Abstract
The hypothesis that the concurrent associations between friendship features and friendship satisfaction are moderated by security-related experiences within the family was examined with two sets of analyses conducted with a sample of fifth- and sixth-grade students (M = 10.87, SD = 0.73, range 10–13 years). The main hypothesis of the study was that friendship security would be more important for friendship satisfaction when security within the family was low. The first analysis (N = 409) showed that the association between friendship security and friendship satisfaction was stronger when security with mothers was low rather than high. A second analysis (N = 266) showed that this association was stronger for children from divorced families than from intact families. Findings observed with other aspects of friendship (e.g., intimacy) appeared to be weaker than those observed with friendship security, and they were not moderated by family-related measures. These findings show that the importance of friendship security as a source of friendship satisfaction varies as a function of experience in other relationship systems.
Recommended Citation
Persram, Ryan J.; Schwartzman, Emily; and Bukowski, William M.
(2021)
"The Concurrent Association Between Friendship Security and Friendship Satisfaction Is Moderated by Experience Within the Family Context,"
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Vol. 67:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol67/iss1/3