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This study examined associations between interparental conflict and adolescents' romantic relationship conflict. High school seniors (N=183) who lived with married parents completed questionnaires about their parents' marriage and their own romantic relationships. A subset of 88 adolescents was also observed interacting with their romantic partners. Adolescents' perceptions and appraisals of interparental conflict were related to the amount of conflict in romantic relationship and adolescents' conflict styles. Adolescents' appraisals of interparental conflict (i.e., self-blame, perceived threat) moderated many of the associations between interparental conflict and conflict behavior with romantic partners. The patterns of moderated effects differed by gender. These findings suggest that the meanings boys and girls ascribe to interparental conflict are important for understanding how family experiences contribute to the development of romantic relationships.

Perceived socio-cultural pressure to be thin has an important impact on disordered eating during early and middle adolescence, but less is known about late adolescence. Most prospective studies included only girls, and less is known about the influence on boys. This study investigated interpersonal influences on changes in late adolescent boys' and girls' symptoms of disordered eating over one year. Participants were a community sample of late adolescents 16–19 years of age ( N = 199; 49.75% girls), their mothers, and friends. Structural equation modeling revealed that interpersonal pressure to be thin and criticism about appearance predicted increases in disordered eating over time. Late adolescents', mothers' and friends' reports of pressure were associated with disordered eating at Time 1 and Time 2. Further, adolescents' perceptions and friends' reports of pressure to be thin predicted changes in disordered eating over time. Findings underscore the significance of interpersonal relationships for disordered eating during late adolescence in both girls and boys.

In this article, we review theoretical and empirical advances in research on romantic relationships between age 10 and the early twenties. First, we describe key themes in this area of research. Next, we briefly characterize the most influential theoretical formulations and distinctive methodological issues. We then describe research findings regarding pertinent social and developmental processes. We summarize the extensive findings on relationships with parents and peers as a context for romantic relationships. Finally, we characterize the growing evidence that adolescent romantic relationships are significant for individual adjustment and development, and we note promising directions for further research.

Adolescent romantic relationships have long been a centerpiece of our mediaculture. Romeo and Juliet and Dante and Beatrice are classic love stories thathave enchanted generations of individuals. Today’s movies are full of similartales, such as that between Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater in the movieTitanic. In effect, these relationships are depicted in idealized terms. They areseen as very special and essential in one’s life. In fact, many young adolescentgirls say that they expect to be in love all the time (Simon, Eder, & Evans, 1972).Although our own adolescent relationships may not have been as idealized,many of us still reflect on them with fondness. They were important andexciting experiences in our adolescence. In fact, adolescents will commonlyneglect their close friends in order to spend time with a romantic partner (Roth& Parker, 2001). Consistent with this depiction, social scientists have foundthat adolescents have more strong positive emotions about the other sex thanabout family, same-sex peers, or school (Wilson-Shockley, 1995). Although nodirect evidence exists, we believe that homosexual youth may have morestrong positive emotions about same-sex relationships than about other keyrelationships.Romantic partners also increasingly become sources of support. For example,in an earlier study (Furman & Buhrmester, 1992), we examined age dif-ferences in perceptions of support in different relationships. Mean ratings ofsupport for relationships with romantic partners, same-sex friends, mothers,siblings, grandparents and teachers at four different grades are shown inTable 4.1. Not surprisingly, fourth grade children (10–11 years) were unlikelyto report having a romantic partner, and those who said they had a romantic

This chapter examines the theoretically important but understudied question of concordance in adolescent siblings' representations of attachment to parents.

Most of us would characterize our adolescent romantic relationships as shortlived and superWcial. In some respects, this description is correct. Most adolescent relationships only last a few weeks or months; it is unlikely that these relationships have the depth and complexity that characterize long-term committed relationships.

For many adolescents romantic life begins as a journey from the social scripts they consumed in books television and movies to fantasized and direct experiences with real partners. This journey from a peer network that eschews romantic ties of any kind to one that encourages them is fraught with uncertainties about how to feel think and act. How do I get someone to like me? Why is everyone going out but me? How can I tell if someone really cares about me? What are these butterflies doing in my stomach? What do we talk about? For most American youth confronting such uncertainties is a central yet challenging part of establishing romantic relationships. For youth who were abused as children or who are victimized in their romantic relationships the task may be particularly difficult. Although it is reasonable to expect that past victimization or victimization in romantic relationships would alter the developmental course of romantic experiences we know remarkably little about the topic. Investigators studying victimization and those studying romantic relationships have had little contact with each other. The goal of this focus section is to help foster an integration of the research on adolescent romantic life with that on victimization. The articles present theory and findings from scholars in the areas of adolescent romantic relationships and maltreatment. (excerpt)

