Family and Peer Systems in Early Adolescence: New Models of the Role of Relationships in Development

This paper proposes a reconsideration of the role of family experiences in early adolescent peer relations. Although early models of family-peer relations stressed either their dissimilarity or their inevitably competitive quality, current research indicates greater integration and continuity between them. Recent findings suggest that the picture of early adolescent peer relations as universally successful in providing adolescents with the experience of intimacy is inaccurate, and that accounting for individual differences in adolescents' capacity to engage in and benefit from close relationships is a significant goal of future work. This paper proposes that one source of these differences can be found in the conceptions and skills of relationships young adolescents bring with them from their experiences in their families. Three compatible approaches to the investigation of such issues are examined; they address individuation in relationships, the construction of self through social means, and the development of the capacity for mutuality in negotiation.