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Parent-child relationships aid social skills BOWLING GREEN, O. — A Bowling Green State University researcher says a good relationship—secure attachment, mutual trust and
good communication—between children and their parents enhances the ability of youngsters to make friends.
Dr. Priscilla Coleman, co-coordinator of and an assistant professor in the human development and family studies program at
BGSU, conducted research with 67 fifth- and sixth-graders at a rural elementary school in Tennessee. She looked at gender,
attachment to the mother, and attachment to the father in relation to children’s social self-efficacy beliefs, peer attachment
and victimization. Her research results were published in the October issue of Infant and Child Development.
According to Coleman, the study showed that “children who had a good relationship with their mom had a more intimate bond
with their friends.”
Being attached to the father has a more indirect effect on peer relationships. Children who have secure relationships with
their fathers, compared to children with less secure relationships, develop better knowledge of appropriate social behaviors
and confidence in themselves as social partners, skills which are transferred to their relationships with peers. “
Good relationships with the fathers build social skills and the social confidence needed to have friends,” Coleman said.
The study also looked at how relationships with parents affected the likelihood of being victimized by peers. Only low attachment
to mothers among girls was found to be related to a higher likelihood of being picked on. Victimization included being picked
on, having mean things said to the child, having mean things about the child being said to other peers, and being hit. The
most frequently reported form of victimization was mean things being said to others (17.9 percent “yes, a lot”) and the lowest
was being hit (6 percent “yes, a lot”). Boys reported more frequent mean things having been said to them than girls.
Coleman had previously studied the effects of attachment with younger children and attachment disorder. She focused this study
on middle childhood and included father/child relationships because minimal research has covered these areas.
(Posted December 02, 2003 )
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