A Developmental Contextualism Perspective On Young Children\u27s Friendships: How Much Do Parental Characteristics, Parental Behaviors, Child Characteristics Matter?

The present study investigated the relationships between parents\u27 proximal factors: strategies used to manage and facilitate children\u27s peer relationships, knowledge of children\u27s playmates and close friends, and endorsement of these strategies; and parents\u27 distal factors: parenting stress, social support network, and personality, and children\u27s quality of peer relationships. It also investigated the relationships between child age, gender, child temperament, and children\u27s peer relationships and children\u27s prosocial behavior. Parents\u27 strategies used and endorsement of those strategies were unrelated to children\u27s peer problems and prosocial behavior, but their knowledge of children\u27s peer relationships was negatively related to children\u27s peer problems. Parenting stress was positively related to children\u27s peer problems and negatively related to children\u27s prosocial behaviors. Total perceived social support was related to children\u27s fewer peer problems and more prosocial behaviors. Social network size was not significantly related. Parents\u27 agreeableness was negatively related to children\u27s peer problems and their extraversion was positively related to children\u27s prosocial scores. Parents with higher parenting stress reported less management of their children\u27s peer relationships. Their total perceived social support was positively related to their management of their child\u27s peer relationships. Agreeableness was the only personality dimension related to their management of their children\u27s peer relationships. Younger children received more involvement of their parents in their peer relationships than older children. No differences were found as a function of children\u27s gender. Children\u27s surgency was related to decreased peer problems and their effortful control was related to increased prosocial behaviors and parents\u27 strategies used to improve children\u27s peer relationships. Links between parenting stress and child temperament was found. Relationships between parents\u27 personality and child temperament were also explored