The Moderating Role of Friendship Quality on Associations Between Autonomy and Adolescent Adjustment

Abstract

Both autonomy and friendship quality have consistently been associated with adolescent adjustment. To date, the potentially moderating role of peer relationships in the context of autonomy achievement has received less attention. The present study used observational and quantitative data, as well as multiple reporters, to examine interactions between adolescent friendship quality and observed autonomy among 57 ninth-grade students (42 female). Friendship quality moderated the association between autonomy and relatedness and adjustment outcomes. Specifically, for those adolescents with high levels of friendship quality, autonomy and relatedness as well as undermining of autonomy were not associated with adjustment. In contrast, friendship quality functioned as a protective factor for adolescents with low levels of autonomy and relatedness or higher levels of undermining autonomy. Results evidenced the protective function of peer relationships in the context of restricted autonomy.

Keywords

adjustment autonomy/relatedness parent-adolescent relationships friendship

As children transition to adolescence, both peers and parents are salient social partners (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985). Adolescents must navigate the successful development of autonomy, as well as an increasing reliance on their peers as sources of support and identity development (Meeus & Dekoviíc, 1995). Unsurprisingly, both autonomy and friendship quality have consistently been associated with adolescent adjustment. Yet, the intersection of adolescents’ success in navigating their roles in these two relationships has received less attention. The present study contends that to expand upon our current understanding of these interpersonal factors, we need to investigate the role of peer relationship quality in moderating the associations between parent-adolescent autonomy and adolescent socio-emotional functioning.

Achieving autonomy and remaining engaged in connected and positive relationships with parents is recognized as an important, stage-salient task in adolescence (Allen, Hauser, Bell, & O’Connor, 1994). This duality of both burgeoning independence and positivity in the relationship with the parent has been termed “autonomy relatedness” (Allen et al., 1994). Caregivers who are able to remain both emotionally supportive and encouraging of their adolescents’ autonomy have children who are likely to succeed in novel situations (Sroufe, 2005). Indeed, the emergence of autonomy within the parent-child relationship is linked with concurrent positive adolescent functioning including self-esteem, social competence, social acceptance, and academic success as well as lower levels of problem behavior and depressive mood (Lamborn & Steinberg, 1993; Noom, Dekoviíc, & Meeus, 1999). In contrast, the inability to successfully navigate autonomy-relatedness development is longitudinally linked to subsequent depression, hostility, and poor social skills (Allen, Hauser, O’Connor, & Bell, 2002).

In tandem to adolescents’ autonomy strivings is the growing salience of friendships during adolescence (Berndt, 1982; Hartup, 1993). During this period, adolescents begin to rely less on their parents and to seek out their friends’ guidance, company, and support more readily (Scholte & Van Aken, 2006). High quality friendships are concurrently associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing difficulties as well as positive coping (Bollmer, Milich, Harris, & Maras, 2005; Parker & Asher, 1993). In turn, poor friendship quality, such as friendship conflict or lack of intimacy, has been longitudinally linked with more depressive symptoms (Biggs, Nelson, & Sampilo, 2010), as well as concurrently associated with more internalizing and externalizing problems, and lower school grades (Burk & Laursen, 2005).

In recent years, greater emphasis has also been placed on adolescent resiliency, and factors that may protect adolescents in the context of potential risk. In particular, positive peer experiences have been thought to potentially buffer against familial risk, such as poor parenting. For instance, high quality friendships appear to buffer the effects of parental rejection, family adversity, and negative parenting on both internalizing (McDonald, Bowker, Rubin, Laursen, & Duchene, 2010; Sentse, Lindenberg, Omvlee, Ormel, & Veenstra, 2010) and externalizing (Criss, Pettit, Bates, Dodge, & Lapp, 2002) difficulties. Thus, although evidence suggests the potential protective effect of peers in the context of family difficulties, little work has examined these moderating effects in the context of autonomy-relatedness development, which is distinct from other parenting characteristics (Allen et al., 1994). Gaertner, Fite, and Colder (2010) demonstrated that friendship quality moderated the links between parental involvement and internalizing problems, such that high quality friendships were protective against greater internalizing problems in the context of overinvolved parenting. Such findings offer preliminary evidence of potential moderating effects; however, these potential interactions require further clarification using the broader construct of autonomy.

