The structure of adolescent peer networks.

Structural aspects of school-based peer networks of adolescents in 6th to 12th grade were mapped in 3 school systems. Female students were more connected to the peer network than were male students, and peer networks became more exclusive with increasing grade. The results also suggest that numeric minorities usually are less connected to school peer networks than the majority group. There was mixed evidence for hierarchical organization of the peer network. Best friends were highly embedded in friendship groups, but neither friendship group nor best friendship was highly embedded in social crowd. Adolescents name friends who are not in their friendship group and usually do not name everyone in the friendship group as a friend. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It takes three: Selection, influence, and de-selection processes of depression in adolescent friendship networks.

The authors of this study tested a selection–influence–de-selection model of depression. This model explains friendship influence processes (i.e., friends' depressive symptoms increase adolescents' depressive symptoms) while controlling for two processes: friendship selection (i.e., selection of friends with similar levels of depressive symptoms) and friendship de-selection (i.e., de-selection of friends with dissimilar levels of depressive symptoms). Further, this study is unique in that these processes were studied both inside and outside the school context. The authors used a social network approach to examine 5 annual measurements of data in a large (N =847) community-based network of adolescents and their friends (M = 14.3 years old at first measurement). Results supported the proposed model: adolescents tend to select friends with similar levels of depression, and friends may increase each other's depressive symptoms as relationships endure. These two processes were most salient outside the school context. At the same time, friendships seemed to be ended more frequently if adolescents' level of depressive symptoms was dissimilar to that of their friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of friendship characteristics and problem behaviors among middle adolescents

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used with a 15-item adolescent self-report measure to identify 4 salient friendship characteristics--Reciprocity of Relations, Overt Hostility, Covert Hostility, and Self-Disclosure--with a sample of about 1,100 middle adolescents. Higher levels of Overt and Covert Hostility and lower levels of Reciprocity of Relations with one's closest friend were associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption, percentage of friends who drink, delinquent activity, depressive symptoms, and suicidal behaviors. Self-Disclosure was positively correlated with some adolescent problem behaviors, possibly reflecting developmental changes toward greater interpersonal involvement with friends in concert with age normative tasks such as increased alcohol use. Longitudinal, prospective analyses indicated that delinquent activity and depressive symptoms were significant lagged predictors of Overt and Covert Hostility, but that friendship characteristics were not significant lagged predictors of adolescent problem behaviors.     

Friends' influence on adolescents' academic achievement motivation: An experimental study.

To examine the influence of friends on adolescents' motivation to achieve in school, each of 118 8th graders was paired with a close friend. The pairs of friends were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control condition. In the experimental condition, the friends discussed dilemmas that required them to decide between 2 actions reflecting different levels of achievement motivation. In the control condition, friends discussed topics unrelated to school. Before and after the discussions, all adolescents made decisions on the dilemmas independently. The 1st hypothesis was that discussions of the dilemmas would lead to an increase in the similarity of friends' decisions. The 2nd hypothesis was that discussions would lead to shifts toward more extreme decisions. The results supported the 1st hypothesis but not the 2nd. More harmonious discussions involving greater information exchange led to greater changes in decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An ecological analysis of peer influence on adolescent grade point average and drug use.

The interactive effects of peer behavior and adolescents' perceptions of authoritative parenting on GPA and drug use were examined. Two samples of 500 9th–11th graders participated in a 1-yr longitudinal study, and they and their friends provided reports of respective school grades and substance use. Changes in GPA and drug use are predicted by friend's grades and drug use. However, this effect is moderated by the adolescent's report of authoritative parenting. The positive impact of having a high-achieving friend is stronger among adolescents whose parents are relatively more authoritative. The deleterious impact of having a drug-using friend is stronger among adolescents whose parents are relatively less authoritative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Friendships in Middle School: Influences on Motivation and School Adjustment.

In this 2-year longitudinal study (n=242), the authors examined relations of having a reciprocated friend and characteristics of a reciprocated friend to students' social and academic adjustment to middle school. With respect to having a friend, 6th-grade students without friends showed lower levels of prosocial behavior, academic achievement, and emotional distress than did students with reciprocated friendships. Not having a friend in 6th grade also was related to emotional distress 2 years later. Evidence that motivational processes mediate relations between friends' and individuals' prosocial behavior was obtained. For students with reciprocated friendships (n=173). friends' prosocial behavior predicted change in individuals' prosocial behavior in 8th grade by way of changes in goals to behave prosocially. Implications for studying friendship influence in middle school are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer influence on smoking initiation during early adolescence: A comparison of group members and group outsiders.

