CFD 1450 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Child Support, Stepfamily, Joint Custody
Friendship in Middle Childhood
• Friendship becomes more complex and psychologically based.
• Trust is the defining feature of friendship.
• Friendships are more selective.
• High-quality friendships are fairly stable.
• Impact of friendships depends on qualities of friends: kindness and compassion vs.
Aggression and hostile interaction
Peer Acceptance
• Likability: extent to which child is viewed as worthy social partner
• Categories of peer acceptance:
o Popular children: popular-prosocial, popular-antisocial
o Rejected children: rejected-aggressive, rejected-withdrawn
o Controversial children
o Neglected children
o Average children
Peer Victimization: Bullies and Their Victims
• About 20% of children are bullies; about 25% are repeatedly victimized.
• About 20–40% of youths have experienced “cyberbullying.”
• Approaches to reducing bullying:
o Change victimized children’s negative opinions of themselves and help them
acquire social skills.
o Change youth environments to promote prosocial attitudes and behaviors.
Family Influences in Middle Childhood
• Parents:
o Co-regulation: letting children take charge of moment-by-moment decision
making
o Benefits of authoritative parenting strategies
• Siblings:
o Rivalry
o Companionship, assistance, emotional support
• Only children:
o Higher self-esteem, academic achievement
Lesbian and Gay Families
• About 20–35% of lesbians and 5–15% of gay couples are parents.
• Lesbian/gay parents are as committed to and effective at parenting as heterosexual
parents.
• Children of same-sex and opposite-sex parents develop similarly.
• A major concern of lesbian/gay parents is that their children will be stigmatized by
parents’ sexual orientation.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Friendship in middle childhood: friendship becomes more complex and psychologically based, trust is the defining feature of friendship, friendships are more selective, high-quality friendships are fairly stable. Impact of friendships depends on qualities of friends: kindness and compassion vs. Peer acceptance: likability: extent to which child is viewed as worthy social partner, categories of peer acceptance, popular children: popular-prosocial, popular-antisocial, rejected children: rejected-aggressive, rejected-withdrawn, controversial children, neglected children, average children. Family influences in middle childhood: parents, co-regulation: letting children take charge of moment-by-moment decision making, benefits of authoritative parenting strategies, siblings, rivalry, companionship, assistance, emotional support, only children, higher self-esteem, academic achievement. Never-married single-parent families: about 40% of u. s. births are to single mothers, more than double the percentage in 1980, steady decline in teenage parenthood since early 1990s, especially common among african american young women. Increases financial hardship, adjustment problems in children 1.
