In adolescence, peers represent key actors within individual social network. Given the relevance of peer connections and the growing literature examining them, the purpose of this article was to review, through a meta-analytic approach, studies on adolescent and youth peer relationships within the theoretical framework of attachment. First, we…

Background: The popularity of communication technologies such as text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging, and social networking sites has grown exponentially, especially among adolescents. At the scale of growth along with the pressures and normative use of communication technology, psychological effects of these technologies need to be further…

The social networks that rhesus monkeys develop in nature are centered around multiple generations of matrilineal kin embedded in larger social groupings that have some degree of distinctiveness and permanence. Within each family, infants initially grow up in the care of their mothers and the close presence of relatives, and they subsequently…

The classical attachment theory holds to the notion of a monotropic model. Such a model leads to a view of the mother as first and most important figure in an infant's life. A polytropic view of attachment moves us toward a model of simultaneous and multiple attachment figures. In particular, it is argued that peer attachment is a separate but…

The study explores the role of working models of attachment in the process of coping with relationship stressors with a focus on long-term adaptation. In a 7-year longitudinal study of 112 participants, stress and coping were assessed during adolescence and emerging adulthood. In addition, working models of attachment were assessed by employing…

Adolescents' friendship quality and observed emotional expression with their best friends were predicted from reports of their mother's interpersonal relationships, specifically the quality of her marriage and social network. Two models, Attachment Theory and Social Learning Theory, explaining these relationships received support. (BF)

Examination of 390 Black American adolescents demonstrates that males and females experience very different structured forms of social support. Females report more frequent contact with network members, who were both male and female, slightly older, and met in private settings. Males report larger groups of intimate friends, who are overwhelmingly…

Examines the social networks of 85 young children as they made the transition from a home-centered to a school-centered existence. As children reached school age, they had increased contact with peers and decreased contact with kin. Children as young as three showed more same-sex than opposite-sex peer contact. (Author/BJV)