The risk and protective functions of perceived family and peer microsystems among urban adolescents in poverty

Utilized a pattern-based approach to discover the different constellations of perceived social transactions separately for family and peer systems and explored the risk and protective functions of these microsystem profiles f or both depression and antisocial behavior among a sample of ethnically and racially diverse urban adolescents living in poverty. Measures of perceive d social support, involvement and hassles with family and peers, as well as perceived social acceptance and peers' values were entered into two sets o f iterative cluster analyses to identify distinct profiles of family and pe er transactions. From each of the perceived family and peer transactional a nalyses, six replicated profiles emerged. Several of the profiles were cons istent with expectations from prior literature such as Enmeshing families a nd Rejecting peer networks, while others were novel and intriguing such as Entangling peers. Family profiles were consistent in their risk and protect ive associations for both depression and antisocial behavior, while the pee r profiles varied in their effects for each developmental outcome. For exam ple, the Rejecting peer profile placed adolescents at increased risk for de pression but protected them from antisocial behavior. Implications for futu re research and preventive intervention are discussed.