STABILITY AND CONTINUITY OF CHILD-CAREGIVER AND CHILD-PEER RELATIONSHIPS

We examined the relationship quality of 55 (27 girls) 9-year-old child ren with their mothers, teachers, and friends as rated by teachers and by the children themselves. The goal of this longitudinal study was t o examine stability and continuity in the quality of children's relati onships between infancy and 9 years of age. At age 9, children's perce ption of their relationships with their teachers was associated with t heir current teachers' ratings of their relationships with the childre n. Children's perceptions of their relationships with their mothers we re consistent with earlier ratings of attachment security. Children's perceptions of their relationships with teachers were predicted by the quality of their attachment relationships with their first teachers. Children's perceptions of their friendship quality was predicted by pr eschool teacher ratings of friendship quality and the quality of their attachment relationships with their first teachers.