The Relationship Between Friendship Quality and Self-Esteem in Adolescent Girls and Boys

Much has been written about the low self-esteem of adolescent girls relative to adolescent boys, but little research has explored the role that friendship quality may play in affecting self-esteem. Ninety-seven female and 67 male 11th and 12th graders completed measures of self-esteem and of friendship quality with both same- and cross-gender best friends. Ninety-five percent of the participants were White, and ranged across the socioeconomic spectrum with the majority coming from middle-class families. We found that girls' self-esteem was significantly lower than boys' self-esteem and that girls rated their relationships as stronger, more interpersonally rewarding, and more stressful than boys did. Boys reported that their friendship with their best female friend was more interpersonally rewarding than their friendship with their best male friend, whereas girls rated the quality of their same- and cross-gender friends similarly. As expected, girls' self-esteem was positively correlated with the friendship quality of their cross-gender best friend. However, their self-esteem was not correlated with the quality of their same-gender friendship. Boys' self-esteem did not correlate with the quality of their same- or cross-gender best friendship. Results may help us understand the relatively low self-esteem experienced by adolescent girls.     

Friendship factors and suicidality: common and unique patterns in Mexican American and European American youth

Research suggests a link between friendships and suicidality among U.S. youth, but this link has not been confirmed across ethnicities. The relationship between friendships and suicidality among Mexican American and European American adolescents was examined in this study. Specifically, the role of friendship problems (i.e., social isolation, poor quality friendships) and problematic friends (i.e., friends who were disconnected from school, delinquent friends) was explored. Participants were 648 community youth. Friends' school disconnection was related to Mexican American girls' suicidal ideation, while friends' delinquency was associated with European American youth suicidal behavior. Friendship factors were no longer associated with suicidality after controlling for suicidality correlates such as depression. These findings indicate that the relationship between friendships and suicidality varies by gender and ethnicity. They also suggest a dominant role of depression.     

Friendship and adjustment among adolescents

This study investigated the relation of friendship and emotional adjustment in adolescents. Both quantitative (popularity, mutual friendships, and number of friends) and qualitative dimensions (perceived positive friendship quality and conflict) of friendship were used. Participants were 618, mostly European American, 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. Structural equation modeling showed that positive friendship quality was the only friendship variable that predicted adjustment. An examination of gender effects indicated that this relation held only for boys. The quantitative aspects of friendship had a small, indirect effect on adjustment through their effects on positive quality. Conflict had a negative effect on positive quality and this effect was stronger for girls than for boys. The role of adolescents' perception in adjustment was highlighted and suggestions for future research were made.     

Friendship Quality and Social Development

A high-quality friendship is characterized by high levels of prosocial behavior, intimacy, and other positive features, and low levels of conflicts, rivalry, and other negative features. Friendship quality has been assumed to have direct effects on many aspects of children's social development, including their self-esteem and social adjustment. Recent research suggests, however, that friendship quality affects primarily children's success in the social world of peers. Friendship quality could also have indirect effects, by magnifying or diminishing the influence of friends on each other's attitudes and behaviors. Having high-quality friendships may lessen children's tendencies to imitate the behavior of shy and withdrawn friends, but little evidence supports the hypothesis that high-quality friendships magnify friends' influence.     

The correlates of conflict: disagreement is not necessarily detrimental.

In this study, the authors examined whether concurrent associations between adolescent outcomes and disagreements with mothers, fathers, and best friends vary as a function of perceived relationship quality. Participants were 469 11- to 18-year-old youths from a culturally diverse community. Negative qualities of parent-adolescent and friend relationships were linked to adjustment problems (aggression, anxiety and depression, delinquency, and withdrawal). Positive qualities of parent-adolescent relationships were linked to school grades and adjustment problems. Nonlinear associations between conflict and adolescent outcomes were moderated by negative qualities of relationships such that increases in conflict from low to moderate levels were linked to (a) higher school grades for adolescents in better but not poorer quality relationships and (b) greater delinquency and withdrawal for adolescents in poorer but not better quality relationships.     

