Parent-Child Relationships and Peer-Perceived Competence During Middle Childhood and Preadolescence in Israel

This study examined parent-child relationships in middle childhood and preadolescence and their significance for children's peer-perceived social competence. A sample of 9-and 11-year-old Israeli children (n = 95 and 98, respectively) completed inventories of mothers' and fathers' perceived acceptance, rejection, psychological autonomy, and psychological control. Their mothers and fathers indicated perceptions of their child on rebellious behavior, impersistence, inability to decide, detachment, and social instability. Classmates also completed peer nomination measures of self-reliance, rebelliousness, and compliance. Eleven-year-olds perceived their parents to allow more autonomy than did 9-year-olds; 11-year-olds also perceived less acceptance by fathers. Parents perceived 9-and 11-year-olds similarly, indicating possible parental insensitivity to differences between these two age groups on characteristics such as rebelliousness, decisiveness, and persistence. Children's and parents' perceptions were associated with peer-perceived competence for 9-year-olds but not for 11-year-olds. Age-related differences in perceptions and in patterns of correlations with peer nominations of social competence imply that aspects of parent-child relationships that have typically been attributed to the adolescent years may have significant precursors in middle childhood and preadolescence.