Children's interactions in triads: Behavioral profiles and effects of gender and patterns of friendships among members.

In all, 56 triads of same-sex 3rd, 4th-, and 5th-grade children were observed during an intimate discussion, a cooperative puzzle task, a competitive game, and free play. Observers coded triadic interaction using a Q sort and individual process ratings. Of particular interest was how gender and the pattern of friendship ties among group members related to children's behavior. Triads of girls were more intimate, exchanged more information, and were less aggressive than were triads of boys. Analyses of within-gender variability revealed 2 prototypical types of triads among boys but only 1 among girls. Girls and boys expressed similar attitudes toward triadic interaction in post-session interviews. However, girls', but not boys', attitudes were closely linked to the quality of interactions during the session. For both sexes, interaction was not strongly influenced by the initial configuration of friendship ties among triad members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict and friendship relations in middle childhood: behavior in a closed-field situation

Disagreements between school-aged children were examined as a function of friendship status. 66 same-sex dyads were selected, including equal numbers of "best friends" and nonfriends, who were then observed while playing a board game (a closed-field situation). Conflicts occurred more frequently among friends than among nonfriends and lasted longer. Friends did not talk more during their conflicts than nonfriends, but assertions were used selectively according to friendship and sex: With friends, girls used assertions accompanied by rationales more frequently than boys whereas boys used assertions without rationales more frequently than girls. These sex differences were not evident during conflicts between nonfriends. Results are discussed in relation to the social constraints intrinsic to closed-field competitive conditions as they apply to friendship relations in middle childhood.     

Girlfriend, boyfriend: Age and sex differences in intimate friendship.

Investigated changes in intimate friendship with same- and opposite-sex friends in preadolescence and adolescence, using the Intimacy Scale. Ss were Israeli children from the 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades (60 boys and 60 girls from each grade), who rated their friendship with a same- or opposite-sex best friend. There was a significant age difference in overall intimacy with same-sex friends. Frankness and spontaneity, knowing and sensitivity, attachment, exclusiveness, and giving and sharing were factors that changed with age. Trust and loyalty, and taking and imposing did not. Opposite-sex friendship revealed a significant increase in intimacy with age. Boys and girls did not differ in reported opposite-sex friendship in the 5th and 7th grades, whereas girls in the 9th and 11th grades reported higher intimacy than did boys. This sex-by-age pattern of interaction was particularly evident for attachment and for trust and loyalty. Girls were higher in knowing and sensitivity, giving and sharing, and taking and imposing. The implications for further differentiation among types of peer relations and interrelation of dyadic friendship and cognitive growth are discussed. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity in real-life adolescent friendship pairs.

Actual similarity on a variety of attributes (sociodemographic, background characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors) was investigated in a large sample of friendship pairs among high school boys (773 Ss) and girls (1,166 Ss). The data were collected through structured, self-administered questionnaires in classrooms. Similarity varied on different attributes. It was highest on sociodemographic characteristics and on behaviors, especially the use of illicit drugs, and lowest on psychological factors, selected attitudes, and reported quality of relationships with parents. The patterns were the same for boys and girls. It is suggested that findings tend to support the conclusions that similarity on personality characteristics is a relatively unimportant correlate of friendship in adolescence. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent–parent interactions in middle-class African American families: Longitudinal change and contextual variations.

Family interactions were examined longitudinally over 2 years in 79 middle-class African American families with early adolescents. Mothers and adolescents (as well as fathers and adolescents and triads in 2-parent families) were videotaped discussing a conflict for 10 min. A macro-coding system (J. G. Smetana, J. Yau, A. Restrepo, & J. L. Braeges, 1991) was modified to be culturally sensitive to African American families. Interaction ratings were reduced, through principal-components analyses, into composite variables. After control for family income, mothers' communication in triadic interactions became less positive over time. Both mothers' and fathers' communication was more positive in dyadic than triadic interactions. In triadic interactions, mothers validated sons more than daughters, and in dyadic interactions with either parent, boys were more receptive to parents than were girls. Findings extend previous research on adolescent–parent relationships to African American families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer relationships and diabetes: Retrospective and ecological momentary assessment approaches.

