ERIC Number: EJ1366514
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Dec
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: EISSN-1939-0599
Developmental Antecedents of Friendship Satisfaction in Adulthood
Developmental Psychology, v58 n12 p2401-2412 Dec 2022
Cross-sectional studies have shown that greater friendship satisfaction in adulthood is associated with many positive outcomes (Chopik, 2017; Gillespie, Frederick, et al., 2015). However, the developmental antecedents of satisfaction with close friends in adulthood have not been examined using prospective data. We do not know, for example, whether certain key experiences early in life, such as infant attachment security versus insecurity or the quality of maternal sensitivity, prospectively predict the degree of satisfaction with close friends in adulthood. We also do not know whether other salient experiences, such as the degree of peer competence in childhood or friendship security in adolescence, mediate relations between early life attachment and/or maternal sensitivity and adult friendship satisfaction. Leveraging data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaption, we examined four developmental models containing these theoretically relevant antecedents of friendship satisfaction at age 32. The sample was approximately evenly split by gender (female = 82, male = 76), with the following ethnic distribution: White = 67.1%, Black = 8.9%, mixed race = 18.4%, other = 5.6%. All participants were born to mothers living below the poverty line at birth but on average were lower middle class by age 32. We found that the model containing direct paths from infant attachment security versus insecurity and from the quality of maternal sensitivity to friendship satisfaction at age 32 provided the best fit, suggesting that early parent--child relationships provide a foundation for later adult relationships with close friends. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Descriptors: Friendship, Satisfaction, Experience, Infants, Attachment Behavior, Parent Child Relationship, Mothers, Adults, Child Rearing, Parenting Skills, Peer Relationship, Interpersonal Competence, Toddlers, Children, Grade 6, Adolescents
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Aging (NIA) (DHHS/NIH); National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (DHHS/NIH); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Minnesota (Minneapolis)
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01AG039453; R01MH40864; R01HD054850
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/t9236/