Effects of Childhood Peer Relations on the Quality of Adult Relationships

Effects of Childhood Peer Relations on the Quality of Adult Relationships
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Effects of Childhood Peer Relations on the Quality of Adult Relationships
Introduction and Literature Review
Introduction
One of the most studied topics in educational psychology is peer relations, which provides children with unique opportunities to learn emotional and social skills such as cooperation and empathy. While the family plays an integral role in a child’s life, early adolescence is characterized by the influence of peer relationships on emotional and social outcomes. As pointed out by Gifford-Smith and Brownell (2003), over 30% of a child’s social interactions encompass peers by middle childhood. Therefore, as the child grows towards adolescence, there is a growth of peer groups surrounding them, coupled with reduced adult supervision. The changes in the interactions of the child mean that new opportunities for emotional and social growth emerge. According to Blatchford et al. (2016), children who experience low peer acceptance or rejection are more likely to show high aggression levels, non-compliance, and poor social skills. The proposed research intends to find out whether the peer relations experienced during childhood affects the quality of relationships during adulthood.
Literature Review
Peer relations have been shown to have a significant effect on the development of children. As noted by Gifford-Smith and Brownell (2003), the activities that characterize friendship and peer group relations have an impact on the functioning and development in almost every aspect of the lives of children. The authors point out that how a child relates to their peers is associated with different aspects of development and adjustment. Furthermore, Blatchford and Baines (2010) point out that it is well established that peer relationships have significance for social and cognitive development. Blatchford et al. (2016) note that in studies that have focused on the long-term impact of peer difficulties, it has been found that lack of acceptance and aggression are associated with depression, lower academic achievement, and anxiety.
In a study by La Greca and Harrison (2005), the author investigated whether peer relations and friendship predicted depression and social anxiety. With a sample of 421 adolescents, the author examined the impact of adolescent peer crowds, peer victimization, romantic relationships, and best friendships on anxiety and depression. The authors found adolescents that who were allied to peer crowd demonstrated lower anxiety levels. It is also the findings of the authors that high relational victimization levels and lower best friendship qualities levels predicted social anxiety among the participants. The study also showed that relational victimization could lead to depressive symptoms. With anxiety and depression influencing how one interacts with other people, it can be hypothesized that childhood peer relations could have an impact on the quality of relationships adults have. In a study by Davies et al. (2021), it was found that childhood adversities predicted high levels of anxiety among university students. In...