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 o f 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 linkag e between social support provided to the child in the context of the f amily and the quality of children's friendships outside the family and (b) to determine whether family support and friendship quality contri bute uniquely to the child's self-esteem. Personal interviews were con ducted with 185 fifth-grade African American, European American, and H ispanic American children to obtain measures of family support, friend ship quality, and self-esteem. Across ethnic groups, family support wa s predictive of friendship quality and both family support and friends hip quality were associated with self-esteem. Parents, nonparental adu lt family members, and siblings contributed differentially to differen t components of friendship quality, affirming the value of a social ne twork perspective for the study of developmental issues.