Theoretically, the potential moderating effect of peer relationships on links between autonomy and relatedness and adjustment is consistent with a social provisions framework, which posits that children and adolescents obtain different aspects of social support from different types of relationships (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985). As such, parents and peers each serve an important function in children’ lives without diminishing the role of the other. Although an adolescent may not be receiving adequate autonomy development support from their parent, higher friendship quality may help attenuate the negative impact on adjustment. Furthermore, a social provisions framework points to an area which has received little empirical attention: the potential exacerbation of risk in the context of both limitations to autonomy and poor friendship quality. This theory would posit that adolescents who are receiving limited social supports in a number of areas, such as a lack of autonomy and relatedness and low friendship quality, may be at greatest risk due to a culmination of deficits.

The present study aims to assess these theoretical expectations and extend this literature using a multi-method and multi-reporter approach to assess the potentially moderating role of friendship quality on associations between observed autonomy and adjustment.

Hypotheses

The following are the hypotheses of this study:

Hypothesis 1: Consistent with research demonstrating the benefits of both autonomy and relatedness and high friendship quality, we hypothesized that adolescents with high autonomy and relatedness and high quality friendships would demonstrate positive socio-emotional adjustment.

Hypothesis 2: Consistent with a social provisions framework, we hypothesized that high quality friendships would protect against negative adjustment outcomes.

Method

Participants and Procedures

Adolescents in this study included 57 ninth-grade students (42 females) who participated in a laboratory-based data collection. The sample selected for the current study was drawn from a larger school-based study (n = 279). Of the 165 students who agreed to be contacted regarding potential participation in an additional lab-based session, 65 agreed to participate and 57 participants had all of the data necessary for inclusion in the current study. Age ranged from 13 to 15 years of age (M = 14 years 1 month; SD = 5.4 months). Within the selected sample, participants’ ethnicities as indicated by self-reports were 98% Caucasian and 2% Hispanic. Participants were enrolled in public schooling within five towns whose average median household income was US$61,800 and 2% to 57% of children were eligible for free/reduced lunch.

The 57 target participants were compared with the larger sample of all students who participated across the five schools. Chi-square analyses showed that our sample had more girls than boys (χ² = 7.02; df = 1, p < .01). No significant group differences emerged for any of the outcome variables under study, for self-rated autonomy from mother, or in terms of friendship quality.

Participants included in this study visited the laboratory with their mother in the summer after ninth grade and independently completed questionnaires and a number of shared activities that were videotaped. Adolescents and their mothers were videotaped (a) jointly rating and discussing how family decisions are made for 20 different adolescent issues (e.g., when to start dating, what clothes to wear) and (b) engaging in a 20-minute conversation regarding two problems in their relationship. Earlier in the session, adolescents and their mothers had independently decided on a topic that each wanted to discuss. Peer rating measures were also completed during the in-school assessment during the spring of ninth grade. Each participant received a set of rosters with the names and code numbers of all other students in their grade. Each peer rating question was printed at the top of a separate roster, and participants answered by circling the names and code numbers of their nominees for each question. Unlimited same- and cross-sex nominations were used. Adolescents and their parents were both paid for participation. Payments were US$10 per adolescent and US$15 per parent.

Measures

Friendship quality

The Friendship Quality Questionnaire (FQQ; Parker & Asher, 1993) included 40 items describing youth perceptions of the quality of their best friendship. Each item was rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 = not at all true to 5 = really true. Subscales represent validation, intimacy, conflict (reverse-coded), conflict resolution, help and guidance, and companionship within the relationship, with higher scores reflecting higher friendship quality. For the purpose of this study, a mean of all items was used to reflect overall self-reported friendship quality (Cronbach’s α = .90).

Internalizing and externalizing symptoms

Internalizing and externalizing symptoms were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1991). Mothers completed the CBCL by rating 113 problem behavior items on a 3-point scale ranging from not true to very true or often true. For the purposes of this study, broad band Internalizing (i.e., Withdrawn, Somatic Complaints, Anxious, and Depressed) and Externalizing (Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive Behavior) scores were used. For the purposes of this study, T-scores were used (Internalizing Scale Cronbach’s α = .77, Externalizing Scale Cronbach’s α = .72).

