Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.6115/fer.2018.009

The Relationship between Attachment and Children's Friendship Network and Friendship Quality: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Empathy  

Lee, Pyeong Hwa (Department of Child & Family Studies, The Catholic University of Korea)
Shin, Yoolim (Department of Child & Family Studies, The Catholic University of Korea)
Publication Information
Human Ecology Research / v.56, no.2, 2018 , pp. 123-131 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study investigated associations between attachment and friendship. This study also examined the mediating effects of empathy on the association between two variables. Participants consisted of $4^{th}$ to $6^{th}$ grade elementary school children including 173 boys and 141 girls. Two elementary schools were located in Seoul and Bucheon. Children participated in a peer nomination interview. They nominated their three most liked peers. Children's responses to the best friend of the peer nomination identified the children's best friends. A Friendship Quality Scale measured children's positive friendship quality and friendship satisfaction. Children completed the Inventory of the Parent and Peer Attachment Scale that assessed maternal and paternal attachment. In addition, they completed a children's version of the Empathy Quotient that measured empathy. Pearson's correlation and Structural Equation Modeling were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that attachment had a direct influence on friendship network. Children who had the high levels of attachment security had large friendship network. However, attachment did not have a significant effect on friendship quality. Moreover, empathy had mediating effects on the association between attachment and friendship quality as well as the friendship network. The results of this research highlight the importance of attachment and empathy on children's friendship.
Keywords
attachment; empathy; friendship;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Auyeung, B., Wheelwright, S., Allison, C., Atkinson, M., Samarawickrema, N., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2009). The children's empathy quotient and systemizing quotient: Sex differences in typical development and in autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(11), 1509-1521. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009- 0772-x   DOI
2 Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(1), 7-10.   DOI
3 Bower, J. C., Fedstrom, B. K., Rubin, K. H., Rose-Krasnor, L., Booth- LaForce, C., & Laursen, B. (2010). Distinguishing children who form new best-friendships from those who do not. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27(6), 707-725. http://dx.doi. org/10.1177/0265407510373259   DOI
4 Brumariu, L. E., Kerns, K. A., & Seibert, A. (2012). Mother-child attachment, emotion regulation, and anxiety symptoms in middle childhood. Personal Relationships, 19(3), 569-585. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2011.01379.x   DOI
5 Buhrmester, D., & Furman, W. D. (1990). The changing functions of friends in childhood: A neo-Sullivan perspective. In V. Derlega & B. Winstead (Eds.), Friendship and social interaction (pp. 15-45). New York: W
6 Bukowski, W. M., Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1994). Measuring friendship quality during pre- and early adolescence. Journal of Social and Personality Relationships, 11(3), 471-484. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407594113011   DOI
7 Cassidy, J. (2001). Truth, lies, and intimacy: An attachment perspective. Attachment and Human Development, 3(2), 121-155. https://doi. org/10.1080/14616730110058999   DOI
8 Mayseless, O. , & Scharf, M. (2007). Adolescents' attachment representations and their capacity for intimacy in close relationships. Journal of research on Adolescence, 17(1), 23-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2007.00511.x   DOI
9 Laursen, B., Bukowski, W. M., Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J. E. (2007). Friendship moderates prospective associations between social isolation and adjustment problems in young children. Child Development, 78(4), 1395-1404. . https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01072.x   DOI
10 Lee, K. S., Suh, S. J., & Shin, Y. J. (2000). Influence of attachment relationship with parents on rejection sensitivity and peer relation on school-age children. Korean Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 11(1), 51-59.
11 McElwain, N. L., & Volling, B. L. (2004). Attachment security and parental sensitivity during infancy: Associations with friendship quality and false-belief understanding at age 4. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21(5), 639-667.   DOI
12 Mikulincer, M., Shaver, P. R., Gillath, O., & Nitzberg, R. A. (2005). Attachment, caregiving, and altruism: boosting attachment security increase compassion and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(5), 817-839. . http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022- 3514.89.5.817   DOI
13 Oh, J. (1999). The relationship between attachment security and depression in adolescence: Focusing on the mediating effect of perceived competence. (Unpublished master thesis). Ehwa University, Seoul, Korea.
14 Panfile, T. M., & Laible, D. J. (2012). Attachment security and child's empathy: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 58(1), 1-21.   DOI
15 Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1990). Empathy: Conceptualizion, assessment, and relation to prosocial behavior. Motivation and Emotion, 14(2), 131-149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00991640   DOI
16 Woo, M. A. (2013). The mediation effect of children's empathic ability on the relationships between mother-child communication style and peer relationship . (Unpublished master thesis). Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Korea.
17 Cha, H. J., Kim, H. R., Lee, S. M., Eom, J. S., & Lee, S. B. (2011). A preliminary study for the validation of Korean version of EQ-C adopted as a self-report questionnaire. The Korean Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24(4), 63-81.