父母支持、友谊支持对早中期青少年孤独感和抑郁的影响

以391名初一(青少年早期)和高一(青少年中期)学生为被试, 探讨了父母支持、友谊支持对孤独感和抑郁的影响模式。结果表明：(1)友谊支持是预测孤独感的更好指标, 父母支持是预测抑郁的更好指标; (2)父母支持和友谊支持仅对早期青少年孤独感和抑郁的影响存在显著交互作用, 但作用模式不同：父母支持可增强高友谊支持对降低青少年孤独感的作用(增强模式)而友谊支持可补偿低父母支持对降低青少年孤独感的作用(补偿模式); 两种支持系统可相互增强对方对降低青少年抑郁水平的效应(相互增强模式)。(3)与青少年早期不同, 青少年中期父母支持和友谊支持两个系统以“独立模式”而非“交互模式”影响青少年的情绪适应。结果提示, 家庭和同伴系统对青少年情绪适应的影响可能遵循多种模式, 但分别适用于不同适应问题和发展阶段。     

Developmental Trajectories of Perceived Friendship Intimacy,Constructive Problem Solving,and Depression from Early to Late Adolescence

This study examined friendship types in developmental trajectories of perceived closeness and balanced relatedness. In addition, differences between friendship types in the development of constructive problem solving and depression were examined. Questionnaire data of five annual waves were used from two adolescent cohorts (cohort 1: M = 12.41 years; cohort 2: M = 16.37 years). Growth Mixture Modeling revealed two developmental trajectories in cognitive representations of perceived friendship intimacy: interdependent and disengaged friendships. Adolescents in interdependent friendships were characterized by high perceived closeness and balanced relatedness across adolescence. Furthermore, adolescents in disengaged friendships had lower levels of and smaller increases in constructive problem solving. Girls in disengaged friendships showed smaller increases in balanced relatedness and higher levels of depression than boys in disengaged friendships and adolescents in interdependent friendships.     

Social Anxiety and Friendship Quality over Time

Abstract

High social anxiety in adults is associated with self-report of impaired friendship quality, but not necessarily with impairment reported by friends. Further, prospective prediction of social anxiety and friendship quality over time has not been tested among adults. We therefore examined friendship quality and social anxiety prospectively in 126 young adults (67 primary participants and 59 friends, aged 17–22 years); the primary participants were screened to be extreme groups to increase power and relevance to clinical samples (i.e., they were recruited based on having very high or very low social interaction anxiety). The prospective relationships between friendship quality and social anxiety were then tested using an Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. Friendship quality prospectively predicted social anxiety over time within each individual in the friendship, such that higher friendship quality at Time 1 predicted lower social anxiety approximately 6 months later at Time 2. Social anxiety did not predict friendship quality. Although the results support the view that social anxiety and friendship quality have an important causal relationship, the results run counter to the assumption that high social anxiety causes poor friendship quality. Interventions to increase friendship quality merit further consideration.     

Similarity, Cohesion, and Friendship Networks Among Boys and Girls: A One-Year Follow-Up Study Among Italian Children

This study aimed to investigate the follow-up effects of certain characteristics of children??s friendships, such as similarity and cohesion with friends as represented by the children through drawing, as well as the breadth of their friendship networks as perceived by children. Participants were 115 children who were 6 to 9?years old (M?=?7.09.14, SD?=?0.41; 51?% female), attending two primary schools in northwest Italy. We used children??s drawings and self-reported measures to investigate friendship at both dyadic and network levels. Multiple logistic regressions indicated that mean score of similarity was positively associated with friendship network while an increase in cohesion was negatively associated with friendship network at follow-up. These associations did not vary by sex and stability or change of drawn friend. The paper contributes to the knowledge on the subject of friendship among children, especially in light of its focus on the associations between the components of friendship and the friendship network. Findings demonstrated that boys and girls are much more similar than expected.     

