Abstract
This study concerns the development of social networks from middle childhood to early adolescence. On a longitudinal sample of 100 children seen at 9 and 13 years of age, three basic questions were addressed: 1) age changes, 2) sex differences, and 3) the relation between network characteristics and self-perceived competence in early adolescence. The number of and frequency of contact with kin, adults and friends for each subject were assessed at 9 and 13 years using maternal report. Teenager report of academic, social, athletic and behavioral conduct was also collected. The transition to early adolescence was marked by several changes in the social network. At 13 years networks become more age segregated. Both opposite and same sex friends show an increase. Sex differences were also evident. For example, adolescent girls had a larger network of friends than boys. Adolescent boys had less segregated adult networks. For adolescent girls but not boys, the friendship network was related to specific types of competence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bardwick, J. M., & Douvan, E. (1971). Ambivalence: The socialization of women. In V. Gornick & B. K. Moran (Eds.), Women in sexist society: Studies in power and powerlessness. New York: Basic Books.
Belle, D. (1982). Social links and social support. In D. Belle (Ed.), Lives in stress: Women and depression. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Belle, D. (1989). Gender differences in children's social networks and supports. In D. Belle (Ed.), Children's social networks and social supports. New York: Wiley and Sons.
Berndt, T. J. (1979). Developmental changes in conformity to peers and parents. Developmental Psychology, 15, 608–616.
Berndt, T. J. (1981). Relations between social cognition, nonsocial cognition, and social behavior. In J. H. Flavell & L. D. Ross (Eds.), Social cognitive development. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Berndt, T., & Hawkins, J. (1985). The effects of friendship on students' adjustment after the transition to high school. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
Bixenstine, V. E., DeCorte, M. S., & Bixenstine, B. A. (1976). Conformity to peer-sponsored misconduct at four grade levels. Developmental Psychology, 12, 226–236.
Blyth, D. A., & Karnes, E. L. (1981). Philosophy, politics, and programs for early adolescent education: An annotated bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Blyth, D. A., & Foster-Clark, F. S. (1987). Gender differences in perceived intimacy with different members of adolescents' social networks. Sex Roles, 17, 689–718.
Blyth, D. A., & Traeger, C. (1988). Adolescent self-esteem and perceived relationships with parents and peers. In S. Salzinger, J. Antrobus, & M. Hammer (Eds.), Social networks of children, adolescents, and college students. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Blyth, D. A., Hill, J. P., & Thiel, K. S. (1982). Early adolescents' significant others: Grade and gender differences in perceived relationships with familial and nonfamilial adults and young people. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 425–450.
Bryant, B. K. (1985). The neighborhood walk: Sources of support in middle childhood. With commentary by Ross D. Parke. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(3, Serial No. 210).
Buhrmester, D., & Furman, W. (1987). The development of companionship and intimacy. Child Development, 58, 1101–1113.
Coates, D. L. (1985). Relationship between self-concept measures and social network characteristics for black adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 5, 319–338.
Coates, D. L. (1987). Gender differences in the structure and support characteristics of black adolescents' social networks. Sex Roles, 17, 667–687.
Cochran, M., & Riley, D. (1988). Mother reports of children's personal networks: Antecedents, concomitants, and consequences. In S. Salzinger, J. Antrobus, & M. Hammer (Eds.), Social networks of children, adolescents, and college students. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cochran, M., Larner, M., Riley, D., Gunnarsson, L., & Henderson, C. R., Jr. (in press). Extending families: The social networks of parents and their children. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Coleman, J. S. (1961). The adolescent society. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.
Connell, J. P., & Furman, W. (1982). The study of transitions: Conceptual and methodological issues. In R. N. Emde & R. J. Harmon (Eds.), Continuities and discontinuities in development. New York: Plenum Press.
Crockett, L. J. (1984, May). Peer relations and adjustment in early adolescence. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Midwestern Society of Research in Life-span Development, Akron, OH.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Larson, R., & Prescott, S. (1977). The ecology of adolescent activity and experience. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 6, 181–194.
Douvan, E., & Adelson, J. (1966). The adolescent experience. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Ellis, S., Rogoff, B., & Cromer, C. C. (1981). Age segregation in children's social interactions. Developmental Psychology, 17, 399–407.
Faust, M. S. (1983). Alternative constructions of adolescent growth. In J. Brooks-Gunn & A. C. Petersen (Eds.), Girls at puberty: Biological and psychosocial perspectives. New York: Plenum Press.
Feiring, C., & Lewis, M. (1981). Middle class differences in the mother-child interaction and the child's cognitive development. In T. M. Field, M. Sostek, P. Vietze, & P. H. Liederman (Eds.), Culture and early interactions. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Feiring, C., & Lewis, M. (1981, April). Social networks of three year olds. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA: April.
Feiring, C., & Lewis, M. (1987). The child's network: Sex differences from three to six years. Sex Roles, 17, 621–636.
