Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Prospective Study of Adolescents' Peer Support: Gender Differences and the Influence of Parental Relationships

  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This longitudinal study investigates parent and child predictors of adolescents' perceived social support from peers. Adolescents (285) and their parents filled out surveys when students were 11 and 15 years of age. Parent reports of their own social support and child reports of parental support to them, depression, and self-esteem were used as predictors of adolescents' peer social support. Path analyses revealed functional dissimilarity in the predictive model, for boys and girls. For boys and girls, the amount of spousal support parents' reported impacted the amount of parent to child support that children reported. For boys, this relationship impacted their perceptions of peer support indirectly through depression. However, for girls, parents' own supportive relationships directly impacted both their self-esteem and depression, above and beyond parent to child support, which then impacted girls' peer social support.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Amato, P. R. (1986). Father involvement and the self-esteem of children and adolescents. Austr. J. Sex, Marr. Fam. 7: 6–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonucci, T. C. (1983). Social support: Theoretical advances, recent findings, and pressing issues. In Sarason, I. G., and Sarason, B. R. (eds.), Social support: Theory, Research, and Applications. Martinus Nijhoff, Boston, pp. 21–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonucci, T. C., and Akiyama, H. (1991). Convoys of social support: Generational issues. Marr. Fam. Rev. 16(1/2): 103–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. L. (1994). Support and advice from married and divorced fathers. Fam. Rel. 43: 433–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., and Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 51(6): 1173–1182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrera, M. (1986). Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models. Am. J. Commun. Psychol. 14: 413–445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrera, M., and Garrison-Jones, C. (1992). Family and peer social support as specific correlates of adolescent depressive symptoms. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 20: 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, R. R. (1981). Worlds of Friendship. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T. J. (1982). The features and effects of friendship in early adolescence. Child Dev. 53(6): 1447–1460.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T. J., and Perry, T. B. (1986). Children's perceptions of friendships as supportive relationships. Develop. Psychol. 22(5): 640–648.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, J. H. (1983). Differential premises arising from differential socialization of the sexes: Some conjectures. Child Dev. 54: 1335–1354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brage, D., and Meredith, W. (1994). A causal model of adolescent depression. J. Psychol. 128(4): 455–468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coates, D. (1985). Relationships between self-concept measures and social network characteristics for Black adolescents. J. Early Adolesc. 5: 319–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., and Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychol. Bull. 98(2): 310–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compas, B. E., and Wagner, B. M. (1991). Psychological stress during adolescence: Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes. In Colten, M. E., and Gore, S. (eds.), Adolescent Stress: Causes and Consequences. Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 67–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., Brainerd, D.W., Birch, L. L., and Friedberg, P. J. (1986). Assessing the quality of family observations: A comparative analysis. J. Marr. Fam. 48(2): 361–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, C. R., and Grotevant, H. D. (1987). Gender issues in the interface of family experience and adolescents' friendship and dating identity. J. Youth Adolesc. 16(3): 247–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M., and Nakamura, J. (1989). In Ames, R. E., and Ames, C. (eds.), Research on Motivation in Education: Goals and Cognition. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degirmencioglu, S. M., Urber, K. A., Tolson, J. M., and Richard, P. (1998). Adolescent friendship networks: Continuity and change over the school year. Merrill-Palmer Q. 44(3): 313–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derogatis, L. R. (1983). SCL-90-R Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubow, E. F., Tisak, J., Causey, D., Hryshko, A., and Reid, G. (1991). A two-year longitudinal study of stressful life events, social support, and social problem-solving skills: Contributions to children's behavioral and academic adjustment. Child Dev. 62: 583–599.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durrett, M. E., Richards, P., Otahi, M., and Pennebaker, J.W. (1986). Mother's involvement with infant and her perception of spousal support: Japan and America. J. Marr. Fam. 48(1): 187–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S. (1986). Person-environment fit in early adolescence. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April 1986.

