INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND FRIENDSHIP AND ASSOCIATIONS WITH SELF-PERCEIVED WELL-BEING DURING EARLY ADOLESCENCE

Using a sample of 138 early adolescents and their parents, we examined the hypothesis that family and friendship measures would moderate eac h other's associations with measures of children's perceptions of thei r adjustment and well-being. Family environment was assessed by asking parents to complete the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale II. A sociometric nomination procedure and the Friendship Quality Scale were completed by the subjects as assessments of reciprocity and quality i n their best friendship relations. The Perceived Competence Scale for Children was used to assess children's adjustment. Stronger associatio ns were observed between the family measures and the adjustment measur es in children without a close friendship than in children with such a relationship. Also, friendship was more strongly linked to outcome me asures for children from low adaptive and low cohesive families than f or children in more adaptive and cohesive families. These findings ind icate that experiences in the family and friendship domains interact i n their associations with children's impressions of their adjustment d uring early adolescence.