Young Adults’ Conversational Strategies During Negotiation and Self-Disclosure in Same-Gender and Mixed-Gender Friendships

Mixed-gender anxiety and gender-based relationship efficacy: A cross-lagged study of single-sex versus coeducational schooling bridging high school graduation

Feeling comfortable interacting with someone of another gender and having competence in cross-gender relationships are important for adolescents' and young adults' psychosocial development. However, extended experience in gender-segregated schooling environments may reduce opportunities to develop these competencies. To test this, comparisons between single-sex (SS) and coeducational (CE) school students' mixed-gender anxiety and gender-based relationship efficacy were conducted. Prior research on social outcomes of SS schooling were limited by the use of single-item surveys, cross-sectional designs, and inadequate control for confounding demographic differences between SS and CE students. We addressed these limitations by using (a) multi-item measures, (b) a longitudinal design that included two waves of data collection bridging high-school graduation, and (c) propensity-score matching. Students in Hong Kong were first surveyed in their final year of high school (N = 667) and then again roughly 1.5 years post-graduation (N = 463). SS students reported lower other-gender relationship efficacy than CE students at both times (β = -0.21) but no difference in mixed-gender anxiety. Mixed-gender anxiety increased in both groups over time (β = 0.85 to 1.07). Importantly, students who initially reported lower other-gender relationship efficacy later reported more mixed-gender anxiety (β = -0.15 to -0.19). Additionally, cross-lagged effects showed school type indirectly predicted mixed-gender anxiety through relationship efficacy (β = 0.03). These associations appeared even after controlling for general social anxiety and were evident across gender and sexual orientation groups. The study suggests potentially negative effects of SS schooling on mixed-gender interpersonal outcomes and demonstrates the value of propensity score matching and longitudinal designs that can show ways that SS and CE students develop across critical life transitions. Results have implications for peer-exposure and self-efficacy theories and for designing school-based programs to help students build greater cross-gender interpersonal competency.

Friendships and peer relationships and self-harm ideation and behaviour among young people: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Friendships and peer relationships have an important role in the experience of self-harm ideation and behaviour in young people, yet they typically remain overlooked. This systematic review and narrative synthesis explores the extant literature on this topic to identify important relationships between these constructs. We did a keyword search of peer-reviewed empirical articles relating to friendships and peer relationships and self-harm ideation and behaviour in young people (aged 11-25 years). We identified 90 articles with evidence primarily from adolescents aged 11-18 years, including mixed genders and a majority of White individuals. Findings highlight substantive relationships between the key constructs, showing that: characteristics of friends and peers, including their self-harm ideation and behaviour, relate to and predict ego self-harm ideation and behaviour; friends and peers are important sources of support; and evidence on causal mechanisms is scarce but highlights potential peer selection and influence processes. Studies of the friends and peers of young people with self-harm ideation and behaviour highlight that: friends' attitudes to self-harm and suicide influence their responses to peers with self-harm ideation and behaviour; and friends who are bereaved and friend supporters experience negative outcomes such as symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and grief, alongside difficult emotions. Despite substantial heterogeneity across samples, study designs, and definition or measurement of the primary constructs, this work presents an initial step in organising a complex literature on a crucially important topic, which can help to inform future research and evidence-based interventions.

The effects of everyday-life social interactions on anxiety-related autonomic responses differ between men and women

Social buffering, a phenomenon where social presence can reduce anxiety and fear-related autonomic responses, has been studied in numerous laboratory settings. The results suggest that the familiarity of the interaction partner influences social buffering while also providing some evidence for gender effects. In the laboratory, however, it is difficult to mimic the complexity of real-life social interactions. Consequently, the social modulation of anxiety and related autonomic responses in everyday life remains poorly understood. We used smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) combined with wearable electrocardiogram sensors to investigate how everyday-life social interactions affect state anxiety and related cardiac changes in women and men. On five consecutive days, 96 healthy young participants (53% women) answered up to six EMA surveys per day, indicating characteristics of their most recent social interaction and the respective interaction partner(s). In women, our results showed lower heart rate in the presence of a male interaction partner. Men showed the same effect with female interaction partners. Moreover, only women showed decreased heart rate and increased heart rate variability with increasing interaction partner familiarity. These findings specify the conditions under which social interactions reduce anxiety-related responses in women and men.