ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evidence pertaining to indirect influences first and is parsed into six domains, including studies of attachment, childrearing styles and parent–child interactions, parental disciplinary styles, parental stress, divorce and marital discord, and family pathology. It explains the findings pertaining to direct parental influences are organized around four key constructs: parent as designer, mediator, supervisor, and advisor and consultant. The chapter explores the status of the discipline, including issues such as hypothesized “mechanisms of transmission” and the specificity, generality, and causal priority of family socialization “inputs.” It considers the potential effects of parental disorders on children’s peer competence. The chapter describes how research on both direct and indirect parental influences might be elaborated and extended so as to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms that link the family and peer systems.