An attachment perspective is proposed as a framework for conceptualizing the impact of sexual victimization on close relationships. Two studies were conducted to empirically examine the links between sexual victimization and perceptions of romantic, parental, and peer relationships. Study One included 154 undergraduate women, and Study Two included 48 high school seniors. In both studies, approximately half the women reported having experienced some form of coerced sexual experience. The majority were victimized by an acquaintance, and most victims had experienced multiple incidents. The first study found that victimized women had significantly more preoccupied romantic views than nonvictimized women. Retrospective reports indicated that women victimized in college were significantly more dismissing with their fathers in high school. In Study Two, victims reported more negative interactions with romantic partners, but no differences were found for romantic styles. Victims also reported more dismissing parental styles and more negative interactions with their fathers than nonvictims.

Psychologists have long been interested in the influence of parent-child relationships on subsequent relationships. Much less attention has been given to how friendships and peer relationships may also affect other relationships. Certainly, the critical contributions of peer relationships to psychosocial adjustment have been documented (see Hartup, 1983), but we know surprisingly little about their impact on other relationships.

A framework for examining developmental changes in romantic relationships is presented. The chapter describes research illustrating these developmental differences and delineates an agenda for subsequent developmental work.

— This paper describes the assessment and treatment of children with peer relationship problems. The first part of the paper is organized around five topics: peer rejection, peer neglect, the absence of friendships, reputation in the peer group, and peer group affiliations. Next, a series of assessment methods is delineated, including peer, teacher, parent and self reports, as well as direct observational procedures. Finally, we suggest a number of treatment options, including social skills training, social cognitive interventions, and co-operative group interventions.

In this study, 549 youths in the fourth grade, seventh grade, tenth grade, and college completed Network of Relationship Inventories assessing their perceptions of their relationships with significant others. The findings were largely consistent with 7 propositions derived from major theories of the developmental courses of personal relationships. In particular, mothers and fathers were seen as the most frequent providers of support in the fourth grade. Same-sex friends were perceived to be as supportive as parents in the seventh grade, and were the most frequent providers of support in the tenth grade. Romantic partners moved up in rank with age until college, where they, along with friends and mothers, received the highest ratings for support. Age differences were also observed in perceptions of relationships with grandparents, teachers, and siblings. Finally, age differences in perceived conflict, punishment, and relative power suggested that there was a peak in tension in parent-child relationships in early and middle adolescence. Discussion centers around the role various relationships are perceived as playing at different points in development.

Children in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12 were administered the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire. Relationships were rated as progressively more egalitarian across the 4 grade groups, with adolescents reporting less dominance and nurturance by their older siblings than younger participants. Adolescents also reported less companionship, intimacy, and affection with siblings than younger participants reported. Levels of perceived conflict with younger siblings were moderately high across all 4 grades, whereas ratings of conflict with older siblings were progressively lower across the 4 grades. The findings suggested that sibling relationships: (a) become more egalitarian and less asymmetrical with age, (b) become less intense with age, and (c) encompass experiences that are partially determined by the child's standing in the family constellation.

Although previous research has examined the development of children’s conceptions of friendship, two major limitations currently exist. First, previous investigators have relied principally on a single methodological approach-the open-ended interview. Second, little is known about children’s expectations of other peer relationships or how friendship expectations are distinguished from them. These two issues were addressed in the present study by administering second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade children three measures: (a) an open-ended interview, (b) a story-recognition task, and (c) a questionnaire about the importance of different characteristics to friendships and acquaintances. In general, friendship expectations based on dispositional characteristics increased in saliency with age, whereas characteristics referring to overt behaviors remained constant. Several substantive differences were found among the three measures. Children recognized the importance of different friendship expectations before spontaneously reporting them in the interview. Moreover, the recognition tasks yielded a more complete set of friendship expectations than the interview did. Finally, children of all ages differentiated between expectations for friends and acquaintances, but the degree of differentiation increased with age.

A population which has received little attention in the social skills literature is the retarded, especially retarded young persons, who may exhibit substantial social deficits. The current study used a modeling-coaching-rehearsal procedure to teach conversational skills to two moderately retarded a nonretarded peer partner. Training of several social components (fully answering questions asked by a peer, asking the partner questions and extending social invitations) were sequentially trained in a multiple baseline design. Conversational skills can be succesfully trained and they generalize to novel nonretarded peers and to free play interactions with retarded peers. Improvement was largely maintained on followup. The results are discussed with respect to the social implications of improving the conversational appearance and reinforcement value of retarded persons.

