Future Directions in…Friendship in Childhood and Early Adolescence

The Power Dynamics of Friendship: Between- and Within- Person Associations among Friend Dominance, Self-Esteem, and Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms

Although forming close, egalitarian peer relationships is a central developmental task of adolescence, little is known about the psychological consequences of power imbalances in adolescents' friendships. The current study investigated whether there are psychological costs of feeling subordinate to friends by examining longitudinal associations between adolescents' perceived friend dominance and internalizing symptoms. Across one year, five waves of survey data were collected from 388 adolescents (Mage = 14.05, SDage = 0.41; 61% female; 46% White, 19% Black, 17% Asian, 6% Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, 6% Biracial/Multiethnic, 3% Latinx/Hispanic, 1% American Indian/Native American, 1% identifying with another race/ethnicity, <1% not reporting). Multilevel modeling disentangled between- and within-person effects of perceived friend dominance on depressive and anxiety (internalizing) symptoms and tested self-esteem as a mediator. The results indicated that both individual differences and intraindividual fluctuations in perceived friend dominance were associated with internalizing symptoms. At the between-person level, adolescents who perceived their friends as more dominant reported more severe depressive and anxiety symptoms than adolescents who perceived their friends as less dominant. At the within-person level, increases in perceived friend dominance were accompanied by increases in depressive and anxiety symptoms, and these associations were partially explained by changes in self-esteem. The findings advance understanding of power dynamics in adolescents' close friendships and highlight the psychological toll of feeling dominated by friends.

Friends as a language learning resource in multilingual primary school classrooms

Interactions with classroom friends may be an important contributor to first and second language development, but to date this hypothesis has not been tested. Using a longitudinal design, the current study investigated the relationship between classroom friendships and oral language development in children. In 8 classrooms, we assessed the relationship between oral language skills and classroom social networks. Across the classrooms, 165 primary school children in Austria (83 boys; 119 L2 learners; age: 6–10) were assessed on oral language proficiency at the beginning of the school year (T1) and 6–7 months later (T2). Results indicated that the more reciprocal best friendships at T1, the greater language improvement at T2. Language improvement was strongest among friends with moderate differences in language proficiency, regardless of whether students were first or second language learners. These results underline the importance of positive social relations at school for language learning broadly.

Parenting Style and Emotional Well-Being Among Adolescents: The Role of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration

The research examined the relationship between supportive parenting styles (warmth, structure, and autonomy support) and emotional well-being and whether they are mediated by basic psychological need satisfaction. It also explores thwarting parenting styles (rejection, chaos, and coercion) that may be associated with emotional ill-being, mediated by basic psychological needs frustration. This study involved 394 Indonesian adolescents aged 11–15 years old (49.5% boys, 50.5% girls) as the participants. We employed the structural equation model (SEM) analysis to evaluate the hypotheses. The research found that basic psychological needs satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between supportive parenting styles and emotional well-being; basic psychological needs frustration fully mediated the relationship between thwarting parenting styles and emotional ill-being (Chi-Square = 434.39; df = 220; p = 0.000; RMSEA = 0.05; CFI = 0.91; GFI = 0.91; SRMR = 0.05). Interestingly, the findings indicate that the thwarting parenting style positively influences basic psychological needs satisfaction. The research concludes that supportive parenting enhances the well-being of adolescents by satisfying their basic psychological needs. However, thwarting parental behaviors did not forestall the satisfaction of needs. The way Indonesian adolescents perceived the thwarting parenting style was discussed.

The Link between Attachment and Gambling in Adolescence: A Multiple Mediation Analysis with Developmental Perspective, Theory of Mind (Friend) and Adaptive Response

Introduction: Several studies have supported the evidence that attachment styles are a central factor in adolescent gambling problems. On this theoretical basis, the aim of the present study is to analyze a hypothesized mediation model exploring both the direct and indirect effects of insecure attachment on gambling disorder by investigating the role of the developmental perspective, theory of mind (friend) and adaptive response in that relationship. Method: The sample consists of 178 adolescents who underwent the Measures: South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents and Friends and Family Interview. Result: The mediation analysis was conducted following Hayes' (2018) procedure, using Model 6. The results showed a significant association between insecure attachment and gambling disorder (β = 0.669; p < 0.001). The findings also highlighted a significant chained mediation model in which insecure attachment negatively influenced the developmental perspective (β = -0.742; p < 0.001), which affected the theory of mind toward one's own best friend (β = 0.352; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results highlighted a significant role of insecure attachment in predicting the symptomatic expression of gambling among adolescents, specifically impacting the development perspective, theory of mind toward one's best friend and adaptive response to stress, which were linked to each other by a sequential influence. Therefore, our results showed that a poor developmental self-vision predicted a dysfunctional theory of mind toward the best friend. This could hinder the formation of positive peer relationships, which are crucial for the development of one's identity.