Social withdrawal

The peer rating prompt for Social Withdrawal read, “Who are the kids in your grade who stay by themselves a lot?” Nominations received were counted and standardized within the entire grade level of each school. Peer ratings of social withdrawal have been found to be highly reliable and valid in previous research (see Morgan, Shaw, & Forbes, 2013; Sandstrom, 2004; van den Berg & Cillessen, 2013; van den Berg, Segers, & Cillessen, 2012). Following the recommendations of Marks, Babcock, Cillessen, and Crick (2013), we calculated the split-half reliability, which was .81.

Observed adolescent autonomy with mothers

The autonomy-relatedness coding system (Allen, Hauser, Bell, McElhaney, & Tate, 1998) was used to code both the adolescent issues task and the problem discussions task. The system uses concrete behavioral guidelines to evaluate discussions and behaviors on 14 subscales (each coded using descriptive anchors), which are then combined by summing each subscale into three scales based on a priori theoretical grounds (see Allen et al., 1994). For the purposes of the present article, we used the adolescent Promoting Autonomy and Relatedness Scale, which includes four codes regarding adolescent behavior: stated reasons (e.g., statements that would advance the participant’s argument), confident assertiveness (e.g., the ability of the participant to maintain their position throughout the discussion and present his or her argument directly without qualifiers or hesitation), validating (e.g., statements of reacting positively to the other member of the dyad), and engaged interaction (e.g., nodding) was used. We also used the maternal Undermining Autonomy scale. This includes three codes regarding maternal behavior: recanting (e.g., statements that inhibit discussion by pretending to agree), overpersonalizing (e.g., statements blur the boundary between the person and the problem), and pressuring (e.g., leading questions).

Each interaction was coded separately by two trained coders. Any coding disagreements were resolved and a consensus code was chosen. A subset of interactions was coded and discussed by the entire coding team to maintain reliability and integrity in using the system. Reliability was adequate with intraclass correlations for each scale and task (i.e., adolescent issue ratings and problem discussion task), respectively, as follows: Maternal Undermining Autonomy: .75 and .88 and Adolescent Promoting Autonomy: .84 and .89.

Results

Preliminary Analyses

Table 1 includes the means and standard deviations as well as correlations of all variables in the study. Correlations indicate that friendship quality is negatively associated with adjustment indices, and the discussion tasks and adolescent issues tasks are correlated as expected. In contrast, undermining autonomy is not correlated with autonomy and relatedness.

Table 1.

Descriptives and Correlations Among All Variables.

	Adolescent issues autonomy and relatedness	Adolescent issues undermining autonomy	Discussion autonomy and relatedness	Discussion undermining autonomy	Friendship quality	Internalizing symptoms	Externalizing symptoms	Social withdrawal
M (SDs)	8.62 (3.72)	3.76 (1.65)	8.23 (2.22)	2.5 (1.58)	3.76 (.71)	45.17 (9.75)	44.52 (9.75)	0.12 (0.81)
Adolescent issues undermining autonomy	.22
Discussion autonomy and relatedness	.37*	−.21
Discussion undermining autonomy	−.23	.29*	−.07
Friendship quality	.35*	−.14	−.07	.01
Internalizing symptoms	−.03	−.02	.18	.06	−.45*
Externalizing symptoms	−.04	.06	.17	.13	−.29*	.62*
Social withdrawal	−.14	−.02	−.05	.07	−.32*	.46*	.34*

p < .05.

Primary Analyses

To examine the role of friendship quality in moderating the association between mothers’ and adolescents’ undermining or promoting of autonomy and psychosocial adjustment, we conducted a series of regression analyses predicting internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and social withdrawal. We entered either the centered score for adolescent promoting autonomy and relatedness or the centered score for maternal undermining autonomy as well as a centered score for friendship quality. Finally, we entered the product term of the two previously entered variables. To further interpret significant interactions, we plotted the estimated effects of promoting or undermining autonomy on adjustment for 1 SD above the mean, and 1 SD below the mean of friendship quality.

