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Attachment, Friendship, and Psychosocial Functioning in Early Adolescence.

Fifth-graders' (N = 162; 93 girls) relationships with parents and friends were examined with respect to their main and interactive effects on psychosocial functioning. Participants reported on parental support, the quality of their best friendships, self-worth, and perceptions of social competence. Peers reported on aggression, shyness and withdrawal, and rejection and victimization. Mothers reported on psychological adjustment. Perceived parental support and friendship quality predicted higher global self-worth and social competence and less internalizing problems. Perceived parental support predicted fewer externalizing problems, and paternal (not maternal) support predicted lower rejection and victimization. Friendship quality predicted lower rejection and victimization for only girls. Having a supportive mother protected boys from the effects of low-quality friendships on their perceived social competence. High friendship quality buffered the effects of low maternal support on girls' internalizing difficulties.

Journal Article↗

Adolescent peer relations, friendships, and romantic relationships: do they predict social anxiety and depression?

This study examined multiple levels of adolescents' interpersonal functioning, including general peer relations (peer crowd affiliations, peer victimization), and qualities of best friendships and romantic relationships as predictors of symptoms of depression and social anxiety. An ethnically diverse sample of 421 adolescents (57% girls; 14 to 19 years) completed measures of peer crowd affiliation, peer victimization, and qualities of best friendships and romantic relationships. Peer crowd affiliations (high and low status), positive qualities in best friendships, and the presence of a dating relationship protected adolescents against feelings of social anxiety, whereas relational victimization and negative interactions in best friendships predicted high social anxiety. In contrast, affiliation with a high-status peer crowd afforded some protection against depressive affect; however, relational victimization and negative qualities of best friendships and romantic relationships predicted depressive symptoms. Some moderating effects for ethnicity were observed. Findings indicate that multiple aspects of adolescents' social relations uniquely contribute to feelings of internal distress. Implications for research and preventive interventions are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Keeping the ball in the air: contact in long-distance friendships.

As people continue to be more mobile, maintenance behaviors for long-distance friendships will continue to be a part of the relocation experience. In this qualitative study, 25 women age 45 and over, who had relocated a number of times, were asked to talk about how their friendships had transitioned to being long-distance relationships and what current maintenance behaviors entailed. Communication was a major theme involving electronic mail (e-mail), Christmas cards, telephone calls, and visits. Results from the current study suggest that maintaining the perception of the existence of a well-connected social support system could be accomplished with a single, annual contact. Further, the long-distance friendship biographies explored in this study provided characteristics of friendship maintenance behavior that could be grouped into three main categories forming a proposed typology of long-distance friendship maintenance.

Aged↗

The role of friendship in the development and maintenance of lesbian love relationships.

The role of friendship in the development and maintenance of lesbian love relationships was investigated by means of a structured interview with 23 lesbian women. Friendship was found to be a key factor in the development of the respondents' first same-sex love relationships; the first sexual/romantic relationship often grew out of an established friendship between the women. Also, friendship was found to be a prime developmental and maintenance factor in the women's current relationships; 78% stated that their current lover had first been their friend, and 77% stated that their current lover had become their closest friend. Some related issues, such as development of a lesbian identity and definitional differences between "lover" and "friend," were also examined. A theoretical discussion interpreting the friendship findings within a feminist framework of women-identification is included.

Adult↗

Friendships between persons with and without developmental disabilities.

Interpersonal connections, friendships, and belonging play important roles in a person's emotional and physical well-being. However, recent studies reveal that persons with developmental disabilities often live with few connections and friendships within unwelcoming communities. Through this qualitative study, we enter this relatively unexplored area of friendships between persons with and without developmental disabilities by interviewing four existing friendship dyads in the intentional community of L'Arche. In this research these friendships are described, factors that foster or inhibit their development are identified, and communal influences on the relationships are discussed.

Adult↗

Suicide and friendships among American adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the relationship between friendships and suicidality among male and female adolescents. METHODS: We analyzed friendship data on 13,465 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health to explore the relationship between friendship and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. We controlled for known factors associated with suicidality. RESULTS: Having had a friend who committed suicide increased the likelihood of suicidal ideation and attempts for both boys and girls. Socially isolated females were more likely to have suicidal thoughts, as were females whose friends were not friends with each other. Among adolescents thinking about suicide, suicide attempts appear largely stochastic, with few consistent risk factors between boys and girls. CONCLUSIONS: The friendship environment affects suicidality for both boys and girls. Female adolescents' suicidal thoughts are significantly increased by social isolation and friendship patterns in which friends were not friends with each other.

Adolescent↗

Self-disclosure in romantic relationships and friendships among American and Japanese college students.

