Welcome to the PIAPER website!

Much of the research on adolescents' interactions and relationships with peers has focused exclusively on the peer microsystem. Yet, researchers are well aware that other aspects of a young person's life have a profound impact on peer relationships and, in turn, are affected by these relationships. Chief among these other aspects is the family. Although there is considerable research on family-peer linkages during the toddler and childhood years, scholarship about such linkages during adolescence is more limited.

The SRA Study Group on Parental Involvement in Adolescent Peer Relations (PIAPER) was initiated in 2004 to bring together scholars leading the growing interest in the intersection of peer and family worlds during adolescence. Of particular concern was how parents and parent-child or family relationships affect and are affected by adolescents' interactions with peers during this stage of life. The PIAPER Study Group was international in scope, involving scholars from a variety of nations and cultures and encouraging awareness of the cultural context in which family-peer linkages occur.

Over its three years of existence, the PIAPER Study Group sponsored several meetings of interested scholars, sponsored several symposium presentations at scientific meetings, and facilitated the publication of a collection of papers in the New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development series (Summer 2007, Number 116, edited by Bradford Brown and Nina Mounts).

This website documents PIAPER Study Group activities, 2004-2007. The website has not been updated since the Study Group disbanded in 2007. However, information may still be useful for those interested in pursuing research on parental involvement in adolescent peer relations.