Associations of social and emotional competencies, academic efficacy beliefs, and emotional distress among students in lower secondary school

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate how perceived social-emotional competencies (SECs), relationship skills, emotional regulation, and the ability to structure schoolwork at school and at home were associated with academic efficacy belief (AEB) and emotional distress among 1142 Norwegian eighth-grade students. The students answered an Internet-based questionnaire during school hours. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the paths of associations. In the structural model, AEB was treated as an intermediate variable predicted by the other SECs and as a predictor of emotional distress. Perceived relationship skills, emotional regulation, and the ability to structure schoolwork showed moderate to strong associations with AEB. AEB showed a strong association with emotional distress, whereas relationship skills and emotional regulation showed a moderately strong association with emotional distress. The results suggest that all SECs play a role in AEB, whereas high AEB, good perceived ability for emotional regulation, and relationship skills are linked to less emotional distress. Good perceived relationship skills, emotional regulation, and structuring of schoolwork were more strongly related to less emotional distress among females. Moreover, emotional regulation and structuring of schoolwork were more strongly associated with AEB for females. These findings may indicate that these SECs may be more essential to emotional well-being among female adolescent students.

Examining associative conditioning with a positive peer context as a strategy to increase children's vegetable acceptance

BACKGROUND

Children's vegetable acceptance increases following repeated exposure and associative conditioning pairing a target vegetable with a well-liked food. Yet traditional pairings may increase energy intake when well-liked foods are calorie-rich.

OBJECTIVES

To examine whether pairing a non-food stimulus with target vegetables increases children's vegetable acceptance and whether effects exceed those of repeated exposure.

METHODS

Twenty-three 6-to-8-year-old children participated in twice-weekly sessions across 6 weeks of a summer camp serving children from low-income families. First- and second-grade camp classrooms were randomly assigned to associative conditioning and repeated exposure groups, respectively. Liking and preference were assessed for seven vegetables at pre/post-test. For each child, two non-preferred vegetables were randomly assigned as the target or control. During exposures, associative conditioning group children experienced a positive peer context (involving group games) paired with tasting their target vegetable. The repeated exposure group received only taste exposures; target vegetable liking was assessed.

RESULTS

Preferences for target vegetables increased from pre- (Median = 6.00) to post-test (Median = 3.00) overall (P = .007), but did not differ by group (P = .59). Group, time and interaction effects on vegetable liking were non-significant overall (P ≥ .29), with some evidence of group differences when examining select time points.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings can inform future research aiming to increase vegetable preferences in community settings.

The Interplay Between Adolescents' Friendships and the Exchange of Help: A Longitudinal Multiplex Social Network Study

The aim of this study was to unravel the interrelatedness of friendship and help, and to examine the characteristics of friendship and help networks. The effects of mutual versus one-sided help relations on friendship initiation and maintenance, and vice versa, were examined. Friendship and help networks were analyzed (N = 953 students; 41 classrooms; M_age  = 12.7). The results illustrate that friendship and help networks show some similarities, but only partly overlap and have distinct characteristics. Longitudinal multiplex social network analyses showed that mutual help was important for the maintenance of friendship, but not for the initiation of friendship. Further, particularly mutual friendships provided a context in which help took place. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Relation of Reciprocated and Nonreciprocated Friendship Nominations to Peer Social Competence for Chinese Elementary School Children

The authors examined associations between different forms of children's friendship nomination reciprocity (mutual, unilateral given, unilateral received) and other measures of children's peer social competence (liking, loneliness, overt aggression, perceived popularity) for 501 Chinese third- to sixth-grade students. Using a multigroup path analysis (with gender as group), for both boys and girls, all three forms of friendship nominations were negatively related to self-reported loneliness. Mutual friendship nominations and unilateral received friendship nominations were positively related to peer nominations for liking and to peer nominations of perceived popularity. The path between unilateral received friendship nominations and perceived popularity was higher for boys than for girls. Also, for boys only, mutual friendship nominations and unilateral received friendship nominations were each negatively related to peer nominations of overt aggression. These patterns are somewhat different from research examining the association of forms of friendships to peer social competence for children in Western cultures. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of the relation of different forms of friendship nominations to children's peer social competence as well as the broad association of culture for these relations.

WM in Adolescence: What Is the Relationship With Emotional Regulation and Behavioral Outcomes?

