The Influence of Childhood and adolescent experiences

The Continuity hypothesis

• The claim that early relationship experiences continue in later adult life 
• Bowlby argued that the early relationships with our primary caregivers provide the basis for later adult relationships.
• Ainsworth divided attachment styles into three types using the "Strange situation".
• Research has taken place to establisj whether these attachment types influence the relationships a child develops with those of the same age (friends and peers) and whether they persist in adolscnet and adult relationships as the hypothesis predicts.

Relationships with Peers

• Relationships with peers are characterised as "Horizontal relationships" as they take place between two people of roughly equal knowledge and power such as siblings or friends.
• Peer relationships provide young people with the opportunity to develop and practise "social competence" relationship skills and abilities.
• Attachment theories suggest that the childs attachment classification may influence their popularity with peers
• Securely attached children = more confident in interacting with friends.

Alternative Explanation

• Social learning theory - approach predicts a continuity between the childs relationship with their parents and their ability to make friends as it suggests that children will learn relationship skills from their parents via observation and imitation.
• Parke (1988) - argues that families influence a childs later relationships as they guide and modify the childs social behaviour to help them develop social skills.
• Russell and…