  • Eccles, J. S., Blumenfeld, P. C., Harold, R. D., and Wigfield, A. L. (1990). Ontongeny of self and task concepts and activity choice (Grant No. 2 R01 HD17553-06). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A. L., and Blumenfeld, P. C. (1984). Psychological predictors of competence development (Grant No. 2 R01 HD17553-01). National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feiring, C., and Lewis, M. (1991). The development of social networks from early to middle childhood: Gender differences and the relation to school competence. Sex Roles 25(3/4): 237–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flaherty, J. A., and Richman, J. A. (1986). Effects of childhood relationships on the adult's capacity of form social supports. Am. J. Psychiat. 143(7): 851–855.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furman, W., and Buhrmester, D. (1992). Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal relationships. Child Dev. 63: 103–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furstenberg, F. F., Morgan, S. P., and Allison, P. D. (1987). Paternal participation and children's wellbeing after marital dissolution. Am. Sociol. Rev. 52: 695–701.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, C. (1982). In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1982). Perceived competence scale for children. Child Dev. 53: 87–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harter, S. (1990). Self and identity development. In Feldman, S. S., and Elliott, G. R. (eds.), At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 352–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartup, W.W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Dev. 67: 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (1986). Stress, Social Support, and Women. Hemisphere Publishing Corp, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holahan, C. J., and Moos, R. H. (1987). Risk, resistance, and psychological distress: A longitudinal analysis with adults and children. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 96: 3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvin, D. W., and Nicholls, J. G. (1996). Adolescents' social goals, beliefs about the causes of social success, and satisfaction in peer relations. Develop. Psychol. 32(3): 435–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, R. L., and Antonucci, T. C. (1980). Convoys over the life course: Attachment, roles and social support. In Baltes, P., and Brim, O. (eds.), Life Span Development and Behavior (Vol. 3). Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp. 253–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobak, R., and Ferenz-Gillies, R. (1995). Emotion regulation and depressive symptoms during adolescence: A functionalist perspective. Dev. Psychopathol. 7: 183–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobak, R. R., and Sceery, A. (1988). Attachment in late adolescence:Working models, affect regulation, and representations of self and others. Child Dev. 59: 135–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakey, B. (1989). Personal and environmental antecedents of perceived social support developed at college. Am. J. Commun. Psychol. 17(4): 503–519.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lakey, B., and Dickinson, L. G. (1994). Antecedents of perceived support: Is perceived family environment generalized to new social relationships? Cognit. Ther. Res. 18(1): 39–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lautenschlager, G. J., and Mendoza, J. L. (1986). A step-down hierarchical multiple regression analysis for examining hypotheses about test bias in prediction. Appl. Psychol. Measure. 10: 133–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, M. J., Guacci-Franco, N., and Levitt, J. L. (1993). Convoys of social support in childhood and early adolescence: Structure and function. Develop. Psychol. 29(5): 811–818.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newcomb, M. D. (1990). Social support and person characteristics: A developmental and interactional perspective. J. soc. clin. psychol. 9(1): 54–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noller, P., and Callahan, C. (1991). The Adolescent in the Family. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, G. R., Sarason, B. R., and Sarason, I. G. (1992). General and specific support expectations and stress as predictors of perceived supportiveness: An experimental study. J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 63(2): 297–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinherz, H. Z., Stewart-Berghauer, G., Pakiz, B., Frost, A. K., Moeykens, B. A., and Holmes, W. M. (1989). The relationship of early risk and current mediators to depressive symptomatology in adolescence. J. Am. Acad. Child Adoles. Psychiat. 28: 942–947.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiss, D., and Oliveri, M. E. (1983). The family's construction of social reality and its ties to its kin network: An exploration of causal direction. J. Marr. Fam. 2: 81–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. J., and Seifer, R. (1983). Familial risk and child competence. Child Dev. 54: 1254–1268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarason, B. R., Pierce, G. R., Bannerman, A., and Sarason, I. G. (1993). Investigating the antecedents of perceived social support: Parents' views of and behavioral toward their children. J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 66(5): 1071–1085.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarason, B. R., Pierce, G. R., Shearin, E. N., Sarason, I. G., and Waltz, J. A. (1991). Perceived social support and working models of self and actual others. J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 60(2): 273–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarason, I. G., Sarason, B. R., and Shearin, E. N. (1986). Social support as an individual difference variable: Its stability, origins, and relational aspects. J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 50(4): 845–855.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slavin, L. A., and Rainer, K. L. (1990). Gender differences in emotional support and depressive symptoms among adolescents: A prospective analysis. Am. J. Comm. Psychol. 18(3): 407–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slavin-Williams, R. C., and Berndt, T. J. (1990). Friendship and peer relations. In Feldman, S. S., and Elliott, G. R. (eds.), At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 277–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, L. A., and Fleeson, J. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In Hartup, W., and Rubin, Z. (eds.), Relationships and Development. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 51–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uchino, B. N., Cacioppo, J. T., and Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K. (1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychol. Bull. 119(3): 488–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaux, A. (1985). Variations in social support associated with gender, ethnicity, and age. J. Soc. Issues 41: 89–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Windle, M. (1992). A longitudinal study of stress buffering for adolescent problem behaviors. Develop. Psychol. 28(3): 522–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Youniss, J., and Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescents Relations with Mothers, Fathers, and Friends. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, 113 West 60th Street, RM 725F, New York, NY, 10025

    Lisa G. Colarossi (Assistant Professor)

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109

    Jacquelynne S. Eccles (Professor)

Authors
  1. Lisa G. Colarossi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jacquelynne S. Eccles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Colarossi, L.G., Eccles, J.S. A Prospective Study of Adolescents' Peer Support: Gender Differences and the Influence of Parental Relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 29, 661–678 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026403922442

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026403922442

Keywords

Search

Navigation