The Influence Of Parent-child Attachment And Emotional Regulation On The Quality Of Friendship Between Migrant Children And Urban Children

This survey research aimed to investigate the similarity and difference in the relationship of friendship quality to parent-child attachment and emotional regulation among city children and migrant children. In particular, this study examined the mediating function of emotion regulation in the prediction of friendship quality from parent-child attachment. Eight hundred and eighteen seventh-graders in Nanjing and Shanghai were recruited to attend the study with the mean age being 13.4 (SD=0.83) years old. The research found that:(a) there was no significant difference between city children and migrant children in the parent-child attachment. However, migrant children scored significantly lower than city children in the emotional expression suppression and positive friendship quality, (b) For the two groups of children, parent-child secure attachment and emotion regulation significantly predicted friendship quality. But parent-child non-secure attachment differently predicted friendship quality of migrant children and city children, (c) For migrant children, the influence of parent-children secure attachment on positive friendship quality was mediated by cognitive reappraisal of emotion regulation. No significant mediation was found among city children in the relationship between parent-child attachment and friendship quality.