Adolescence is a fundamental transition phase, marked by physical, social, cognitive and emotional changes. At this stage in development two contrasting phenomena take place: brain changes cause a sensitivity to emotional aspects (Dahl, 2004); while also control processes register as well impressive improvements (e.g., Hooper et al., 2004; Best and Miller, 2010). The study is aimed to investigate the relationship between a core cognitive feature such as working memory (WM) (Diamond, 2013) and complex abilities such as emotion regulation (ER) and behavioral self-reported outcomes using a structural equation model approach. A sample of 227 typically developed adolescents between 14 and19 years of age (148 females; mean age in months 202.8, SD 18.57) participated in this study. The following tasks and self-reports were administered in a 45-min test session at school: Symmetry Span task (Kane et al., 2004). Reading Span task (Daneman and Carpenter, 1980), Mr. Cucumber (Case, 1985); Youth Self-Report (YSR, 11-18 years, Achenbach and Rescorla, 2001); Difficulties ER Scale (DERS, Gratz and Roemer, 2004; Italian version by Giromini et al., 2012). Results showed that difficulties in ER correlated with WM: high levels of ER difficulties are associated with low WM efficiency while no significant contributions of these predictors was observed on externalizing or internalizing symptoms. This study showed a significant relationship between self-reported difficulties in ER and WM, while no significant contribution of the considered predictors was showed on the outcomes, adding knowledge about how behavioral and emotional self-reported outcomes may relate to these processes.

Enhancing the contribution of volunteering to career commitment with friendship among university students

Purpose

Encouraging college students to volunteer is a supposed but uncharted way to contribute to their career commitment. Clarifying the ways of the contribution is therefore necessary. From the social capital perspective, volunteering and network density among friends represent social capital to reinforce each other. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the enhancement of the contribution by the density.

Design/methodology/approach

The examination employs a two-wave panel survey of 410 university students to estimate the effects of volunteering and friend network density at Wave 1 on career commitment at Wave 2. Essentially, the examination adjusted for biases due to sample attrition and self-selection into volunteering.

Findings

Volunteering at Wave 1 showed a significant contribution to career commitment at Wave 2. Moreover, the contribution significantly increased with friend network density at Wave 1.

Research limitations/implications

Findings from this panel survey of university students in Hong Kong require future research for substantiation. For instance, such research can apply an experimental design to volunteering to guarantee the internal validity of the contribution of volunteering.

Practical implications

Social capital theory is applicable to the promotion of career commitment. Specifically, optimizing the strength of social capital through the combination of volunteering and friendship is promising.

Originality/value

Empirical support for the application of social capital theory to career development is evident. Particularly, the joint contribution of volunteering and friendship is demonstrable.

Distinguishing Attachment and Affiliation in Early Adolescents' Narrative Descriptions of Their Best Friendship

This study was designed to test for specificity in the relationship between individual friendship provisions and adjustment across early adolescence. Using a narrative procedure, attachment (i.e., accessing care) and affiliation (i.e., forming cooperative partnerships) were found to be distinct functional themes organizing 293 adolescents' (Mage  = 13) internal representations of their best friendship across three annual measurement occasions. Longitudinal, cross-lag analyses revealed a unique transactional relationship between friendship affiliation and greater social competence over time, controlling for friendship stability, maternal relationship quality, socioeconomic status, and gender. By contrast, friendship attachment predicted fewer subsequent internalizing symptoms from ages 14 to 15. Together, findings point to the importance of understanding individual differences in the content of adolescents' internal representations of friendship.

Homophilous Friendship Assortment Based on Personality Traits and Cognitive Ability in Middle Childhood: The Moderating Effect of Peer Network Size

Even though homophily (love of the same) is often thought of as a standard feature of friendships, the empirical evidence for attraction based on personality trait similarity is mixed at best. One reason for the inconsistent findings across studies could be variation in the large–scale social environment in which the studies have been conducted. We investigated whether diversity in the everyday social ecologies of 7– to 8–year–old children ( N = 549) moderates whether friendships are formed on the basis of similar personality traits and similar levels of Cognitive ability. Moderated polynomial regression and response surface analyses showed that classroom size moderated homophily based on Openness to Experience: children similar in Openness were more likely to form friendship ties, but only in larger classrooms. Moreover, we found homophily for Cognitive ability, especially among girls. The results for Openness and Cognitive ability were independent of each other. We discuss the social relevance of trait Openness and the notion that capacity to reciprocate underlies homophily based on Cognitive ability. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

What motivates adolescents? Neural responses to rewards and their influence on adolescents' risk taking, learning, and cognitive control

Adolescence is characterized by pronounced changes in motivated behavior, during which emphasis on potential rewards may result in an increased tendency to approach things that are novel and bring potential for positive reinforcement. While this may result in risky and health-endangering behavior, it may also lead to positive consequences, such as behavioral flexibility and greater learning. In this review we will discuss both the maladaptive and adaptive properties of heightened reward-sensitivity in adolescents by reviewing recent cognitive neuroscience findings in relation to behavioral outcomes. First, we identify brain regions involved in processing rewards in adults and adolescents. Second, we discuss how functional changes in reward-related brain activity during adolescence are related to two behavioral domains: risk taking and cognitive control. Finally, we conclude that progress lies in new levels of explanation by further integration of neural results with behavioral theories and computational models. In addition, we highlight that longitudinal measures, and a better conceptualization of adolescence and environmental determinants, are of crucial importance for understanding positive and negative developmental trajectories.