Undermining autonomy

For all outcomes, maternal undermining of autonomy was not significant. Friendship quality was significantly associated with lower levels of internalizing, externalizing symptoms, and social withdrawal. Finally, the interaction of undermining autonomy and friendship quality was significant for externalizing symptoms and social withdrawal in the adolescent issues task and for social withdrawal in the problem discussion task (see Table 2).

Table 2.

Regression Analyses Examining the Associations of Friendship Quality and Autonomy and Relatedness With Adjustment.

	Internalizing symptoms	Externalizing symptoms	Social withdrawal
	β	β	β
Adolescent issues task
Maternal UA	−.05	.07	−.05
FQ	−.43**	−.33*	−.35**
UA × FQ	−.13	−.29*	−.27*
Adolescent promotion AR	.06	.08	−.05
FQ	−.17***	−.29*	−.30
AR × FQ	.15*	.15*	.47***
Problem discussion task
Maternal UA	.07	.17	.06
FQ	−.42**	−.29*	−.34*
UA × FQ	.00	−.09	−.36**
Adolescent promotion AR	.17	.18	−.08
FQ	−.45**	−.33*	−.35**
AR × FQ	−.23	−.07	.05

Note. UA = undermining of autonomy; FQ = friendship quality; AR = autonomy and relatedness.

†

p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Figure 1 illustrates the pattern of interactions for each significant effect. Results from post hoc probing revealed that for adolescents with high friendship quality, the slopes of undermining autonomy was not significant. For those adolescents with low friendship quality, externalizing symptoms and social withdrawal were associated with higher levels of maternal undermining of autonomy in the adolescent issues task, b = 3.04, t(56) = 2.82, p = .02, and b = .20, t(56) = 2.12, p = .04, respectively, and social withdrawal in the problem discussion task, b = 0.31, t(56) = 3.07, p = .003.

Figure 1.

Pattern of interactions for each significant effect.

Promoting autonomy and relatedness

For all outcomes, promoting autonomy and relatedness was not significant. Friendship quality was significantly associated with lower levels of internalizing, externalizing symptoms, and social withdrawal in the problem discussion task, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in the adolescent issues task. Similar interaction effects were obtained when examining adolescent promotion of autonomy and relatedness in both observational tasks (Table 2). The interaction between autonomy and relatedness and friendship quality was significant for all outcomes in the adolescent issues task. Figure 1 illustrates the pattern of interactions for each significant effect. Results from post hoc probing of the moderating effects revealed that for adolescents with high levels of friendship quality, the slope of autonomy and relatedness was not significant. For those adolescents with low levels of friendship quality, the slopes were significant such that participants benefited from greater autonomy and relatedness. Specifically, internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and social withdrawal in the adolescent issues task decreased with greater autonomy and relatedness for those with low friendship quality, b = .81, t(56) = 2.03, p = .05; b = −1.02, t(56) = −2.01, p = .05; and b = −0.12, t(56) = −3.38, p = .001, respectively. Regression analyses examining adolescent promoting autonomy and relatedness during the problem discussion task did not produce the same findings; rather, only friendship quality was associated with adjustment outcomes.

Discussion

Adolescence is an important developmental period when both parents and friends play a simultaneous and dynamic role in adolescents’ lives. The achievement of autonomous functioning in the context of warm and related parent-child relationships is a key developmental task during adolescence. Adolescents seek to individuate from parents as a means for altering the unilateral terms of their relationships, thereby creating a greater sense of mutuality, escaping supervision, and developing a sense of independence. For many adolescents, simultaneous to the distancing from family is the development of high quality dyadic friendships that fill the social roles formerly filled by family. The present study sought to bridge the gap between studies that examine the unique influences of parent and peer relationships on adolescent adjustment by trying to understand the manner in which peers may promote resilience or exacerbate risk for adolescents within the context of autonomy.

