Interplay of self-esteem, emotion regulation, and parenting in young adolescents' friendship jealousy

Unwarranted friendship jealousy can create friendship and broader peer difficulties for adolescents. This study expands earlier research on the role of self-esteem in friendship jealousy by considering emotion regulation skill and parental use of psychological control as intersecting factors. 72 young adolescents completed questionnaires on themselves, their friendships, and their family experiences. As predicted, poor self-esteem related to friendship jealousy but only when adolescents were poorly-equipped to deal with strong emotions. Adolescents from homes with psychologically-controlling mothers were also prone to jealousy, evidently because psychological control and broader warmth in the relationship compromised offspring's self-esteem. One consequence of psychological control for offspring may be friendship difficulties related to insecurity over a partner's commitment and exaggeration of the risk posed by rivals.