Feiring, C., & Lewis, M. (1989). The social networks of girls and boys from early through middle childhood. In D. Belle (Eds.), Children's social networks and social supports. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Feiring, C., & Lewis, M. (in press). The transition from early to middle childhood in girls' and boys' social networks: Age changes, sex differences and the relation to school competence. Developmental Psychology.
Garbarino, J., Kelly, A., & Schulenberg, J. (1985). What is adolescence? In J. Garbarino and Associates, Adolescent development: An ecological perspective. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
Garbarino, J., Burston, N., Raber, S., Russell, R. & Crouter, A. (1978). The social maps of children approaching adolescence: Studying the ecology of youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 7, 417–428.
Grotevant, H. D., & Cooper, C. R. (1985). Patterns of interaction in family relationships and the development of identity exploration in adolescence. Child Development, 56, 415–428.
Harter, S. (1982). The perceived competence scale for children. Child Development, 53, 87–97.
Harter, S. (1985). Processes underlying the construction, maintenance, and enhancement of the self-concept in children. In J. Suls & A. Greenwald (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 3). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hartup, W. (1983). Peer relations. In P. H. Mussen (Ed.), and E. M. Hetherington (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 4): Socialization, personality, and social development. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Hill, J. P. (1980). The family. In M. Johnson (Ed.), Toward adolescence: The middle school years. Seventy-ninth yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hill, J. P., & Lynch, M. E. (1983). The intensification of gender-related role expectations during early adolescence. In J. Brooks-Gunn & A. C. Petersen (Eds.), Girls at puberty: Biological and psychosocial perspectives. New York: Plenum Press.
Jacklin, C. N., & Maccoby, E. (1978). Social behavior at 33 months in same-same and mixed sex dyads. Child Development, 49, 557–569.
Jourard, S. M. (1979). Self-disclosure: An experimental analysis of the transparent self. Huntington, NY: Kruiger.
Marini, M. M. (1978). Sex differences in the determinants of adolescent aspirations: A review of the research. Sex Roles, 4, 723.
Parsons, T., & Bales, R. F. (1955). Family socialization and interaction process. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Pattison, E. M., Defrancisco, D., Wood, P., Frazier, H., & Crowder, J. (1975). A psychosocial kinship model of family therapy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 1246–1251.
Reiss, D., & Oliveri, M. E. (1983). The family's construction of social reality and its ties to its kin network: An exploration of causal direction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 81–91.
Riley, D., & Cochran, M. (1987). Children's relationships with nonparental adults: Sex-specific connections to early school success. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 17, 637–655.
Savin-Williams, R. C. (1980). Dominance hierarchies in groups of middle to late adolescent males. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 75–85.
Schofield, J. W. (1981). Complimentary and conflicting identities: Images of interaction in an interracial school. In S. A. Asher & J. M. Gottman (Eds.), The development of children's friendships. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Simmons, R. G., Blyth, D. A., & McKinney, K. L. (1983). The social and psychological effects of puberty on white females. In J. Brooks-Gunn & A. C. Petersen (Eds.), Girls at puberty: Biological and psychosocial perspectives. New York: Plenum Press.
Simmons, R. G., Blyth, D. A., Van Cleave, E. F., & Bush, D. M. (1979). Entry into early adolescence: The impact of school structure, puberty, and early dating on self-esteem. American Sociological Review, 44, 948–967.
Simmons, R. G., Burgeson, R., Carlton-Ford, S., & Blyth, D. A. (1987). The impact of cumulative change in early adolescence. Child Development, 58, 1220–1234.
Steinberg, L. D. (1985). Adolescence. New York: Knopf.
Taylor, A. R., & Singleton, L. C. (1983, April). Acceptance versus friendship: A developmental study of social relationships in desegregated schools. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Detroit, MI.
Tietjen, A. M. (1982). The ecology of children's social networks in Sweden. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 5, 111–130.
Tietjen, A. M. (1985). Relationships between the social networks of Swedish mothers and their children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 8, 195–216.
Troll, L. (1987). Gender differences in cross generation networks. Sex Roles, 17, 751–766.
Waldrop, M. F., & Halverson, C. F. (1975). Intensive and extensive peer behavior: Longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. Child Development, 46, 19–26.
Weinraub, M., & Wolf, B. M. (1983). Effects of stress and social support on mother-child interaction in single parent and two parent families. Child Development, 54, 1297–1311.
Weisner, T. (1984). The social ecology of childhood: A cross cultural view. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Beyond the dyad. New York: Plenum Press.
Zelkowitz, P. (1989). Parents and children as informants concerning children's social networks. In D. Belle (Ed.), Children's social networks and social supports. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The preparation of this paper was made possible by the support of the William T. Grant Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Feiring, C., Lewis, M. The transition from middle childhood to early adolescence: Sex differences in the social network and perceived self-competence. Sex Roles 24, 489–509 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289335
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289335