Objective: To examine the association of positive and negative aspects of friendship to psychological well-being, self-care behavior, and blood glucose control and to determine whether these relations were moderated by gender. Design: Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes (n = 76) completed baseline measures of friendship quality, depressive symptoms, and self-care. A measure of metabolic control was obtained from medical records. Adolescents also tested blood glucose periodically over the course of 4 days and completed ecological momentary assessments of interpersonal interactions and mood using PDAs. Main Outcome Measures: For between-groups analyses, primary outcomes were depressive symptoms, self-care behavior, and metabolic control. For within-groups analyses, primary outcomes were mood and blood glucose. Results: Results showed baseline reports of peer conflict but not support were associated with outcomes, particularly among girls. Conflict was more strongly related to poor metabolic control for girls than boys. Momentary interaction enjoyment and interaction upset were associated with mood, but were unrelated to blood glucose. Aggregate indices of enjoyable interactions were associated with fewer depressive symptoms and better self-care—especially among girls. Conclusions: These results suggest that the positive and negative aspects of peer relationships are related to the psychological well-being and physical health of adolescents with diabetes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers and fathers interacting in dyads and triads with normal and hyperactive sons.

Mother–son and father–son interactions of families with hyperactive and normal 6- to 12-yr-old sons were observed in dyadic and triadic settings. There was more frequent coercion in families with hyperactive boys, especially when mothers and sons interacted in the dyadic setting. This mother–son acrimony carried over to the triadic context, wherein fathers exhibited a rescue-coercion pattern of behavior. Fathers increased, whereas mothers decreased, their demands of sons in triads over dyads, and both fathers and sons became more aversive toward each other in triads than in dyads. This pattern was not as clearly evident in the interactions of families with normal sons. Boys in both groups of families behaved more negatively toward mothers than toward fathers in dyadic interactions. Compared with fathers, mothers made more demands and were more emotionally expressive toward their sons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interpersonal structure of family interaction settings: Parent–adolescent relations in dyads and triads.

Observed parental interactive patterns in the presence (a triadic setting) and in the absence (a dyadic setting) of the spouse in 44 families with 16 female and 28 male early adolescents (approximately 13 yrs old). Findings indicate that in accordance with hypotheses, the presence of the father enhanced the quality of mother–son relations, whereas the presence of the mother reduced the quality of father–son relations. The presence of the spouse influenced the extent to which parents treated girls and boys differently: Mothers differentiated more between girls and boys in the presence of the spouse, whereas fathers differentiated more between girls and boys in the absence of the spouse. Relative to the dyad, parental role differentiation increased in the triad but only in families of boys. In demonstrating interdependencies among family relationships and the responsivity of parental behaviors to the interpersonal structure of interaction settings, the results support a systems model of family processes. Implications for the study of family relations and sex typing at early adolescence are discussed. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contribution of extracurricular activities to adolescent friendships: New insights through social network analysis.

Extracurricular activities are settings that are theorized to help adolescents maintain existing friendships and develop new friendships. The overarching goal of the current investigation was to examine whether coparticipating in school-based extracurricular activities supported adolescents' school-based friendships. We used social network methods and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine whether dyadic friendship ties were more likely to exist among activity coparticipants while controlling for alternative friendship processes, namely dyadic homophily (e.g., demographic and behavioral similarities) and network-level processes (e.g., triadic closure). Results provide strong evidence that activities were associated with current friendships and promoted the formation of new friendships. These associations varied based on school level (i.e., middle vs. high school) and activity type (i.e., sports, academic, arts). Results of this study provide new insight into the complex relations between activities and friendship that can inform theories of their developmental outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in gender composition of friendship networks in adolescent girls and boys.

This article describes both normative changes and individual differences in the gender composition of girls' and boys' friendship networks across adolescence and predicts variations in these changes. It also examines changes in the characteristics (context, age difference, closeness, and support) of same- and other-sex friendships in the network. Girls and boys (N=390) were interviewed annually from Grades 6 to 10 (76% retention). Growth in the proportion of other-sex friends was significantly more pronounced for girls and was related to different predictors for girls and boys. Moreover, over time, girls had other-sex friends that were increasingly older than themselves, and most of these friendships took place outside of the school, which was not the case for boys. Growth in the proportion of other-sex friends was more pronounced for secondary than for best friends. Finally, both girls and boys reported receiving higher levels of help from girls than from boys. These findings suggest that other-sex friendships might place some of the girls on a problematic developmental trajectory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipatory and fantastic role enactment in preschool triads.

