Dorothy Markiewicz

Associations between parenting style and attachment to mother in middle childhood and adolescence

Associations between parenting style and quality of child–mother attachment in middle childhood (n = 202; grades 4–6) and adolescence (n = 212; grades 7–11) were investigated. Participants rated warm involvement, psychological autonomy granting, and behavioural monitoring (Lamborn et al., 1991). Attachment orientation was assessed using the Network of Relationships Questionnaire (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985), Coping Styles Questionnaire (Finnegan et al., 1996), and Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). Overall, a positive association was found between authoritative parenting (higher scores on all three dimensions) and secure attachment, whereas negligent parenting (lower scores on all three dimensions) predicted avoidant attachment. Moreover, a unique pattern of associations emerged between particular dimensions of parenting and each attachment style. Findings suggests that psychological autonomy may have important implications for children’s views of self whereas warm parental involvement may play a unique role in their views of the attachment figure. Associations were largely consistent across both age groups.

Friendships of women and men at work

Interpersonal networks and quality of women and men’s close work friendships in three work settings were investigated to assess potential impact of gender socialization and organizational structure factors on patterns of interaction within same‐sex and opposite‐sex work friendships, and to examine whether friendship quality would predict salary and job satisfaction and if this would differ as a function of the sex of the employee or the friend. Findings indicate that homophilous ties are stronger than opposite sex ties, which support previous research on relationships in the work environment. Work context influenced the nature of relationships among women and men. In contrast to research on friendships outside the workplace, work friendships involving women were not consistently rated as more satisfying and ratings varied across work settings. Quality of close male friendships was more associated with career success and job satisfaction than quality of close female friendships.

Personality Traits as Determinants of Burden and Health Complaints in Caregiving.

This study tested predictions specifying the influence of caregiver personality traits on negative outcomes of caregiving, health complaints and burden. Two-hundred and thirteen caregivers, who were caring for family members with dementia, were interviewed and their relatives were assessed on cognitive status and aggression. At follow-up conducted twenty-four months later, forty-five caregivers were still continuing to provide home care for their dependents. Caregivers who scored higher on a measure of neuroticism experienced higher levels of burden and health complaints both at initial and follow-up assessment. Caregiver extraversion-introversion did not influence the experience of caregiving. At both initial and final assessment, the ability to enjoy some aspects of caregiving, recreational activities, and satisfaction with social support from family and friends mitigated negative outcomes of caregiving, while appraising the dependent as more troublesome increased negative outcomes. Caring for more cognitively impaired and more aggressive dependents and being female increased negative outcomes initially. Personality traits and most other study variables demonstrated significant continuity across time for caregivers continuing home care.

Developmental profiles of peer social preference over the course of elementary school: Associations with trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behavior.

Using a new longitudinal clustering technique, this study aimed to (a) empirically identify groups of children with distinct longitudinal profiles of peer social preference during elementary school; (b) compare these groups regarding their longitudinal pattern of classification into J. D. Coie, K. A. Dodge, and H. Coppotellis (CDC; 1982) sociometric categories; and (c) compare these groups regarding their longitudinal trajectories of antisocial, hyperactive, and anxious behavior. Based on 299 children, 3 groups were identified: a stable popular group, a stable average group, and an unpopular group whose social preference decreased over time. Each of the groups showed considerable overlap over time with their closest corresponding CDC category (popular, average, rejected). Growth curve analyses showed that externalizing and internalizing behavior generally decreased over time, but overall means and the rates of decrease differed in the 3 groups.

Friendship, Marriage and Self-Esteem

This study compares best same-sex friendship and friendship within marriage for men and women and investigates links between relationship quality and self-esteem. Partners in 219 couples completed measures of friendship quality, marital adjustment and self-esteem. Results indicate that men and women see their spousal friendships more similarly than their best friendships. Men make greater distinctions between spouses and friends than do women. These findings suggest that women perceive similar provisions from their spouses and friends, whereas men may not. Marital adjustment and friendship quality are significantly related to self-esteem for both sexes. Although women appear more sensitive to disagreements in their marriages, the detrimental effect of conflict on self-esteem was similar for men and women.

Perceived Similarity among Adolescent Friends: The Role of Reciprocity, Friendship Quality, and Gender.

Perceived similarity of personality in same-sex friends was examined in a sample of 124 adolescents (63 girls). Adolescents rated themselves and a nominated friend (n = 42 reciprocated, 82 non-reciprocated dyads) on developmentally relevant personality items assessing autonomy, prosociality, and responsive caregiving. Results from hierarchical linear modeling and multiple regression analyses generally supported predictions: Greater perceived similarity was marginally positively associated with more favorable ratings of friendship quality and significantly negatively associated with conflict ratings in the friendship. Adolescents in reciprocated friendships rated themselves as more similar in personality and more positive in friendship quality than did non-reciprocated dyads. A mediational analysis revealed that the association between reciprocity and perceived similarity was mediated by positive friendship quality. These findings suggest that reciprocated friends’ perceptions of being more similar in personality may in part be accounted for by their more favorable judgments of their friendship quality.

Social Support Networks and Self-Esteem of Idiocentric and Allocentric Children and Adolescents

People who have an idiocentric value orientation tend to emphasize their own goals and needs over those of the groups to which they belong, and to be independent and self-reliant. Allocentric individuals tend to be cooperative, interdependent, and to have a stronger need to affiliate with others than idio-centrics. A goal of this study was to investigate how childrens social relationships and self-esteem vary as a function of their allocentrism. Participants were 419 children between 9 and 18 years of age from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (French Canadian/Quebecois, Greek, Arabic, and Caribbean). As expected, allocentric children reported more social support from their peers than did idiocentric children. In addition, idiocentrics and allocentrics differed in their reported sources of intimacy and companionship, for example from best friends, mothers, and relatives. Also, the self-esteem of idiocentric children, but not of allocentric children, was predicted by social support from their best friend. Implications are that idiocentric and allocentric individuals seek out different members of their social networks to satisfy various needs, and to strengthen their self-esteem.