescents with lower SCLR, which was conceptualized as a marker of underarousal and insensitivity to stress. Results are discussed with reference to the developmental period of early adolescence and related research on interactions between parental control and child characteristics as predictors of adolescent adjustment.
Descriptors: Longitudinal Studies, Correlation, Friendship, Peer Relationship, Parent Influence, Parent Child Relationship, Stress Variables, Measurement, Middle School Students, Adjustment (to Environment), Prediction, Student Characteristics
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Junior High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A