The author examined whether the level of self-disclosure would differ across four types of relationships--passionate love relationships, companionate love relationships, same-sex friendships, and cross-sex friendships--and across cultures: American culture and Japanese culture. Participants were 145 college students (64 Americans and 81 Japanese). The results supported three hypotheses: (a) Japanese students scored lower in self-disclosure than American students, regardless of relationship types, (b) self-disclosure was higher in same-sex friendships than in cross-sex friendships both among American participants and among Japanese participants, and (c) self-disclosure was higher in romantic relationships than in friendships both among American students and among Japanese students. However, the correlation between self-disclosure and passionate love was not stronger than the correlation between self-disclosure and companionate love. The author discussed the present study's findings and contribution.

Adolescent↗

How do we decide whom our friends are? Defining levels of friendship in Poland and the United States.

Participants were 57 U.S. college students and 56 Polish university students and copper mine workers who judged the intimacy of 9 hypothetical relationships and also rated the intensity of their relationships with a best friend, a friend, and an acquaintance on the Friendship Intensity Measurement Scale (FIMS; T. S. Arunkumar & B. Dharmangadan, 2001). The present results confirmed that people perceive (a) relationships with best friends as more intense and intimate than other friendships and (b) other friendships as more intense and intimate than acquaintanceships. The results also indicated that Americans perceive all of their relationships, ranging from mere acquaintanceships to intimate friendships, as more intense and intimate than do Poles. It was somewhat surprising that there were no sex differences in either country in the perception of relationships. The authors discussed the research in the context of the difficulty of defining what friendship is and how an individual's cultural background might interact with person variables such as age and sex.

Adult↗

Exploring the therapeutic potential of friendliness and friendship in nurse-client relationships.

Friendliness and friendship, within the nurse-client relationship, are explored. Friendliness is superficial and includes nurses' smiling, joking, a warm tone of voice and interest in clients, while friendship is a deeper more affective involvement between client and nurse. The therapeutic outcomes of friendliness and friendship are significant. When nurses are friendly, client feelings of disease, strangeness and alienation are replaced by feelings of comfort, belonging and involvement. Friendship between nurse and client has similar outcomes but is a deeper experience that is simultaneously rewarding and sustaining for both. The therapeutic potential of friendliness and friendship suggests: (1) focused research would assist nursings' understanding of these concepts, and (2) determine their implications to nurse education and practice.

Humans↗

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.

Child Behavior↗

Intimacy of friendship, interpersonal competence, and adjustment during preadolescence and adolescence.

This study examined the hypotheses that (a) intimacy of friendship is more integral to socioemotional adjustment during adolescence than preadolescence, and (b) that competence in close relationship skills is more important during adolescence than preadolescence. Subjects were 102 10-13-year-old preadolescents and 70 13-16-year-old adolescents. Self- and friend ratings of friendship intimacy were gathered using a 2-step procedure ensuring that students rated only reciprocated friendships. Self- and friend ratings of close relationship competence were gathered using the newly developed Adolescent Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire. Intimacy of friendship was consistently and moderately correlated with adjustment and competence among adolescents but less consistently related among preadolescents. Significant age differences in coefficients were predominantly found for correlates of self-reported rather than friend-reported intimacy. Overall, the findings support the view that the ability to establish close, intimate friendships becomes increasingly important during early adolescence.

Adolescent↗

Similarity of risk and protective behaviors among African-American pre- and early adolescent members of naturally occurring friendship groups.

To determine whether self-reported risk and protective behaviors, expectations, and attitudes are more similar among African-American early adolescents within a community-based friendship group than across groups, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 382 African-American youth 9 through 15 years of age forming 76 community-based groups of 3 through 10 same-gender friends. Each member of the friendship group reported his/her own past involvement in nine risk behaviors (sexual intercourse, substance abuse, drug-trafficking, and other delinquent activities) and two protective behaviors (high academic performance and regular church attendance) and their expectations and feelings regarding several of these behaviors. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated overall and by gender and age. Members were generally more similar within friendship groups than across groups with regard to several risk behaviors and expectations including sexual intercourse and drug-trafficking. Particularly striking was the similarity among members of "junior" friendship groups (e.g., median age of youth < 11 years) of both risk and protective behaviors and expectations. The finding of enhanced similarity of risk behaviors and expectations among members within groups suggests that intervention delivery through community-based friendship groups may be a useful approach for risk prevention efforts targeting pre-adolescent African-American youth living in low-income settings.

Achievement↗

Social networks and social competence: exploring the effects of early adolescent friendships.

