The quality of adolescents' friendships: Associations with mothers' interpersonal relationships, attachments to parents and friends, and prosocial behaviors

Adolescents' friendship quality and observed emotional expression with thei r best friends were predicted from reports of their mother's interpersonal relationships-specifically the quality of her marriage and social network. Two models explaining these relationships received support. Consistent with an Attachment Theory model, adolescents' perceptions of marital quality pr edicted attachment security with mother, father and friends. Security of at tachment to friends in turn predicted best friendship quality, but not affe ctive behavior with the friend. A Social Learning Theory model was also sup ported, in which perceptions of both marital quality and mother's social ne twork quality predicted adolescents' prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior in turn predicted both best friendship quality and affective behavior with the friend. (C) 2001 The Association for Professionals in Services for Ado lescents.