Abstract
The changing positions of different members of adolescent support networks are examined with respect to adolescent age (11–15) and sex, and, in particular, with respect to changes following parental separation. Older children’s reports of less parental support are consistent with expectations of diminishing attachment. However, the relative importance of same sex friends for provision of support for girls, in comparison to boys, suggests more flexibility in the sense of their being less tied to parents for support. The comparison between children from different family types revealed no differences in respect of relations with same sex or opposite sex friends. Hence, no compensation or spill over from parental separation was evident. However, there was a clear system effect in that children from divorcing families that lived with their mother provided relatively more support for mother, and also reported less acceptance from their fathers in comparison to those children where no parental separation had taken place. Their adjustment will depend, at least in part, on the functioning of their broader social networks.
Résumé
Les changements dans les réseaux d’aide des adolescents sont étudiés en fonction de l’âge et du sexe des adolescents et, en particulier, les changements consécutifs à la séparation des parents. Les témoignages de manque d’aide parental des enfants les plus âgés vont de pair avec des attentes de diminution d’attachement. Par comparaison avec les garçons, l’importance de l’aide recherchée chez les amis de même sexe indique cependant davantage de flexibilité chez les filles, dans a mesure où elles sont moins dépendantes de l’aide des parents. Les comparaisons entre enfants de différents types de familles ne révèlent pas de différence en ce qui concerne les relations avec les amis de même sexe ou de sexe opposé. De même on n’a pas observé d’influence évidente de la séparation parentale. Cependant, on a observé un effet net áu système familial dans la mesure où les enfants de familles divorcées vivant avec leur mère fournissent relativement plus de soutien à leur mère, et mentionnent également moins d’acceptation de leur père, si on les compare aux enfants de familles non séparées. Leur adaptation dépend, au moins en partie, du fonctionnement des soutiens sociaux plus larges dont ils bénéficient.
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The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (grant n° R000233054) for aspects of this work is gratefully acknowledged.
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Honess, T.M., Charman, E.A. Adolescent adjustment, social systems and parental separation. Eur J Psychol Educ 13, 557–567 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173105
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173105