Daily School Context of Adolescents' Single Best Friendship and Adjustment

Research on adolescent best friendships typically focuses on school-based friendships, ignoring important differences between classroom-based and out-of-school friendships. With data from 156 ninth-grade students, many of whom named more than 1 best friend across the 14-day period, the authors examined associations between the daily school context of one's best friendship and adjustment. Benefits of in-grade best friendships were found in academic engagement when a composite was assessed across the 2-week period. Daily findings were more complex and were different between weekends and school days. Out-of-grade best friends were named more frequently on weekends, and on weekend days in which they named an out-of-school best friend participants spent more time with that friend but felt like less of a good student. Implications for our understanding of friendship context and for the measurement of friendship itself are discussed.     

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.     

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.     

The Mediating Roles of Adolescent Disclosure and Parental Knowledge in the Association Between Parental Warmth and Delinquency Among Korean Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency, the potential mediating roles of adolescent disclosure and parental knowledge, and gender differences in such association among Korean adolescents. We hypothesized that (1) parental warmth would be significantly and negatively associated with delinquency, (2) adolescent disclosure and parental knowledge would mediate the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency, and (3) the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency mediated through adolescent disclosure and parental knowledge would be stronger for adolescent girls than boys. Using a sample of 3125 Korean adolescents from nationally representative and longitudinal data (Korea Youth Panel Survey), results from path analyses demonstrated that findings were consistent with US samples, suggesting a negative association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency. Further, when Korean adolescents perceived parents to be warmer, they were more likely to disclose personal information to their parents. In turn, higher levels of disclosure were associated with higher levels of parental knowledge about their adolescent children’s activities. Finally, tests of gender differences suggested that parental warmth was more closely associated with adolescent disclosure among girls than boys. Results supported a process model through which parents may shape adolescent children’s delinquency.     

Peer Relations of Chinese Adolescent Newcomers: Relations of Peer Group Integration and Friendship Quality to Psychological and School Adjustment

The association between peer relations and adjustment was examined in 121 Chinese adolescent newcomers (11–19 years) attending public schools in an urban Canadian city. Data were collected via self-reports of peer relations (i.e., peer group integration, friendship quality) and psychological adjustment (i.e., depression, anxiety), and teacher reports of school competence, externalizing problem behaviors, and learning problems. Results revealed that in their best friendship, girls reported higher levels of closeness, help, and security than did boys, and boys reported higher levels of conflict than did girls. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that several of the dimensions of peer relations significantly predicted adjustment outcomes. Most notably, peer group integration significantly predicted psychological adjustment above and beyond friendship quality. The cultural and policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimisation

Previous research, primarily in North America, has found that individual factors (e.g., ‘internalising problems’) and social factors (e.g., friendship) interact to influence children's levels of peer victimisation. Some research has found that the identity of children's friends and friendship quality (as ‘protective factors’) are more important than the sheer number of friends. However, studies have produced conflicting findings. A peer nomination inventory was used to assess social skills problems, peer victimisation, peer acceptance, and several different aspects of friendship. Four hundred and forty‐nine children aged 9 to 11 years completed the inventory at two time points over the course of an academic year. Social skills problems were found to predict an increase in peer victimisation over time. Two friendship variables were found to moderate this relationship: a) number of friends, and b) the peer acceptance of the very best‐friend. The relationship was found to be weaker for those children with lots of friends and for those children with a ‘popular’ best‐friend. The findings advance understanding of the factors that promote peer victimisation. Aggr. Behav. 32:110–121, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Relationship Between Narcissism and Friendship Qualities in Adolescents: Gender as a Moderator

The present study explored the gender characteristics of narcissism as well as its relationship with friendship quality dimensions (i.e., trust & support, validation, and disclosure & communication) among 485 (197 boys and 288 girls) junior high and high school adolescents in a Southwest province in China. Significant gender differences were found, such that boys were more narcissistic than girls,while girls reported higher levels of friendship qualities, including validation and disclosure & communication. To examine gender moderations in the relationships between narcissism and friendship quality dimensions, multiple-group (by boys and girls) structural equation modeling were conducted. The results revealed the significant gender moderations in the associations between narcissism and friendship quality dimensions, while controlling for adolescent grade level. Specifically, narcissism significantly and positively related to the three aspects of friendship qualities (i.e., trust & support, validation, and disclosure & communication) among boys, but was not related to friendship quality among girls. Discussions are provided for an understanding of the current findings in the Chinese cultural context.     

