1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The importance of a child’s experiences within a particular relationship system will vary according to his or her experiences in other relationship domains. In the present article, we examine this idea by considering two sets of interrelated hypotheses regarding the interaction between family and peer variables and their association with children’s perceptions about their social competence and affective well-being. » (p. 2201)

Questions/Hypothèses :
« Specifically, in regard to children’s experiences within the family and with friends, one would expect that (a) family experiences will be more important for children who do not have positive friendship relations than for children who have good relations with friends, and (b) that experiences with peers will be more important for children whose experiences within the family are nonoptimal than they are for children from well-functioning families. » (p. 2202)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
138 enfants dont 57 garçons and 81 filles, ont été recrutés dans deux écoles primaires dans une région située au nord-ouest de Montréal. Tous les participants s’exprimaient en anglais. La moyenne d’âge des enfants était de 10.86 ans pour les filles et de 10.71 ans pour les garçons.

Instruments :
Les enfants devaient compléter plusieurs questionnaires :
- « Sociometric nominations » : nommer le pair du même sexe envers lequel le répondant se sent le plus proche à l’intérieur de la liste de noms présentéel;
- le « Friendship Quality Scale » permet d’évaluer leur relation avec leur meilleur ami sur chacun des 35 composantes du questionnaire;
- le « Perceived Competence Scale for Children » permet aux enfants de mesurer leur propre perception de leurs compétences sociales;
- Les parents complètent quant à eux le « Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale II » qui mesure le climat familial et le pattern des interactions entre parents et enfants.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Using a sample of 138 early adolescents and their parents, we examined the hypothesis that family and friendship measures would moderate each other’s associations with measures of children’s perceptions of their adjustment and well-being. Family environment was assessed by asking parents to complete the ’Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale II’. A Sociometric Nomination procedure and the ’Friendship Quality Scale’ were completed by the subjects as assessments of reciprocity and quality in their best friendship relations. The ’Perceived Competence Scale for Children’ was used to assess children’s adjustment. Stronger associations were observed between the family measures and the adjustment measures in children without a close friendship than in children with such a relationship. Also, friendship was more strongly linked to outcome measures for children from low adaptive and low cohesive families than for children in more adaptive and cohesive families. These findings indicate that experiences in the family and friendship domains interact in their associations with children’s impressions of their adjustment during early adolescence. » (p. 2201)