Parents' structuring of children's daily lives in relation to the quality and stability of children's friendships

Abstract

This study focused on the implications of parents' structuring of their children's home lives for the friendships of their children. Participants were 224 elementary-school children (108 girls and 116 boys) from four grade levels in two schools in Aixen-Provence, France. Most of the families were of middle or high socio-economic status. The participating children were seen twice during the same school year in order to assess the stability of their friendship choices and the quality of their friendships. We used Lautrey's (1989) questionnaire in order to assess the parents' styles in the structuring of family life and related child-rearing practice. This questionnaire delineates three structuring styles: 1) rigid, characterized by considerable imposition of routines with little leeway for exceptional circumstances; 2) exible, in which established routines can be modi ed as circumstances dictate; and 3) laissez-faire, characterized by an absence of predictability and routine. We measured friendship quality by means of Friendship Quality Scale developed by Bukowski, Hoza, and Boivin (1989). This scale consists of 23 items representing ve dimensions: companionship, help, security, closeness and con ict. This tool was designed to elicit children's perceptions of a speci c relationship with a friend. Results indicated a signi cant link between parenting style and both of the dimensions of child friendship we studied. Children from homes characterized by a laissez-faire style of parenting have friendships with more positive features than children from homes with exible or rigid styles. We also found that friendships were generally less stable and rated as less positive than in similar studies conducted in other countries.Cette étude s'intéresse aux in uences du style de structuration de la vie familiale sur les relations af liatives des enfants. Notre échantillon était composé de 224 sujets (108 lles et 116 garçons) issus de deux écoles d'Aix-en-Provence (France) et de 4 niveaux de classe. Le statut socio-économique des familles était généralement moyen ou supérieur. Les enfants ont été rencontrés à deux reprises au cours de l'année scolaire a n d'étudier la stabilité du choix et de la qualité de la relation amicale. Pour cette recherche nous avons utilisé un questionnaire adapté de celui de Lautrey (1989) pour évaluer le style de structurations de la vie familiale et les pratiques éducatives parentales. Il permet de distinguer 3 styles de structuration : 1) rigide : caractérisé par des régularités importantes et laissant peu de place aux perturbations ; 2) souple : les perturbations et les régulations sont modulables selon les circonstances ; 3) faible : dans ce cas les pratiques sont aléatoires, imprévisibles. Pour étudier la qualité de l'amitié chez les enfants nous avons traduit et validé le questionnaire de Bukowski, Hoza, et Boivin. Cette échelle regroupe un ensemble de 23 questions réparties équitablement sur cinq dimensions (camaraderie, aide, sécurité, af nité et con it). Elle permet d'appréhender, par une aut...

Measuring the quality of the sibling relationship during middle childhood: The psychometric properties of the Sibling Relationship Inventory

“…The FQS is a self-reported questionnaire that assesses the quality of children's relationship with their best friend on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ¼ ''not true'' to 5 ¼ ''really true''. The 22 items of the questionnaire can be aggregated on two scales: Warmth and Conflict (AllesJardel, Fourdrinier, Roux, & Schneider, 2002). The FQS has been previously used with Italian children of similar age and has showed good psychometric properties (Lecce, Pagnin, & Pinto, 2009).…”

Agreement in children's evaluations of their relationships with siblings and friends

“…The authors originally identified 5 dimensions: Companionship (e.g., ''We spend our time together''); Conflict (e.g., ''We can argue a lot/my friend and I disagree''); Help (e.g., ''My friend helps me if I need it''); Closeness (e.g., ''I feel happy when I am with my friend''); and Security measured with two sets of items, one regarding transcending problems (e.g., ''If my friend and I have a fight or argument, we can say 'I am sorry' and everything will be all right''), and the other regarding the reliability of the alliance (e.g., ''If I have a problem at school or at home I can talk to my friend about it''). However, a review of the recent literature provides clear evidence for a 2 factors solution: Affection and Conflict (Alles-Jardel et al, 2002;Lecce, Primi, Pagnin, & Menzione, 2006;Weimer et al, 2004). Internal consistency of these two factors was found to be good in the present study (Cronbach's alpha Conflict ¼ .76; Cronbach's alpha Affection ¼ .70).…”

“…In other words, it could be possible that preadolescents have a more widely shared knowledge of their friendship because friendship during preadolescence is particularly intimate and close (Bukowski, Newcomb, & Hartup, 1996). However, although this could well be the case, other studies reported a high and significant correlation between ratings by members of a best-friends' dyad both on positive and on negative dimensions during childhood as well as during adolescence (Alles-Jardel, Fourdrinier, Roux, & Schneider, 2002;Schneider, Fonzi, Tani, & Tomada, 1997).…”

The Turkish Adaptation of the Friendship Qualities Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study

“…Since establishing and maintaining healthy friendship relationships is one of the important factors in adolescent development, related instruments should be developed and adapted. As a result, the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS), developed by Bukowski et al (1994) and adapted for use both with French adolescents (Alles-Jardel, Fourdrinier, Roux, & Schneider, 2002) and with Italian adolescents (Ponti, Guarnieri, Smorti, & Tani, 2010), has been chosen for adaptation and use in Turkey with the present study intending to be an adaptation study of this particular scale.…”