Linking Familial Processes to Peer Issues: Effects of Parenting and Attachment on Social Status Insecurity

• In Event: 3-114 - Family Dynamics and Adolescents’ Socioemotional Adjustment Across Cultural Contexts

Integrative Statement

Parents are important socialization agents who influence children's behavioral development and peer interactions (Parke & Ladd, 2016). Previous research has shown that parental control and warmth have great implications for children’s development (e.g., Wang, Pomerantz, & Chen, 2007). In addition, parent-child relationship quality plays a vital role in children’s social functioning (e.g., Casas et al. 2006). However, the present literature still lacks information regarding how familial processes may influence peer interactions. When children grow into adolescence, they tend to pay increasing attention to their social standing among peers and may easily feel anxious or insecure about their social status. Such social status insecurity (SSI) has been linked to adjustment difficulties (Li & Wright, 2014). Although SSI receives growing attention, the family influences of SSI and the subsequent implications on more diverse developmental outcomes have not been investigated. Therefore, the first aim of this study is to examine how parenting behaviors and parent-child attachment predict adolescents’ later SSI. Second, this study examines the processes in which parenting behaviors may longitudinally relate to adolescents’ outcomes through the development of SSI and how such processes may vary depending on parent-child attachment quality and child gender.

Adolescents (N = 482) and their mothers (N = 347) and fathers (N = 292) were recruited from the 7th grade in a public middle school in a major Mideast province of China. Adolescents participated (N = 357) again eighteen months later. The Psychological Control measure (Olsen et al., 2002) and the Parenting Practice Questionnaire (Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 1995) were used to assess parental control and warmth. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) was used to assess adolescents’ attachment security with their parents. The Children’s Social Behavior Scale (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995) was used to assess peer-nominated aggression, depression, loneliness, and social withdrawal.

Hierarchical regression results show that, after controlling for T1 SSI, T1 maternal warmth negatively predicted T2 SSI (β = -.14, p < .05), whereas maternal coercive control and both paternal and maternal psychological control positively predicted T2 SSI (βs > .10, ps < .05).

To address the second aim of the study, path models were conducted for internalizing and externalizing outcomes respectively (see Tables 1 and 2). The results reveal moderations of child gender, parent gender, and attachment quality. Specifically, the protective effects (negative associations) of maternal warmth on SSI was strengthened by high attachment security particularly among boys. Similarly, the positive association from psychological control to SSI was exacerbated by low attachment security among boys. Further, SSI was more strongly related to aggression among both boys and girls who had low attachment security. Additionally, there was a significant negative indirect effect from maternal warmth to boys’ relational aggression when they had high attachment security. There were few results for internalizing symptoms. The findings of this study suggest the familial origins of peer issues and will be discussed in relationship to the cultural context.

Authors

• Yunyi Long, DePaul University
  Presenting Author

• Yan Li, DePaul University
  Non-Presenting Author