Parents and peer groups as potential sources of social support during the transition from elementary to junior high school
This study investigates the relative contributions of parents, school and non-school friends supportive relationships during the transition from elementary school to junior high school (JHS). The participants were 200 preadolescent children (104 girls, 96 boys). Children's specific self-perceptions and social network characteristics were evaluated on four consecutive times over a two-year period, namely at the end of the final year of elementary school, at the start of JHS, and at the end of the first two years of JHS. Results suggested that parents and peers supportive relationships may contribute in a different way to the development of self-perceptions during preadolescence. The association between children's social network characteristics and self-perceptions appears to be more important during the first year of JHS, that is at that time where children's resources for adaptation may be more heavily drawn upon. Contrary to our hypothesis, functional and qualitative aspects of parents and peers supportive relationships were not associated with changes in self-perceptions during the JHS transition, only the networks' structure being associated to those changes.