Consistent with hypotheses, friendship quality moderated the association between autonomy and relatedness and adjustment outcomes. For those adolescents with high levels of friendship quality, autonomy and relatedness and undermining autonomy were not associated with adjustment. Consistent with a buffering hypothesis, friendship quality appears to protect against risks associated with lower levels of autonomy. Notably, however degree of autonomy appears to be particularly critical for those adolescents with lower levels of friendship quality. Such a pattern of results is consistent with prior work pointing to the protective function of peer relationships in the context of family adversity (Criss et al., 2002). However, the current study also demonstrated that adjustment problems are highest in the context of low levels of autonomy and relatedness or undermining autonomy and low friendship quality. Prior work has demonstrated that adolescents who perceive greater parental involvement and less autonomy demonstrate higher rates of peer orientation and seek more peer advice (Fuligni & Eccles, 1993). In the context of the current findings, this suggests that peers may have the most significant role in influencing youth who are experiencing autonomy difficulties. As such, youth who rely on high quality friendships may experience protective effects that help to diminish the negative impact of parents’ undercutting autonomy strivings. However, because a lack of autonomy is associated with greater adjustment difficulties only for adolescents with lower friendship quality, adolescents who trust in lower quality friendships may be at an increased risk of negative socio-emotional well-being. This conceptual addition is a critical one, because it suggests that in concert these social risks may place adolescents at greater jeopardy for negative outcomes than either risk uniquely.

Consistent with a social provisions framework, the present results suggest that the collective impact of poor parent-child autonomy and relatedness and low quality peer relationships appears to place adolescents at heightened risk for internalizing and externalizing difficulties as well as social withdrawal. These adolescents may be most vulnerable to peer influences toward externalizing behaviors because their lack of autonomy may contribute to difficulties with making their own decisions regarding engagement in deviant behavior, thereby, contributing to greater risk for deviance training (Poulin, Dishion, & Haas, 1999). In addition, evidence suggests only some youth are skilled enough during early adolescence to trade the time spent with parents for time spent with peers (Laursen & Williams, 1997). For those adolescents whose parents undermine their autonomy strivings, it is plausible that they also fail to support the normative transition to heightened peer engagement resulting in social withdrawal. Perhaps, without parents’ support in scaffolding adolescents’ building a peer social world, adolescents are thereby left increasingly socially isolated without either parent or peer engagements. Finally, adolescents’ experience of both negative interactions with peers and parents may reinforce their negative perceptions regarding themselves and may lead to biased interpretations regarding social information (e.g., depressogenic cognitions), thereby contributing to internalizing symptoms (Quiggle, Garber, Panak, & Dodge, 1992). Without a contrasting positive peer context, adolescents whose achievement of autonomy is thwarted within the parent-child relationship appear to be at significantly greater risk for a host of adjustment difficulties.

Consistent with previous research, the present article found a main effect of friendship quality such that higher friendship quality was associated with lower internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and social withdrawal (Biggs et al., 2010; Burk & Laursen, 2005; Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009). However, in contrast to other studies (Allen et al., 1994; Lamborn & Steinberg, 1993), no main effects for the influence of adolescent autonomy promotion on adjustment were found. Nonetheless, associations between autonomy and adjustment were found for those adolescents with low quality friendships, suggesting that they may be at unique risk. Furthermore, some researchers have theorized that autonomy is not a unitary dimension; rather, autonomy may be characterized by differing dimensions (e.g., struggles for personal versus prudential autonomy) that are differentially associated with adjustment (Hasebe, Nucci, & Nucci, 2004; Smetana, 1995). Due to the limited sample size, we were unable to run analyses based on type of autonomy topic being discussed. Future research may endeavor to look at potential differences in this way.

The findings from the adolescent issues task and the problem discussion task do not entirely replicate one another. For example, examining the problem discussion task, we consistently found moderating effects for social withdrawal, whereas in examining the adolescent issues task, we found this interaction less consistently. A lack of consistency for specific outcomes across both studies could be related to the differences in the dyadic tasks making certain features particularly salient. Furthermore, the adolescent issues task may have more variability in how it represents the dyad’s experiences because they were coded engaging in an assigned task; whereas in the problem discussion task, dyads chose the problem to discuss. Notably, however, for all significant interactions, the pattern of the interactions is strikingly similar, suggesting friendship quality is functioning similarly across both tasks. Future work should aim to further understand potential differences across observational tasks.

