Best friend Attachment and Self-Esteem in a sample of Italian Adolescents

The study was conducted with 413 adolescents (179 females), who completed the Adolescent Friendship Attachment Scale (AFAS), the Inventory of Parent and Peer  Attachment (IPPA), and the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS). AFAS subscales predicted differently the three dimensions of self-esteem: Secure Friendship predicted both social and competence self-esteem while anxious friendship negatively predicted social and affect self-esteem. Avoidant friendship only negatively predicted affect self-esteem. Gender differences were found: Girls scored higher than boys on both Peer Attachment scale and the AFAS Secure dimension, whereas boys obtained higher scores than girls on the AFAS Avoidant scale. Self-esteem was predicted by both the quality of parental and peer relationships, as assessed by the IPPA, and the quality of best friend attachment, as assessed by the AFAS. Parent attachment was a stronger predictor than peer attachment on self-esteem.