Examined the relationship between 4 types of role enactment (domestic, occupational, fantastic, and peripheral) and object ideation, social organization (solitary vs interactive behavior), and metacommunication. Each of 12 same-age, same-sex triads of 3?- and 5-yr-old children (6 boy triads and 6 girl triads) was observed during 2 30-min sessions, one in which objects with highly specific functions (e.g., trucks and dolls) were available and one in which objects with relatively ambiguous functions (e.g., pipecleaners and cardboard cylinders) were present. Because there was no fantasy role enactment in girls, only data for the boys were used to examine the relationships of primary interest. Results indicate that object ideation was less frequent, and interactive behavior and metacommunication more frequent, during role enactment than during domestic or occupational role enactment. Findings indicate that Ss rehearsed certain social and cognitive skills to varying degrees when they enacted different types of roles. Antecedents of different types of role enactment were also identified. Older boys enacted fantasy and occupational roles more frequently, and peripheral and domestic roles less frequently, than younger boys. Domestic and occupational role enactment was more frequent, and fantastic role enactment less frequent, in the presence of high-specificity toys than in the presence of low-specificity toys. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: Considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination.

Co-ruminating, or excessively discussing problems, with friends is proposed to have adjustment tradeoffs. Co-rumination is hypothesized to contribute both to positive friendship adjustment and to problematic emotional adjustment. Previous single-assessment research was consistent with this hypothesis, but whether co-rumination is an antecedent of adjustment changes was unknown. A 6-month longitudinal study with middle childhood to midadolescent youths examined whether co-rumination is simultaneously a risk factor (for depression and anxiety) and a protective factor (for friendship problems). For girls, a reciprocal relationship was found in which co-rumination predicted increased depressive and anxiety symptoms and increased positive friendship quality over time, which, in turn, contributed to greater co-rumination. For boys, having depressive and anxiety symptoms and high-quality friendships also predicted increased co-rumination. However, for boys, co-rumination predicted only increasing positive friendship quality and not increasing depression and anxiety. An implication of this research is that some girls at risk for developing internalizing problems may go undetected because they have seemingly supportive friendships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict and childhood friendship in Taiwan and Canada.

The present study assessed cross-cultural differences in friendship characteristics among children (aged 8–9 yrs) from collectivist and individualist cultures. Same-sex dyads of Grade 3 and Grade 4 students in a middle-class suburb of Toronto, Canada (n?=?1,227) and students from a middle-class suburb of Taipei, Taiwan (n?=?965) reported on the presence of companionship, conflict, help, security, and closeness in their friendships. The analysis reveals that long-term stability rates for friendships were not significantly different between nations or between boys and girls. Companionship was a significant predictor of friendship continuation among students in Taiwan. Friends in Taiwan reported significantly less conflict in their relationships than did friends in Canada. There was also greater agreement among friends in Taiwan than in Canada on the presence of conflict in the friendship relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in abused children with and without disabilities

OBJECTIVE: Two questions were posed: (1) What are the proportions of boys and girls in various categories of substantiated child abuse? (2) Do the gender proportions differ for children with and without disabilities? METHOD: Data collected by previous researchers from a demographically representative sample of U.S. child abuse reporting districts was analyzed. This included 1,249 case files involving 1,834 children. The number of girls and boys who did and did not have disabilities was identified for three age categories and for several categories of abuse. Chi-square analyses were used to determine whether there was a relationship between disability and gender for the various age and abuse categories. RESULTS: More boys were physically abused and neglected, but more girls were sexually abused. Boys with disabilities, however, were over-represented in all categories of abuse. Moreover, gender proportions among abused children with disabilities differed significantly from those found among other abused children. Although slightly more than half of abused children without disabilities were girls, 65% of abused children with disabilities were boys. CONCLUSIONS: Boys represented a significantly larger proportion of physically abused, sexually abused, and neglected children with disabilities than would be expected from their respective proportion of abused and neglected children without disabilities. Several possible explanations for the observed gender and disability status interaction are discussed.     

Prevalence and connotative meaning of cigarette smoking among Thai adolescents and young adults

Prevalence and evaluative opinions about smoking among 527 adolescents and young adults were quantified in order to assess the efficacy of Thailand's mass media antismoking campaign. The reactions of subjects to the smoking of (a) father, (b) mother, (c) boys, (d) girls, and (e) myself were obtained using a semantic differential measure. Virtually all subjects had seen antismoking adds on television and the overall perception of smoking was highly disapproving with significant gender and age differences being present. Older males were more likely to smoke and had less critical attitudes about this harmful behavior than their younger peers and female participants. Reactions to female smoking (mother and girls) were more derogatory than to the same behavior among males (father and boys). Results suggest that smoking will continue as a serious problem among Thai males and demonstrate the addictive nature of cigarette smoking which persists in spite of the increasingly negative evaluative attitudes of users.     

Modeling homophily over time with an actor-partner interdependence model.

