Themes and theories: Perspectives on processes in family-peer relationships

Children’s experiences within the family and the peer group have occupied a position of central importance in recent research on human development. During the past two decades, important advances have been made within both fields of inquiry. For example, recent studies of family processes and parenting have produced important findings concerning the impact of adult-child relations on child socialization and development. In the field of peer relations, researchers have begun to achieve a better understanding of how agemates influence children’s personalities, social behaviors, and cognitions. @copy; 1992 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.