This study employed social psychological theories of group formation to conceptualize and predict age differences in peer groups. Adolescents were administered questionnaires about the characteristics of their peer groups. Early and middle adolescents reported placing more value on being in a popular group and perceived more group conformity and leadership within their groups than preand late adolescents. Early and middle adolescents also reported more antagonist interactions and fewer positive interactions with group members and more antagonistic interactions with those not part of their peer groups. Girls reported having more positive group interactions, being more bothered by negative interactions, and having more permeable group boundaries. Boys reported more negative interactions with those outside their groups. Results are discussed in the context of adolescent development. Adolescence is a period in which individuals are expanding their perspective beyond the family and learning how to negotiate relationships with others in the social system. Peers, particularly group members, become important social referents (Sherif & Sherif, 1964; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). The peer group can also serve as a bridge from childhood parental dependencies to a sense of autonomy and connectedness with the greater social

Many studies examining the effects of treatments for socially isolated/withdrawn children have used behavioral measures to assess children's peer relations. In an attempt to examine the concurrent validity of these measures, we observed 258 preschool children during free play and coded their interactions into the categories of positive, negative, and neutral behaviors. We also interviewed these children individually, using a sociometric nomination procedure, and asked them to indicate liked and disliked peers. Our examination of the results revealed that, consistent with other research, the correlation between the sociometric measures and the children's total rate of interaction with peers was low. In addition, measures of positive, negative, and neutral behaviors were also only weakly correlated with the children's sociometric scores. We agree with others in concluding that multiple methods of assessment are needed to properly assess the adequacy of children's peer relations.

Three formerly hospitalized but vocationally employable psychiatric patients received job interview training through a behavior rehearsal procedure. For each subject, job-interviewing skill components (such as providing positive information about background, asking questions, gesturing, expressing enthusiasm) were sequentially introduced in multiple baseline fashion. Upon the introduction of training, each component increased substantially. Pre- to post-training changes in interviews with actual personnel managers were also assessed which reflected improvement in two of the three subjects. Subsequent ratings by a second personnel manager provided confirmation and social validation of the procedure.

One of the central and most controversial problems in developmental psychology is the question of continuity and discontinuity in development. Numerous empirical studies have examined this question, and many theoretical positions have been proposed (e.g., Brim & Kagan, 1980; Emde, Gaensbauer, & Harmon, 1976; Emmerich, 1968; Green-ough, this volume; Kagan, this volume; Mischel, 1968; Rutter, this volume; Sackett, Sameroff, Cairns, & Suomi, 1981; Wohlwill, 1973). Although little consensus has been reached, developmentalists of any persuasion would agree that human beings undergo a series of changes in the course of the life span. Moreover, human lives appear to be characterized by periods of relative stability and periods of marked change or transition. These transitions are thought to be the times when major reorganizations or discontinuities may occur.

