Friendship as a moderating factor in the pathway between early harsh home environment and later victimization in the peer group

Two prospective investigations of the moderating role of dyadic friendship in the developmental pathway to peer victimization are reported. In Study 1 , the preschool home environments (i.e., harsh discipline, marital conflict , stress, abuse, and maternal hostility) of 389 children were assessed by t rained interviewers. These children were then followed into the middle year s of elementary school, with peer victimization, group social acceptance, a nd friendship assessed annually with a peer nomination inventory. In Study 2, the home environments of 243 children were assessed in the summer before 1st grade, and victimization, group acceptance, and friendship were assess ed annually over the nest 3 years. In both studies. early harsh, punitive, and hostile family environments predicted later victimization by peers for children who had a low number of friendships. However. the predictive assoc iations did not hold for children who had numerous friendships. These findi ngs provide support for conceptualizations of friendship as a moderating fa ctor in the pathways to peer group victimization.