Limitations and Future Directions

Although the present article is a step forward in understanding the complexity of adolescent’s social interactions, it is limited by the small sample size. The smaller sample size did not allow for examining main or interaction effects of gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status (SES). Adolescent boys and girls have been found to differ on a number of psychosocial factors in adolescence including depression, withdrawal, and friendship quality (Hartup, 1993; Lindeman, Harakka, & Keltikangas-Järvinen, 1997; Nolen-Hoeksema & Girgus, 1994). In addition, differences in ethnicity and SES may also play an important role. There is evidence to support ethnic differences in friendship quality (Hartup, 1993) and autonomy (McElhaney & Allen, 2001). The timing and functionality of autonomy is also thought to differ across ethnicity and SES (Smetana & Gaines, 1999; Smetana, Villalobos, Rogge, & Tasopoulos-Chan, 2010), allowing for the possibility that the role of friendship quality in moderating the influence of autonomy might differ as well. Future research should consider a larger sample with more gender, ethnic and social diversity so that potential differences might be tested.

In addition, the present study was also limited by its cross-sectional nature. As such, there are a number of alternative explanations for the present findings. For example, it is possible that adjustment difficulties predict greater difficulties in maintaining autonomy and relatedness with a parent and that additional social stressors may exacerbate this risk. Future work should follow adolescents longitudinally to better understand the potential directionality of these associations, as well as determine whether these interactions predict long-term adjustment.

Despite these limitations, the present study used robust methods including multiple reporters, as well as qualitative and quantitative methods. The results highlight the considerable interaction of parent and peer relationship experiences in influencing adolescents’ social-emotional adjustment. The present article suggests that when parent relationships are not optimal, adolescents may turn to their peers for support and to buffer the consequences of insufficient parenting. These findings also fit the reality of adolescents’ lives inasmuch as the combination of these two relationships makes up the adolescent’s experience phenomenologically. As evidenced by the present article, considering multiple facets of an adolescents’ world simultaneously may provide insight into how both of these social contexts contribute to an adolescent’s well-being.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Charlene Collibee is a current graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver.

Amanda J. LeTard is a current graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Connecticut.

Julie Wargo Aikins is an associate professor at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University.

References

Achenbach

T. M.

(1991). Integrative guide for the 1991 CBCL/4-18, YSR, and TRF profiles. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.

Allen

J. P.

Hauser

S. T.

Bell

K. L.

McElhaney

K. L.

Tate

D. C.

(1998). Autonomy and relatedness coding system manual. Unpublished manuscript. University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

Allen

J. P.

Hauser

S. T.

Bell

K. L.

O’Connor

T. G.

(1994). Longitudinal assessment of autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-family interactions as predictors of adolescent ego development and self-esteem. Child Development, 65, 179-194.

Allen

J. P.

Hauser

S. T.

O’Connor

T. G.

Bell

K. L.

(2002). Prediction of peer-rated adult hostility from autonomy struggles in adolescent-family interactions. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 123-137.

Berndt

T. J.

(1982). The features and effects of friendship in early adolescence. Child Development, 53, 1447-1460.

Biggs

B. K.

Nelson

J. M.

Sampilo

M. L.

(2010). Peer relations in the anxiety-depression link: Test of a mediation model. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 23, 431-447. doi:10.1080/10615800903406543

Bollmer

J. M.

Milich

Harris

M. J.

Maras

M. A.

(2005). A friend in need. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 701-712. doi:10.1177/0886260504272897

Burk

W. J.

Laursen

(2005). Adolescent perceptions of friendship and their associations with individual adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29, 156-164. doi:10.1080/01650250444000342

Criss

M. M.

Pettit

G. S.

Bates

J. E.

Dodge

K. A.

Lapp

A. L.

(2002). Family adversity, positive peer relationships, and children’s externalizing behavior: A longitudinal perspective on risk and resilience. Child Development, 73, 1220-1237. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00468

10.

Fuligni

A. J.

Eccles

J. S.

(1993). Perceived parent-child relationships and early adolescents’ orientation toward peers. Developmental Psychology, 29, 622-636.

11.

Furman

Buhrmester

(1985). Children’s perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. Developmental Psychology, 21, 1016-1024.

12.

Gaertner

A. E.

Fite

P. J.

Colder

C. R.

(2010). Parenting and friendship quality as predictors of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in early adolescence. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 101-108.

13.

Hartup

W. W.

(1993). Adolescents and their friends. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 60, 3-22. doi:10.1002/cd.23219936003

14.