Relational benefits of relational aggression: adaptive and maladaptive associations with adolescent friendship quality

Two longitudinal studies examined associations between relational aggression and friendship quality during adolescence. In Study 1, 62 adolescents in Grades 6 (25.8%), 7 (32.3%), and 8 (41.9%) completed assessments of friendship affiliations, relational and overt aggression, and friendship quality at 2 time points, 1 year apart. Results using actor partner interdependence modeling indicated that high levels of relational aggression predicted increases in self-reported positive friendship quality 1 year later. In Study 2, 56 adolescents in Grades 9 (66.7%) and 10 (33.3%) attended a laboratory session with a friend in which their conversations were videotaped and coded for relationally aggressive talk. Target adolescents completed measures of positive and negative friendship quality during the laboratory session and during a follow-up phone call 6 months later. Analyses revealed that high levels of relationally aggressive talk at Time 1 predicted increases in negative friendship quality 6 months later. In addition, among adolescents involved in a reciprocal best friendship, high levels of observed relationally aggressive talk predicted increases in positive friendship quality over time. Taken together, these studies provide support for the idea that relational aggression may be associated with adaptive as well as maladaptive outcomes within the dyadic context of adolescent friendship.     

Friendship Similarity During Early Adolescence: Gender and Racial Patterns

We studied the relationship of reciprocity, gender, and racial composition (Caucasian, African American, cross-race) of adolescent friendship dyads to similarity and proximity in 136 young adolescents. We found that adolescents selected friends who were of the same gender and race and that female dyads were more similar than male dyads on verbal achievement and several personality dimensions. Caucasian dyads were more similar than African American dyads on verbal achievement, mental alertness, and dominance. African American adolescents had more contact with their best friends outside school, whereas Caucasian adolescent friends had more in-school contact. African American students had fewer reciprocal relationships than the Caucasian students. Cross-race friendships were less reciprocal than same-race friendships. Race and gender were important in determining friendship patterns. Similarity and proximity were more important than reciprocity in understanding early adolescent friendships.     

Friendship similarity during early adolescence: gender and racial patterns.

We studied the relationship of reciprocity, gender, and racial composition (Caucasian, African American, cross-race) of adolescent friendship dyads to similarity and proximity in 136 young adolescents. We found that adolescents selected friends who were of the same gender and race and that female dyads were more similar than male dyads on verbal achievement and several personality dimensions. Caucasian dyads were more similar than African American dyads on verbal achievement, mental alertness, and dominance. African American adolescents had more contact with their best friends outside school, whereas Caucasian adolescent friends had more in-school contact. African American students had fewer reciprocal relationships than the Caucasian students. Cross-race friendships were less reciprocal than same-race friendships. Race and gender were important in determining friendship patterns. Similarity and proximity were more important than reciprocity in understanding early adolescent friendships.     

Bidirectional Influences of Violence Exposure and Adjustment in Early Adolescence: Externalizing Behaviors and School Connectedness

This study utilized cross-lagged longitudinal models to examine prospective, bidirectional relationships between witnessing violence and victimization and three adjustment variables—delinquency, conduct problems, and school connectedness. Participants included 603 early adolescent boys and girls (78% African American, 20% Caucasian). Witnessing violence was related to subsequent lower levels of school connectedness and more conduct problems. For Caucasian but not African American adolescents, witnessing violence also predicted later delinquency. Victimization was linked with lower school connectedness over time, and for boys but not girls also with more conduct problems. Only adolescent delinquency was associated with subsequent witnessing violence and victimization. This research was partially supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Grant No. R49–CCR418569.