Compared group members' and group outsiders' susceptibility to the influence of their friends' smoking. Ss were nonsmokers in Grade 7 who were observed for 1 yr. As hypothesized, group outsiders (Ss who did not have reciprocal friends) were affected more by the smoking of their best friend and by the overall level of smoking among their friends than group members were. Furthermore, this peer influence was strongest for teens who were very concerned about their friends' reactions to their substance use. In addition, consistency in smoking status was related to the formation, but not the breakdown, of reciprocal friendships. Results indicate that teenagers may view smoking as a vehicle for entering a desired friendship group. The authors suggest ways that prevention programs might address this mechanism for adolescent smoking initiation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age changes and changes over time in prosocial intentions and behavior between friends.

During the fall of the school year, 86 1st and 4th graders named their best friends and rated their liking for each child of the same sex in their grade. Ss' intentions to share with or help their friend, as well as Ss' actual behavior, were assessed. In both the fall and the spring, age changes were found that suggested an increase in compromise or mutual accommodation between friends. Fourth graders not only showed more prosocial intentions and prosocial behavior toward their friends than 1st graders did, they also assumed that their friends would expect a more moderate amount of prosocial behavior and would be more satisfied with their decisions about how much to share and help. Changes in intentions and behavior between fall and spring were significant only for 1st graders. First graders' intentions to share and help were less positive in the spring than in the fall. Their actual sharing also decreased over time. The changes appeared to reflect less stability in younger Ss' friendships and relations among strength of friendship, prosocial intentions, and prosocial behavior. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring friendship quality in late adolescents and young adults: McGill Friendship Questionnaires.

This research established the psychometric properties of 2 friendship questionnaires; the McGill Friendship Questionnaire–Respondent's Affection (MFQ–RA) taps respondents' feelings for a friend and friendship satisfaction, and the McGill Friendship Questionnaire–Friend's Function (MFQ–FF) taps respondents' assessments of the degree to which a friend fulfills 6 friendship functions (stimulating companionship, help, intimacy, reliable alliance, self-validation, and emotional security). Ss were 227 junior-college students (aged 16–21 yrs). Factor analysis supported the subscale structure of each questionnaire. The subscales showed high internal consistency, covaried with the duration of being a best friend and with a self-esteem subscale regarding close friends, but not with other self-esteem measures. Women reported higher positive feelings for their friend than did men and evaluated the friend higher on friendship functions. Finally, positive feelings and satisfaction covaried with each friendship function subscale. It is concluded that the MFQ–RA and the MFQ–FF, though brief and easy to administer, provide reliable and valid assessments of friendship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescents' friendship dyads: Selection or socialization?

This study examined friendship selection and socialization as mechanisms explaining similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescent same-gender best friend dyads. The sample consisted of 1,752 adolescents (51% male) ages 12–16 years (M = 13.77, SD = 0.73) forming 487 friend dyads and 389 nonfriend dyads (the nonfriend dyads served as a comparison group). To test our hypothesis, we applied a multigroup actor–partner interdependence model to 3 friendship types that started and ended at different time points during the 2 waves of data collection. Results showed that adolescents reported levels of depressive symptoms at follow-up that were similar to those of their best friends. Socialization processes explained the increase in similarity exclusively in female dyads, whereas no evidence for friendship selection emerged for either male or female dyads. Additional analyses revealed that similarity between friends was particularly evident in the actual best friend dyads (i.e., true best friends), in which evidence for socialization processes emerged for both female and male friend dyads. Findings highlight the importance of examining friendship relations as a potential context for the development of depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of the mediational properties of four adolescent smoking expectancy measures.

This prospective study compared the ability of 4 smoking expectancy measures to mediate the influence of peer, parent, and current smoking on adolescents' cigarette use 3 months later. No evidence for mediation was found when expectancies were operationalized as unidimensional subjective expected utility (SEU). multidimensional SEU, or unidimensional SEU decomposed into probability and desirability main effects and their interaction. Evidence for partial mediation was found for the decomposed multidimensional SEU measure. The results suggest that (a) peer and current cigarette use may influence future smoking indirectly through adolescents' probability estimates that smoking will control negative emotions and (b) the relationship between current and future smoking also may be mediated by adolescents' beliefs about the desirability of weight control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Ecological predictors of substance use in middle school students.

