Abstract:

Family and peers are not only the most important microsystems influencing personal development, but also particularly influential for adolescent problematic behaviors. Although extensive research has explored the main effect of parent-child relationship and friendship on adolescent adjustments, little is known of the relationship models among the three variables and their theoretical basis. The existing research is so fragmented that it’s necessary to integrate them. This paper first reviewed the previous research, and then analyzed three models of effects of parent-child relationship and friendship on individual’s problematic behaviors: the independence model, the interaction model and the indirect-effect model. Shortages of the three models and their related research were also discussed, such as inconsistent measure indexes of close relationships, unbalanced studies on internalizing and externalizing problematic behaviors, single informant, ignoring cultural differences, absence of sufficient longitudinal and experimental researches, and so on. Finally, we pointed out the directions of future research.

Key words: parent-child relationship, friendship, internalizing problem, externalizing problem