TY - JOUR
T1 - Developmental Antecedents of Friendship Satisfaction in Adulthood
AU - Vieth, Grace
AU - Englund, Michelle M.
AU - Simpson, Jeffry A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Psychological Association
PY - 2022/8/18
Y1 - 2022/8/18
N2 - Cross-sectional studies have shown that greater friendship satisfaction in adulthood is associated with many positive outcomes (Chopik, 2017; Gillespie, Frederick, et al., 2015). However, the developmental antecedents of satisfaction with close friends in adulthood have not been examined using prospective data. We do not know, for example, whether certain key experiences early in life, such as infant attachment security versus insecurity or the quality of maternal sensitivity, prospectively predict the degree of satisfaction with close friends in adulthood. We also do not know whether other salient experiences, such as the degree of peer competence in childhood or friendship security in adolescence, mediate relations between early life attachment and/or maternal sensitivity and adult friendship satisfaction. Leveraging data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaption, we examined four developmental models containing these theoretically relevant antecedents of friendship satisfaction at age 32. The sample was approximately evenly split by gender (female = 82, male = 76), with the following ethnic distribution: White = 67.1%, Black = 8.9%, mixed race = 18.4%, other = 5.6%. All participants were born to mothers living below the poverty line at birth but on average were lower middle class by age 32. We found that the model containing direct paths from infant attachment security versus insecurity and from the quality of maternal sensitivity to friendship satisfaction at age 32 provided the best fit, suggesting that early parent–child relationships provide a foundation for later adult relationships with close friends.
AB - Cross-sectional studies have shown that greater friendship satisfaction in adulthood is associated with many positive outcomes (Chopik, 2017; Gillespie, Frederick, et al., 2015). However, the developmental antecedents of satisfaction with close friends in adulthood have not been examined using prospective data. We do not know, for example, whether certain key experiences early in life, such as infant attachment security versus insecurity or the quality of maternal sensitivity, prospectively predict the degree of satisfaction with close friends in adulthood. We also do not know whether other salient experiences, such as the degree of peer competence in childhood or friendship security in adolescence, mediate relations between early life attachment and/or maternal sensitivity and adult friendship satisfaction. Leveraging data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaption, we examined four developmental models containing these theoretically relevant antecedents of friendship satisfaction at age 32. The sample was approximately evenly split by gender (female = 82, male = 76), with the following ethnic distribution: White = 67.1%, Black = 8.9%, mixed race = 18.4%, other = 5.6%. All participants were born to mothers living below the poverty line at birth but on average were lower middle class by age 32. We found that the model containing direct paths from infant attachment security versus insecurity and from the quality of maternal sensitivity to friendship satisfaction at age 32 provided the best fit, suggesting that early parent–child relationships provide a foundation for later adult relationships with close friends.
KW - Attachment
KW - Friendship satisfaction
KW - Maternal sensitivity
KW - Peer competence
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U2 - 10.1037/dev0001437
DO - 10.1037/dev0001437
M3 - Article
C2 - 35980699
AN - SCOPUS:85136593391
SN - 0012-1649
VL - 58
SP - 2401
EP - 2412
JO - Developmental psychology
JF - Developmental psychology
IS - 12
ER -