The current study examined important predictors of substance use during early adolescence. The authors hypothesized that adolescents' relationships with key adults (i.e., teachers and parents) influence their choices to use substances indirectly through links with their decisions regarding peer groups. A total of 461 middle school students from an affluent suburban community completed self-report measures of authoritative parenting, perceived social support from teachers, affiliation with rule-breaking and substance-using peers, and frequency of alcohol, cigarette, and drug use. Results of structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized model. Authoritative parenting and teacher support accounted for 31% of the variance in affiliation with deviant peers which, in turn, accounted for 27% of the variance in adolescent substance use; direct paths from parenting and teacher support to substance use were not indicated. Implications for school psychologists' involvement in substance use prevention and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of friendship development.

At 3-wk intervals during their 1st term at the university, 53 female and 31 male freshmen completed questionnaires regarding their relationships with 2 same-sex individuals whom they had just met. Results showed that dyads that successfully developed into close friendships by the end of the fall school term differed behaviorally and attitudinally from dyads that did not progress. As the friendships developed, the intimacy level of dyadic interaction accounted for an increasing percentage of the variance in ratings of friendship intensity beyond that accounted for by the sheer quantity of interaction. Ratings of relationship benefits were consistently positively correlated with friendship intensity and increased as the relationship progressed. There were no differences in ratings of relationship costs between close and nonclose friends. Dyadic behavior patterns and attitude ratings at the end of the fall school term were good predictors of friendship status 3 mo later. Motivational and situational factors were also correlated with friendship outcomes. Sex differences were noted: Females engaged in more casual affection behaviors with their close than with their nonclose friends. Males engaged in little casual affection with their friends, regardless of their degree of closeness. Results replicate the major findings of R. B. Hays (1984). (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction.

The distinction between friendship adjustment and acceptance by the peer group was examined. Third- through 5th-grade children (N?=?881) completed sociometric measures of acceptance and friendship, a measure of loneliness, a questionnaire on the features of their very best friendships, and a measure of their friendship satisfaction. Results indicated that many low-accepted children had best friends and were satisfied with these friendships. However, these children's friendships were lower than those of other children on most dimensions of quality. Having a friend, friendship quality, and group acceptance made separate contributions to the prediction of loneliness. Results indicate the utility of the new friendship quality measure and the value of distinguishing children's friendship adjustment from their general peer acceptance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective associations between friendship adjustment and social strategies: Friendship as a context for building social skills.

The proposal that friendships provide a context for the development of social skills is widely accepted. Yet little research exists to support this claim. In the present study, children and adolescents (N = 912) were presented with vignettes in which a friend encountered a social stressor and they could help the friend and vignettes in which they encountered a stressor and could seek help from the friend. Social strategies in response to these vignettes were assessed in the fall and spring of the school year. Different indicators of friendship adjustment had unique effects on youths' strategies in response to helping tasks. Whereas having more friends predicted decreases in avoidant or hostile strategies, having high-quality friendships predicted emotionally engaged strategies that involved talking about the problem. Moreover, whereas having more friends predicted increases in relatively disengaged strategies, like distraction and acting like the problem never happened, having high-quality friendships predicted decreases in these strategies. The present study also tested whether youths' strategies in the fall predicted changes in friendship adjustment by the spring. Only strategies which may be seen as major friendship transgressions (i.e., avoiding or blaming the friend when the friend encounters a problem) predicted changes in friendship over time. Collectively, these results provide important new information on the interplay between social competencies and friendship experiences and suggest that friendships may provide a critical venue for the development of important relationship skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Close relationships, individual differences, and early literacy learning

We hypothesized that the emotional investment and mutuality characteristic of friendship dyads, compared to nonfriend dyads, would support conflicts and resolutions, as well as reflection on emotions and literate language. We also tested a process model by which temperament influenced interactions leading to the expression of conflicts and resolutions, which, in turn, lead to use of emotional and literate language in friend and nonfriend dyads. Dyads of kindergarten children were observed in either friend or nonfriend dyads across the school year. While rates of conflicts were similar, friends, compared to nonfriends, more frequently resolved conflicts and generated more emotional and literate language. Our process model of literate language was also supported. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Romantic partner and friend influences on young adult cigarette smoking: Comparing close others' smoking and injunctive norms over time.

The current study assessed associations between romantic partner and friend smoking, their approval for smoking, and young adult cigarette smoking over time. The study examined how both friend and partner smoking and injunctive norms predict smoking, using 35 waves of data collected weekly during participants' 1st year in college. Several analytic techniques were used in an attempt to eliminate the effects of friend and partner selection as an explanation for the obtained results. Controlling for selection processes, the results support the independent influence of both friend and partner behavior and injunctive processes in predicting smoking. In addition, romantic partner behavior and perceived approval were found to be particularly predictive of smoking, above and beyond the behavior and perceived approval of friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)