The contribution of family and peer relationships to the development of social competence in adolescence

The continuity of social competence from parent-child attachment relationships in infancy to peer relationships in middle adolescence is examined for a subsample of 40 subjects drawn from a larger longitudinal study of high-risk mothers and children. Measures used for data analysis include attachment classification in infancy, social competence measures in preschool, middle childhood, and adolescence, and measures of family functioning in early adolescence. Subjects attended a 4-week summer camp at age 10 and returned for a two-day intensive camp reunion at age 15. As part of that reunion, they participated in a revealed differences task wherein the adolescents developed plans for spending a specific amount of money on group activities. Videotapes of the adolescents in the group problem solving task were coded using 5-7 point behavioral rating scales developed for this study: enjoyment of the task, involvement, leadership, self-confidence, social competence, and task competence. The revealed differences task rating scales were highly robust and demonstrated both concurrent validity and concordance with developmental antecedents of peer effectiveness and social competence. The revealed differences ratings correlated strongly and in the predicted direction with independent camp reunion counselor rankings and ratings of social competence, self-confidence, and other aspects of social interaction, and with peer sociometric measures at the camp reunion. Middle childhood camp counselor ratings and rankings were related to the adolescent behavioral rating scales in a pattern that suggests considerable discriminant validity. These results indicate that the ratings scales are valid measures of adolescent peer competence in a group setting. Overall, results provide strong evidence for the continuity of individual adaptation in social competence from infancy through adolescence. Adolescents were significantly more likely to be socially competent in a group problem solving situation if they had secure attachment relationships with their mothers in infancy; had open, self-assertive; and secure relationships with their mothers at 13 years; and had been socially competent in preschool and middle childhood. Results indicate that both family relationships and peer relationships make independent contributions to competence in adolescence, with attachment in infancy emerging as the strongest single predictor of adolescent social competence.