This study explored the relationship between friendship social network variables and social competence indices using a sample of 98 young black lower SES adolescents. Analyses indicated that perceived emotional support received from friends and the number of reciprocated best friends in an adolescents' social network were related positively. Multivariate hierarchical regression analyses indicated that perceived friend emotional support and number of reciprocated best friends contributed independently to school competence, peer competence, and perceived self-competence measures. The friendship network's school achievement orientation was related positively to school competence but was unrelated to peer or perceived self-competence. Friendship network density did not add to the variance explained by the other network variables. Methodological contributions of this study include the development of a computer program to map friendship networks and the expansion of network analysis beyond the examination of social support functions.

Achievement↗

Friendship and personal adjustment during adolescence.

A questionnaire evaluating the friendship network, the expectations towards friends, the level of intimacy and attachment with friends, as well as the presence of conflicts with friends, was administered to 349 adolescents. The sample consisted of both males and females, age ranging from 12 to 18 years. Subjects were also given various personal adjustment indices that were obtained from the Offer Self Image Questionnaire. The results demonstrate that there are small differences in the friendship network across age and gender. Analysis of the qualitative aspects of friendship are generally constant with respect to age, but demonstrate marked differences with respect to gender: girls expect more from their friends than boys and their level of attachment and intimacy with friends is greater. The results also indicate that the number of friends in the network is not significantly correlated with the personal adjustment variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the quality of attachment maintained with friends and the absence of conflict experiences in friendship account for a low but significant proportion of the score variance obtained from the personal adjustment scale. The possibility to confer personal problems and the preoccupations to friends seems beneficial for the acquisition of adaptive behavior. Deficiencies in communication with friends or confrontation experiences and feelings of alienation are related to some forms of maladaptive behavior.

Adolescent↗

The best friendships of aggressive boys: relationship quality, conflict management, and rule-breaking behavior.

The current study examined the best friendships of aggressive and nonaggressive boys (N = 96 boys, 48 dyads, mean age = 10.6 years). Friends completed self-report measures of friendship quality, and their interactions were observed in situations that required conflict management and provided opportunities for rule-breaking behavior. Although there were no differences in boys' self-reports of friendship quality, observers rated nonaggressive boys and their friends as showing greater positive engagement, on-task behavior, and reciprocity in their interactions compared with aggressive boys and their friends. Aggressive boys and their friends provided more enticement for rule violations and engaged in more rule-breaking behavior than did nonaggressive boys and their friends. Also, the intensity of negative affect in observed conflicts between aggressive boys and their friends was greater than that between nonaggressive boys and their friends. The findings suggest that friendships may provide different developmental contexts for aggressive and nonaggressive boys.

Aggression↗

The influence of posttreatment mutual help group participation on the friendship networks of substance abuse patients.

The effect of 12-step mutual help groups (e.g., Narcotics Anonymous) on members' friendship networks has received little attention. This 1-year longitudinal study examined such effects in a sample of 2,337 male substance abuse inpatients, 57.7% of whom became significantly involved in 12-step activities (e.g., reading program literature, attending meetings) after treatment. An a priori model of the interplay of 12-step involvement) and friendship networks was tested using structural equation modeling, and found to have excellent fit to the data. Twelve-step group involvement after treatment predicted better general friendship characteristics (e.g., number of close friends) and substance abuse-specific friendship characteristics (e.g., proportion of friends who abstain from drugs and alcohol) at follow-up. Results are discussed in terms of how mutual help group involvement benefits patients and how the self-help group evaluation paradigm should be broadened.

Adult↗

The power of friendship: protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization.

This study examined 2 aspects of friendship (presence and perceived qualities of a best friend) as moderators of behavioral antecedents and outcomes of peer victimization. A total of 393 children (188 boys and 205 girls) in the 4th and 5th grades (mean age = 10 years 7 months) participated during each of 2 waves of data collection in this 1-year longitudinal study. Results indicated that teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors predicted increases in peer-reported victimization, but the relation of internalizing behaviors to increases in victimization was attenuated for children with a protective friendship. Victimization predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviors but only for children without a mutual best friendship. Results highlight the importance of peer friendships in preventing an escalating cycle of peer abuse.

Aggression↗

A longitudinal analysis of friendships and substance use: bidirectional influence from adolescence to adulthood.

The reciprocal relation between deviant friendships and substance use was examined from early adolescence (age 13-14) to young adulthood (age 22-23). Deviance within friendships was studied using direct observations of videotaped friendship interaction and global reports of deviant interactions with friends as well as time spent with friends. Substance use was assessed through youth self-report at all time points. Multivariate modeling revealed that substance use in young adulthood is a joint outcome of friendship influence and selection processes. In addition, substance use appears to influence the selection of friends in late adolescence. Findings suggest that effective preventions should target peer ecologies conducive to substance use and that treatment should address both the interpersonal underpinnings and addiction processes intrinsic to chronic use, dependence, and abuse.

Adolescent↗