Educators are increasingly using peer tutoring procedures in their work with underachieving students. Anecdotal reports suggest that peer tutoring may produce both academic gains and positive attitude changes in the tutor, including heightened self-esteem and increased motivation to learn (Gartner, Kohler, & Riessman, 1971). Systematic evaluations of peer-tutoring programs provide some support for such gains but also raise questions about the generality of these effects. Although positive gains in achievement for tutors are reported by Rust (1970), Liette (1972), and Allen and Feldman (1973), other investigators have found no specific achievement effects (Erikson & Cromack, 1972; Rogers, 1970). Similarly, gains in attitudes have been reported by some investigators (Haggerty, 1971) but not by others (Foster, 1972; Horan, DeGirolomo, Hill, & Shute, 1974). These empirical investigations of peer tutoring have left several questions unanswered. Only limited attention has been directed toward the attitudes of both tutor and tutee. Additionally, although not all studies have found measurable effects, the causes of success or failure of any one program are unclear. Apparently, peer tutoring is effective under some conditions but not under others. Applied peer-tutoring programs often differ in many ways, making it difficult to isolate the factors that may be mediating attitude change. Outcome has been related to a variety of program characteristics, ranging from tutor sex (Cicirelli, 1972), race (Lakin, 1972), and previous training (Niedermeyer, 1970) to the amount of tutee imitation (Allen & Devin-Sheehan, Note 1) or the effects of tutor–tutee sibling relationships (Cicirelli, 1972). It remains unclear, however, how these diverse factors may mediate attitude change. Without a conceptual model of the attitude change processes involved in peer tutoring, it is difficult to integrate such findings. Recently, role theory has been suggested as a conceptual framework within which peer tutoring effects may be explored and analyzed (Allen, 1976). According to role theory, enactment of a role produces changes in behavior, attitudes, and self-perceptions consistent with role expectations. Allen and Feldman (1973) suggested that the role of teacher represents competence, prestige, and authority. A child playing the role of teacher in a peer-tutoring situation may be expected to show changes in attitudes along these dimensions. As tutors begin to perceive themselves as more competent, they should develop more positive attitudes toward school and learning. The prestige and authority of the tutor role should also increase their feelings of importance, power, and self-worth. Children’s perceptions of their roles may be a central determinant of the attitude changes produced during tutoring experiences. Theoretically, the more that situational variables increase children’s perceptions of themselves as teachers, the greater the impact their role enactment will have. For example, when situations are structured to maximize children’s perceptions of the tutor role as a reflection of their own competence, greater positive changes in their self-concept may result. One way in which contextual variables may exert influence on role perceptions is through the initial role assignment process. Different procedures of role assignment may generate perceptions of tutor roles that vary in degree and quality of similarity to teacher roles. For example, when children are told that they have been assigned the role of tutor because of demonstrated competence, perceived similarity to a teacher is high and based on an achieved and valued quality. When role assignment is based on a teacherlike physical characteristic, perceived similarity is also high but on a less important dimension. Similarity between the teacher role and the tutor role may be perceived as low when no teacher qualities are necessary for assignment to tutor, as when role assignment is based on chance. The effects of contextual variables on the attitudes of tutees are less clearly defined in a role-theory analysis. To some extent, however, one would expect that conditions bolstering the role of the peer tutor would reflect negatively on the status of the tutee role. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a role-theory analysis of the attitudinal effects of peer tutoring on tutors and tutees. In particular, we hypothesized that attitude changes resulting from tutoring experiences are mediated by role perceptions and that contextual variables affect these role perceptions. To evaluate these hypotheses, fourth-grade children were assigned to be tutors or tutees, and they engaged in brief tutoring interactions. The assigned role was expected to have a major effect on role perceptions, and children enacting tutor roles were therefore expected to have more positive attitudes than children enacting tutee roles. The effects of contextual variables on role perceptions and attitudes were evaluated by providing children with four different rationales of role assignment. Some children were told that their role assignment was based on their prior performance (competence), some were told that assignment was based on a teacherlike physical quality (a clear voice), and some were told that assignment was based on chance (a coin toss). In the fourth condition, children received no information about the basis for their role assignment. We expected that role enactment would produce the most substantial effects for tutors when role assignment was based on competence. We predicted that tutoring would be somewhat less effective when role assignment was based on chance. When no basis for assignment was given, we expected that the tutor’s role perceptions would reflect the societal role of teacher and, hence, would produce positive attitudinal effects, similar to the role perceptions of children who were assigned on the basis of competence. The effects of the three rationales of role assignment on tutees’ attitudes were expected to be the reverse of the effects on tutors’ attitudes. When no rationale for role assignment was given, tutees were not expected to assume any deficiency in themselves relative to the tutor and were therefore expected to have attitudes similar to children assigned to tutees on the basis of chance. Additionally, the effects of the tutoring experience on different dimensions of attitudes were assessed by including measures of self-evaluation, attitudes toward the role, and attitudes toward the task. It was predicted that the effects of role and assignment condition would be strongest on attitudes toward one’s role, since role perceptions were expected to play a central function in mediating other attitudinal effects.

A number of intervention programs have been developed to teach children the skills necessary for effective interactions with others (see Furman, 1984; Hops, 1982). Some investigators have developed programs to improve the sociometric status of children who are not liked or who are disliked by their peers. Others have designed interventions to increase the rates of peer interaction of children who are isolated from their peers. Although there is considerable controversy concerning which of these approaches is more appropriate, the objective of both is to enhance children’s relationships with their peers.

Most of the early behavior modification programs with children were focused on increasing appropriate classroom behaviors and academic performance (Drabman & Furman, in press). In the last decade, though, increasing attention has been given to the social behavior of children. Adequate social skills have been recognized to be both important prerequisites to intellectual development and critical aspects of adjustment in themselves. While behavioral procedures such as modeling or reinforcement have been shown to hold considerable promise (Combs & Slaby, 1977), clinical investigators have seldom viewed their findings in a developmental framework, or explicitly considered developmental factors in designing treatment programs.

