Taking theoretical ideas which propose that peer relationships in middle childhood contain unique impulses for development as the point of departure this article first differentiates between peer relationships in general and friendships to individual peers. Evidence relating to three direct and four indirect modes of linking quality and quantity of children's peer relationships and friendships with their parent-child-relationships is then presented. The next part deals with the development of close friendships among adolescents arid focuses on gender differences and associations with psychological adaptation. The final section discusses the relations between the quality of the parent-child-relationship and the quality of the adolescent children's friendships in terms of models of continuity vs. models of compensation between the two types of relationships.