Adolescent friendship quality and emotional adjustment: examining the role of mothers' own friendships

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 23, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears on the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf.Thesis advisor: Dr. Amanda J. RoseIncludes bibliographical references."July 2011"The present study examines associations between youths' friendships and the friendships their mothers have with other adults. It was hypothesized that youth whose mothers have friendships high in positive qualities would have more positive friendships themselves and report decreased internalizing symptoms. Similarly, children of mothers whose friendships were high in negative qualities were expected to report increased negative qualities in their own friendships as well as increased internalizing symptoms. A sample of 172 fifth, eighth, and eleventh gradeyouth and their mothers were recruited to test these hypotheses, however, only the latter hypothesis was supported. Although mothers who reported high levels of conflict in their own friendships had children whose friendships were characterized by increased conflict, similar associations did not emerge for positive qualities. Further, youth whose mothers reported higher levels of negative qualities in their friendships were more likely to report increased internalizing symptoms themselves, even after reports of the mother-child relationship, youths' friendship quality, and mothers' own internalizing symptoms were controlled