Hasebe

Nucci

M. S.

(2004). Parental control of the personal domain and adolescent symptoms of psychopathology: A cross-national study in the United States and Japan. Child Development, 75, 815-828.

15.

Lamborn

S. D.

Steinberg

(1993). Emotional autonomy redux: Revisiting Ryan and Lynch. Child Development, 64, 483-499. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1993.tb02923.x

16.

Laursen

Williams

V. A.

(1997). Perceptions of interdependence and closeness in family and peer relationships among adolescents with and without romantic partners. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1997, 3-20.

17.

Lindeman

Harakka

Keltikangas-Järvinen

(1997). Age and gender differences in adolescents’ reactions to conflict situations: Aggression, prosociality, and withdrawal. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26, 339-351.

18.

Marks

P. E. L.

Babcock

Cillessen

A. H.

Crick

N. R.

(2013). The effects of participation rate on the internal reliability of peer nomination measures. Social Development, 22, 609-622.

19.

McDonald

K. L.

Bowker

J. C.

Rubin

K. H.

Laursen

Duchene

M. S.

(2010). Interactions between rejection sensitivity and supportive relationships in the prediction of adolescents’ internalizing difficulties. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 563-574.

20.

McElhaney

K. B.

Allen

J. P.

(2001). Autonomy and adolescent social functioning: The moderating effect of risk. Child Development, 72, 220-235. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00275

21.

Meeus

Dekoviíc

(1995). Identity development, parental and peer support in adolescence: Results of a national Dutch survey. Adolescence, 30, 931-944.

22.

Morgan

J. K.

Shaw

D. S.

Forbes

E. E.

(2013). Physiological and behavioral engagement in social contexts as predictors of adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1117-1127.

23.

Nolen-Hoeksema

Girgus

J. S.

(1994). The emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 424-443.

24.

Noom

M. J.

Dekoviíc

Meeus

W. J.

(1999). Autonomy, attachment and psychosocial adjustment during adolescence: A double-edged sword? Journal of Adolescence, 22, 771-783. doi:10.1006/jado.1999.0269

25.

Parker

J. G.

Asher

S. R.

(1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29, 611-621. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.29.4.611

26.

Poulin

Dishion

T. J.

Haas

(1999). The peer influence paradox: Relationship quality and deviancy training within male adolescent friendships. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45, 42-61.

27.

Quiggle

N. L.

Garber

Panak

W. F.

Dodge

K. A.

(1992). Social information processing in aggressive and depressed children. Child Development, 63, 1305-1320.

28.

Rubin

K. H.

Coplan

R. J.

Bowker

J. C.

(2009). Social withdrawal in childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 141-171.

29.

Sandstrom

M. J.

(2004). Pitfalls of the peer world: How children cope with common rejection experiences. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 67-81.

30.

Scholte

R. H. J.

Van Aken

M. A. G.

(2006). Peer relations in adolescence. In Jackson

Goossens

(Eds.), Handbook of adolescent development (pp. 175-199). New York, NY: Psychology Press.

31.

Sentse

Lindenberg

Omvlee

Ormel

Veenstra

(2010). Rejection and acceptance across contexts: Parents and peers as risks and buffers for early adolescent psychopathology. The TRAILS study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 119-130.

32.

Smetana

J. G.

(1995). Parenting styles and conceptions of parental authority during adolescence. Child Development, 66, 299-316. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00872.x

33.

Smetana

J. G.

Gaines

(1999). Adolescent-parent conflict in middle-class African American families. Child Development, 70, 1447-1463.

34.

Smetana

J. G.

Villalobos

Rogge

R. D.

Tasopoulos-Chan

(2010). Keeping secrets from parents: Daily variations among poor, urban adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 321-331.

35.

Sroufe

L. A.

(2005). Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood. Attachment & Human Development, 7, 349-367.

36.

van den Berg

Y. H.

Cillessen

A. H.

(2013). Computerized sociometric and peer assessment: An empirical and practical evaluation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 37, 68-76.

37.

van den Berg

Y. H.

Segers

Cillessen

A. H.

(2012). Changing peer perceptions and victimization through classroom arrangements: A field experiment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 403-412.