Skewed autonomy-relatedness in preadolescents' conceptions of their relationships with mother, father, and best friend.

摘要: Healthy adaptation within all close relationships--whether with parents, friends, or romantic partners--involves striking a balance between connectedness to and independence from the relationship partner. For some individuals, one more relationships is skewed, characterized by either an excessive concern for closeness that impedes autonomy (preoccupied stance) inhibits (avoidant stance). In this study boys girls aged 9-14 years, children who reported preoccupied avoidant stance toward their mother displayed increased social impairment in peer group over time. There were predictable associations among children's stances mother, father, best friend. Children resembled friend stance. The illustrates advantages of applying common constructs (e.g., autonomy-relatedness) diverse relationships.