Although friendships are important throughout the lifespan, they seem to be particularly important during middle childhood and adolescence. Prior to this time, parents command center stage; after this period, heterosexual relationships become the primary concern. By examining friendship as it develops into a significant form of relationship during this period, we hope to shed light on the functional importance of friendship. In particular, we consider three ways that friends contribute to social development and adjustment: (a) the fulfillment of interpersonal needs, (b) the socialization of interpersonal competence, & (c) the provision of natural therapeutic experiences. Our approach is developmental in that we trace the path by which friendship grows to its mature form. It is also comparative in that we consider the relative role of friendship within the child’s broad network of relationships.

In this chapter, we present a systems perspective for school intervention programs and describe our efforts to apply such a perspective in our consultation programs for teaching teachers ways to improve their students’ peer relations. Our work is derived from the literature on peer intervention programs (see Furman, 1984; Hops, 1982). Several common themes have emerged in that literature. First, a number of promising approaches have been developed, including coaching or social skills training programs, social cognitive interventions, and cooperative group programs. Second, we don’t have a good understanding of why the programs have at least short-term effects, particularly considering that the specific nature of changes or lack of changes varies from study to study. For example, social skills training programs have sometimes resulted in changes in both sociometric status and peer interactions; in other instances, changes have been observed in only one domain; and in a few instances, no changes at all have been observed (Furman, 1984). These results also underlie the third common theme heard in the literature: Serious concerns exist about the generalization and maintenance of treatment effects (Hops, 1982). Few have examined such effects, and fewer have found them.

One of the most noteworthy features of sibling relationships is their marked diversity. Striking differences in sibling relationships exist across cultures. Similarly, considerable differences exist within any one culture or subculture. Some sibling relationships are egalitarian, similar in some respects to those between friends. Others are asymmetrical, requiring one child to be responsible for the other. Sibling relationships vary not only in the distribution of power and responsibility, but also in affective quality. Relationships can be close or distant, harmonious or conflicted, cooperative or competitive.

All social scientists would agree that the parent-child relationship is central in shaping development. Mother and father are simply the most important people in the growing child’s life. More than anyone else, they are responsible for determining whether the child becomes a mature, healthy adult.

Peers and siblings are central figures in children’s social worlds. They are not just playmates, but have fundamental roles in shaping a child’s course of development. For example, positive peer relations have been found to contribute to the acquisition of appropriate social behaviors, the control of agressive impulses, the development of norms and values, and other aspects of moral and cognitive development (Hartup, 1976). Although research on sibling relationships is not very extensive, siblings too have been found to be important caretakers and socialization agents (Furman & Buhrmester, 1982).

24 socially withdrawn preschool children were located through classroom observations and assigned to 3 conditions: (a) socialization with a younger child during 10 play sessions, (b) socialization with an age mate during a similar series of sessions, and (c) no treatment. The socialization sessions, particularly those with a younger partner, were found to increase the sociability of the withdrawn children in their classrooms. Significant increases occurred mainly in the rate with which positive social reinforcement was emitted. Generally, the results support a leadership deficit theory of social isolation. Possible mechanisms responsible for the observed changes are discussed.

MASTERS, JOHN C.; FURMAN, WYNDOL; and BARDEN, R. CHRISTOPHER. Effects of Achievement Standards, Tangible Rewards, and Self-dispensed Achievement Evaluations on Children's Task Mastery. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 217-224. Little is known about the processes by which achievement standards affect children's achievement strivings and actual task mastery. There is little information, for example, concerning the capability of self-dispensed task evaluation (e.g., pride, self-criticism) to control the acquisition of new behavior patterns. 2 studies were conducted to clarify the role of different minimum-performance standards for contingent tangible reinforcement or self-dispensed evaluative reinforcement (in the absence of tangible rewards) in determining the rate of learning. Preschool children were presented with a discrimination learning task, and their performance on each trial had to meet low (few correct), medium, or high (all correct) standards to be rewarded. In an accelerating-standard condition their performance had to surpass that on the previous trial. In 1 experiment rewards were externally dispensed tokens, while in the second, children self-administered achievement evaluations. In both studies, learning was significantly more rapid in high and accelerating standards. In addition, selfdispensed achievement evaluations produced such rapid mastery that by the end of the experiment effects due to different standards had vanished. The results are discussed in terms of incentive and differential reinforcement processes as determinants of the observed effects due to differing achievement standards and in terms of the reinforcing power of achievement evaluations.