Selection and socialization have been implicated in friendship homophily, but the relative contributions of each are difficult to measure simultaneously because of the nonindependent nature of the data. To address this problem, the authors applied a multiple-groups longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model (D. A. Kashy & D. A. Kenny, 2000) for distinguishable dyads to 3 consecutive years of intoxication frequency data from a large community-based sample of Swedish youth. Participants, ranging from 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.35, SD = 1.56) at the start of the study, included 902 adolescents (426 girls and 476 boys) with at least one reciprocated friend during at least one time point and 212 adolescents (84 girls and 128 boys) without reciprocated friends at any time. Similarity estimates indicated strong effects for selection and socialization in friends' intoxication frequency. Over time, younger members of these dyads had less stable patterns of intoxication than older members, largely because younger partners changed their drinking behavior to resemble that of older partners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Friendship clique and peer influences on body image concerns, dietary restraint, extreme weight-loss behaviors, and binge eating in adolescent girls.

This study explored friendship variables in relation to body image, dietary restraint, extreme weight-loss behaviors (EWLBs), and binge eating in adolescent girls. From 523 girls, 79 friendship cliques were identified using social network analysis. Participants completed questionnaires that assessed body image concerns, eating, friendship relations, and psychological, family, and media variables. Similarity was greater for within than for between friendship cliques for body image concerns, dietary restraint, and EWLBs, but not for binge eating. Cliques high in body image concerns and dieting manifested these concerns in ways consistent with a high weight/shape-preoccupied subculture. Friendship attitudes contributed significantly to the prediction of individual body image concern and eating behaviors. Use of EWLBs by friends predicted an individual's own level of use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent–child attitude congruence on type and intensity of physical activity: Testing multiple mediators of sedentary behavior in older children.

Objective: This study examined parent–child attitudes on value of specific types and intensities of physical activity, which may explain gender differences in child activity, and evaluated physical activity as a mechanism to reduce time spent in sedentary behaviors. Design: A community sample of 681 parents and 433 children (mean age 9.9 years) reported attitudes on importance of vigorous and moderate intensity team and individually performed sports/activities, as well as household chores. Separate structural models (LISREL 8.7) for girls and boys tested whether parental attitudes were related to child TV and computer via child attitudes, sport team participation, and physical activity, controlling for demographic factors. Main Outcome Measures: Child 7-day physical activity, sport teams, weekly TV, computer. Results: Parent–child attitude congruence was more prevalent among boys, and attitudes varied by ethnicity, parent education, and number of children. Positive parent–child attitudes for vigorous team sports were related to increased team participation and physical activity, as well as reduced TV and computer in boys and girls. Value of moderate intensity household chores, such as cleaning house and doing laundry, was related to decreased team participation and increased TV in boys. Only organized team sports, not general physical activity, was related to reduced TV and computer. Conclusion: Results support parents’ role in socializing children’s achievement task values, affecting child activity by transferring specific attitudes. Value of vigorous intensity sports provided the most benefits to activity and reduction of sedentary behavior, while valuing household chores had unexpected negative effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability and change in childhood and adolescent friendships.

Two studies examined the stability of existing friendships and the formation of new friendships during a school year. In Study 1, the friendships of 16 female and 33 male 1st graders and 31 female and 32 male 4th graders were assessed in the fall and again in the spring. In Study 2, the friendships of 25 female and 34 male 4th graders and 32 female and 22 male 8th graders were assessed in the fall and the spring. In both studies, most friendships present in the fall remained constant in the spring. Although the stability of friendships generally increased between 1st and 4th grade, it did not increase regularly between 4th and 8th grade. The formation of new friendships varied consistently with age. First and 4th graders made more new friends during the year than they lost; 8th graders lost more old friends than they gained. Sex differences in friendship stability were not consistent, but several findings suggest that girls tend more often than boys to limit the size of their friendship groups. The importance of examining stability and change in friendships simultaneously, and the significance of individual differences in friendship stability are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social networks and aggressive behavior: Peer support or peer rejection?

Studied social networks and aggressive behavior in school in 2 cohorts of boys and girls in the 4th and 7th grades (N?=?695). Measures of social networks yielded convergent findings. Highly aggressive subjects (both boys and girls) did not differ from matched control subjects in terms of social cluster membership or in being isolated or rejected within the social network. Peer cluster analysis and reciprocal "best friend" selections indicated that aggressive subjects tended to affiliate with aggressive peers. Even though highly aggressive children and adolescents were less popular than control subjects in the social network at large, they were equally often identified as being nuclear members of social clusters. Aggressive subjects did not differ from matched control subjects in the number of times they were named by peers as "best friend," nor did the two groups differ in the probability of having friendship choices reciprocated by peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)