Children's goals and strategies in response to conflicts within a friendship.

Little is known about the skills required for friendship, as distinct from those required for peer acceptance. The present study examined whether children's goals and strategies in friendship conflict situations are predictive of their friendship adjustment, after accounting for level of peer acceptance. Fourth- and 5th-grade children (N?=?696) responded to 30 hypothetical situations in which they were having a conflict with a friend. Results indicated that children's goals were highly related to their strategies and that children's goals and strategies were predictive of their real-life friendship adjustment. Pursuing the goal of revenge toward a friend was the goal or strategy most strongly associated with lacking friends and having poor-quality friendships. Gender differences were also found for each goal and strategy, with girls displaying a more prosocial goal and strategy orientation than boys. (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)     

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)     

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)     

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)     

Links between social network closure and child well-being: The organizing role of friendship context.

Third grade children (N = 404) and their mothers completed questionnaires and participated in interviews designed to identify children's friendships across multiple contexts, determine levels of social network closure for these friendships, and assess child well-being. Cluster analyses revealed distinct patterns in the contexts in which children's friendships were maintained. Closure was highest for children whose friendship clusters heavily represented relatives as friends and lowest when friends were from schools and the broader community. Intermediate levels of closure were observed for the clusters of neighborhood friends and friends from church and school. Both friendship cluster and, to some extent, ethnicity moderated associations between closure and indicators of well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's friendship relations: A meta-analytic review.

Children's friendships represent mutual dyadic relationships that differ from peer relations, which have lesser affective ties. This meta-analytic review fit categorical models (L. V. Hedges, 1982) to examine the behavioral and affective manifestations of children's friendships as evinced by comparisons of friends and nonfriends. Analysis of our broadband categories revealed that friendships, compared with nonfriend relations, are characterized by more intense social activity, more frequent conflict resolution, and more effective task performance. Also, relationships between friends are marked by reciprocal and intimate properties of affiliation. At the level of narrowband categories, friendship relations afford a context for social and emotional growth. These behavioral and affective manifestations of friendship are moderated by the age level of participants, the strength of the relationship, and the methodology of the study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Close friend and group influence on adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use.

The relative influence of adolescents' closest friends and their friendship group on their cigarette smoking and alcohol use was investigated in a short-term, longitudinal study of 1,028 students in the 6th, 8th and 10th grades in 2 school systems. The amount of influence over the school year was modest in magnitude and came from the closest friend for initiation of cigarette and alcohol use. Only the friendship group use predicted transition into current cigarette use, whereas only the close friend use predicted transition into current alcohol use. Both group and close friends independently contributed to the prediction of adolescents' drinking to intoxication. No difference in the amount of influence, was found between stable and unstable close friendships or friendship groups; neither grade nor gender of the adolescents related to the amount of influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

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)     

Close friendships among senior adults.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relative contributions of personal, affective, and social exchange characteristics to satisfaction with the best friendship. Senior adults (N?=?76) described and evaluated their best friendships in terms of positive and negative affect, equity, reciprocity of social support, and satisfaction. The individual's endorsement of communal and exchange orientations were included as personal characteristics. The study confirms that a communal orientation enhances satisfaction with a best friendship and that conflict and negativity detract from it. Social exchange characteristics were not related to friendship satisfaction. The need to reevaluate the role of social exchange in close relationships is discussed. (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)     

Friendships and adaptation in the life course.

To consider friendships and their significance through the life course requires, first, differentiation of deep structure (i.e., reciprocity) from surface structure (i.e., the social exchange) and, second, assessment within a multifaceted framework that simultaneously emphasizes having friends, the identity of one's friends, and relationship quality. Having friends is correlated with a sense of well being across the life span, but developmental outcome also depends on the identity of one's friends as well as the quality of one's relationships with them. Greater attention needs to be given to the manner in which friendships differ from one another, continuities and changes across major developmental transitions, and differentiation of developmental pathways through which friendship experience contributes to individual outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Friendship and social competence in a sample of preschool children attending Head Start.

Relations between friendship (operationalized as reciprocated or nonreciprocated sociometric choices) and social competence were studied for children (mostly African American) attending Head Start. Initial analyses showed that children with reciprocated friends had higher social competence scores than children without reciprocated friends. Correlations suggested that the number of reciprocated friendships was associated with the social competence indicators studied here. Beyond the cost of having no reciprocated friends, having nonreciprocated friendships was not a liability. Cross-time analyses suggested differing patterns of relations for boys and girls. Having versus not having a reciprocated friend was unstable across time, because there was a trend toward participating in reciprocated friendships from 3 to 4 years of age (most older children had at least 1 reciprocated friend). For girls there was a positive relation between the number of reciprocated friendships at Time 1 and at Time 2. No benefit (in terms of social competence) was found for children making the transition from 1 classroom to the next with a friend. (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)     

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)     

Intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning among middle-aged female adult children of alcoholics.

Examined group differences among a middle-aged, middle-class, community sample (N?=?616) of female adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and female non-ACOAs with regard to features of intra- and interpersonal functioning. Consistent with previous research, ACOAs reported higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem. ACOAs also reported lower levels of perceived social support, family cohesion, and marital satisfaction and higher levels of marital conflict. ACOAs also indicated more parental role distress and perceived themselves as more powerless than non-ACOAs to control the actions of their offspring. ACOAs were more likely to drink for coping purposes (e.g., to relieve stress), although their level of alcohol consumption did not differ significantly from that of non-ACOAs. Although consistent differences were indicated between groups, ACOAs were still functioning in the nonpathological range on all measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Friendship satisfaction in Korean and Canadian university students.

Two studies explored predictors of friendship satisfaction (viewed here as high positive feelings and low negative feelings) in Korean and Canadian university students. Study 1 investigated friendship functions and conflict-resolution styles; Study 2 investigated if cross-cultural resolution differences in friendship expectations and collectivism account for observed differences in friendship variables. Canadian students fulfilled more friendship functions, and Korean students reported more asymmetrical conflict management, but the differences were generally not significant after controlling for friendship expectations and collectivism. In both countries, friendship satisfaction was similarly associated with fulfillment of friendship functions and egalitarian conflict management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social motives and patterns of friendship.

35 male and 70 female undergraduates described 10 friendship episodes—interactions with friends that lasted at least 15–20 min—that occurred in the previous 2 wks. They also listed strong points, weak points, and reasons for friendship for each of 5 friends who appeared in the reported friendship episodes. Intimacy and power motivation were assessed via scores from a previous administration of the TAT. Ss high in intimacy motivation reported (a) more dyadic friendship episodes, (b) more self-disclosure among friends, (c) more listening, and (d) more concern for the well-being of friends than did those low in intimacy motivation. Power motivation was associated with more large-group interactions (among males only) and purposeful, agentic striving in friendship episodes. In general, motivational differences tended to outweigh sex differences. Results are interpreted in terms of D. Bakan's (1966) conceptualization of agency and communion. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)