PARENTAL SOCIAL NETWORK INFLUENCES ON CHI LDRENS FRIENDSHIPS

As interaction partners parental friends probably provide opportunitie s for children's social experience. Besides, parents and their friends can serve as models for children's social behavior. Because of parent s' friendships with other parents their very young children can be in contact on a regular basis. in these ways a foundation for children's social integration is formed. Second- to fifth-graders (N = 116) and t heir parents were asked about their social networks. Additionally, dat a about children's concepts of friendship were gathered. The more frie ndships their parents maintained, the more friends outside the classro om were nominated by their children and the more reciprocated close fr iendships inside the classroom the fourth- and fifth-graders had. The more friends were nominated by parents, the more developed were childr en's concepts of friendship.