18 Cohn, D. A., Patterson, C. J., & Christopoulos, C. (1991). The family and children's peer relations. Journal of Social and Personal Relations, 8(3), 315-346. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407591083002   DOI
19 Davidov, M., & Grusec, J. E. (2006). Untangling the links of parental responsiveness to distress and warmth to child outcomes. Child Development, 77(1), 44-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467- 8624.2006.00855.x   DOI
20 deWied, M., Branje, S. J. T., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2007). Empathy and conflict resolution in friendship among adolescents. Aggressive Behavior, 33(1), 48-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20166   DOI
21 Elicker, J., Englund, M., & Sroufe, L. A. (1992). Predicting peer competence and peer relationships in childhood from early parent- child relationships. In R. Parke & G. W. Ladd(Eds.), Family and peer relationships: Modes of linkage(pp. 77-106). Hillsdale, NJ: Earlbaum.
22 Fabes, R. A., Carlo, G., Kupanoff, K., & Laible, D. (1999). Early adolescence and prosocial/moral behavior: The role of individual processes. Journal of Early Adolescence. 19(1), 5-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0272431699019001001   DOI
23 Findlay, L. C., Girardi, A., & Coplan, R. J. (2006). Links between empathy, social behavior, and social understanding in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(3), 347-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.07.009   DOI
24 Smith, R. L., & Rose, A. J. (2011). The "cost of caring" in youth's friendships: considering associations among social perspective taking, co-rumination, and empathetic distress. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1792-1803. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025309   DOI
25 Parker, J. G., Saxon, J. L., Asher, S. R. & Kovacs, D. M. (1999). Dimensions of children's friendship adjustment: Implications for understanding loneliness. In J. R. Ken & S. Hymel(Eds.), Loneliness in childhood and adolescence (pp 201-221). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
26 Youngblade, L. M., & Belsky, J. (1992). Parent-child antecedents of 5-year olds' close friendships: A longitudinal analysis. Developmental Psychology, 28(4), 700-713.   DOI
27 Zhou, Q., Eisenberg, N., Losoya, S. H., Fabes, R. A., Reiser, M., Guthrie, I. K., et al. (2002). The relations of parental warmth and positive expressiveness to children's empathy-related responding and social functioning: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 73(3), 893-915. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00446   DOI
28 Zimmermann, P. (2004). Attachment representation and characteristics of friendship relations during adolescence. Journal of Experimental Chi ld Psychology, 88(1), 83-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2004.02.002   DOI
29 Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427-453.   DOI
30 Rhee, U. H., & Koh, Y. J. (1999). The development of a friendship quality scale for elementary school children. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 20(2), 225-242.
31 Jung, H. N., & Cho, O. K. (2011). The role of empathy and self-esteem between parents' parenting behavior and attitudes on bullying. Educational Theory and Practice, 21(1), 87-114.
32 Grabill, C. M., & Kerns, K. A. (2000). Attachment style and intimacy in friendship. Personal Relationships, 7 (4), 363-378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2000.tb00022.x   DOI
33 Grossmann, K. E., & Grossman, K. (1991). Attachment quality as an organizer of emotional and behavioral responses in a longitudinal perspectives.. In P. Morris, J. Stevenson-Hinde & C. Parkers(Eds.), Attachment and the life cycle . (pp. 93-114). New York: Routledge.
34 Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67(1), 1-13. https:// doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01714.x   DOI
35 Jung, O., Jung, S., & Hwang, H. (2009). Attachment and development. (p. 29). Seoul: Hakgisa.
36 Keller, M., & Wood, P. (1989). Development of friendship reasoning: A study of inter-individual differences in intra-individual change. Developmental Psychology, 25(5), 820-826.   DOI
37 Kim, S., & Kochanska, G. (2017). Relational antecedents and social implications of the emotion and empathy: Evidence from three studies. Emotion, 17(6), 981-992. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ emo0000297   DOI
38 Ladd, G. W. (1992). Themes and theories: Perspectives on processes in amily-peer relationships. In R. D. Parke & G. W. Ladd (Eds.), Familypeer relationships: Modes of linkage (pp. 1-43). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
39 Laible, D. J., & Thompson, R. A. (2000). Mother-child discourse, attachment security, shared positive affect, and early conscience development. Child Development, 71(5), 1424-1440.   DOI
40 Sroufe, L. A., & Fleeson, J. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In W. W. Hartup & Z. Rubin (Eds.), Relationships and development (pp. 51-71). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
41 Van der Mark, I. L., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2002). Development of empathy in girls during the second year of life: Association with parenting, attachment, and temperament. Social Development, 11(4), 451-468. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467- 9507.00210   DOI
42 Waters, D. F., Virmani, E. A., Thompson, R. A., Meyer, S., Raikes, H. A., & Jocehem, R. (2010). Emotion regulation and attachment: Unpacking two constructs and their association. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32(1), 37-47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/ s10862-009-9163-z   DOI
43 Weimer, B. L., Kerns, K. A., & Oldenburg, C. M. (2004). Adolescents' interactions with a best friend: Associations with attachment style. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88(1), 102-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2004.01.003   DOI
44 Weinfield, N. S., Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. A. (1999). The nature of individual differences in infant-caregiving attachment In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical application (pp. 68-88), New York: Guilford Press.
45 Wied, M. D., Branje, S. J. T., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2007). Empathy and conflict resolution in friendship relations among adolescents. Aggressive Behavior, 33(1), 48-55. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20166   DOI