The social ecology of middle childhood: Family support, friendship quality, and self-esteem

Parents and peers have been studied extensively as distinct agents of socialization. However less attention has been paid to the interface of the family and peer subsystems or to the role of nonparental family members, particularly during the pre-adolescent period referred to as middle childhood. The aims of this study were (a)to examine the linkage between social support provided to the child in the context of the family and the quality of children's friendships outside the family and (b) to determine whether family support and friendship quality contribute uniquely to the child's self-esteem. Personal interviews were conducted with 185 fifth-grade African American, European American, and Hispanic American children to obtain measures of family support, friendship quality, and self-esteem. Across ethnic groups, family support was predictive of friendship quality and both family support and friendship quality were associated with self-esteem. Parents, nonparental adult family members, and siblings contributed differentially to different components of friendship quality, affirming the value of a social network perspective for the study of developmental issues.