Encouraging the Disuse of Illicit Drugs Among At-Risk Youth

Youth at risk of illicit drug abuse and other delinquent acts are the target of social work services. Preventing or discouraging the use of illicit drugs among at-risk youth is a long-standing practical and research concern. For this reason, the preventive function of courage is a research gap the present study seeks to fill. The study collected data from 169 at-risk youths and their social workers with two-wave panel surveys. Results show that courage in Wave 1 presented a strong negative effect on illicit drug use in Wave 2 in the youth, controlling for illicit drug use in Wave 1 and background characteristics. Moreover, the negative effect was stronger when Wave 1 drug use was more likely. These results imply the helpfulness of encouraging at-risk youth to gather courage to resist the temptation to use illicit drugs.

Perceptions of alcohol use by friends compared to peers: Associations with middle adolescents' own use

BACKGROUND

In this study, the authors (a) distinguished between adolescents' perceptions of their peers' and friends' alcohol use to examine the unique associations these perceptions have on adolescents' own alcohol use and (b) tested if the ability to resist peer influence moderated those associations.

METHODS

Data were from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 876, all aged 15). Adolescents reported (a) perceptions of alcohol use by their peers, (b) perceptions of alcohol use by their friends, (c) their own alcohol use in the last year, and (d) a measure of their ability to resist peer influence. Data were analyzed with hierarchical logistic regression (HLR), controlling for demographic variables and parental knowledge.

RESULTS

Three HLR models were computed: 1 for the full sample, 1 for only males, and 1 for only females. In all models, perceptions of alcohol use by friends (odds ratios [ORs]: OR_Full = 10.17, OR_Female = 15.51, OR_Male = 7.25) were associated with a greater likelihood of adolescents using alcohol themselves. Perceptions of alcohol use by peers (OR_Full = 1.13, OR_Female = 1.11, OR_Male = 1.14) were not significantly associated with adolescents' own alcohol use. The ability to resist peer influence did not moderate any of those associations.

CONCLUSIONS

It appears that when adolescents perceive more of their friends, but not their peers, consume alcohol, they themselves are at greater risk for alcohol use, and those associations do not depend upon their ability to resist peer influence.

Psychometric properties of the network relationship inventory-social provision version in Chinese youth

Given the lack of psychometric research on friendship measures in non-Western countries, this study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the network relationship inventory-social provision version (NRI-SPV-C) in a sample of 200 young adolescents living in China (91 boys; M age = 13.21 years). Results from confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a hierarchical structure model with two second-order factors (Social Support, Negative Interactions) and nine first-order factors (Companionship, Intimacy, Instrumental Aid, Nurturance, Affection, Admiration, Reliable Alliance, Conflict, and Antagonism) was the best-fitting model. High internal consistency and high construct reliability were found for all factors. Girls reported higher levels of Social Support compared with boys, though no gender differences emerged for Negative Interactions. Social Support was positively associated with youth's friendship satisfaction (Satisfaction), whereas Negative Interactions was negatively associated with Satisfaction. Findings suggest the NRI-SPV-C may be a fruitful measure for assessing youth's friendship quality in China.

Challenging gender stereotypes: resistance and exclusion

The likelihood of resisting gender-stereotypic peer group norms, along with expectations about personal resistance, was investigated in 9- to 10-year-olds and 13- to 14-year-olds (N = 292). Participants were told about a stereotype conforming group (boys playing football; girls doing ballet) and a stereotype nonconforming group (boys doing ballet; girls playing football). Contrary to expectations from gender-stereotyping research, participants stated that they would personally resist gender-stereotypic norms, and more so than they would expect their peers to resist. However, expecting peers to resist declined with age. Participants expected that exclusion from the group was a consequence for challenging the peer group, and understood the asymmetrical status of gender stereotypes with an expectation that it would be more difficult for boys to challenge stereotypes than for girls.

Bullying of youth with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or typical development: Victim and parent perspectives

In-depth interviews conducted separately with 13-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or typical development (TD) and their mothers investigated the experiences of victimization in the form of bullying. Coded constructs from the interviews were utilized to compare groups on the frequency, type, and impact of victimization. Youth with ASD were victimized more frequently than their ID or TD peers, and the groups differed with regard to the type of bullying and the impact it had, with ASD youth faring the worst. Higher internalizing problems and conflict in friendships were found to be significant predictors of victimization, according to both youth- and mother-reports. These predictors were found to be more salient than ASD status alone. Implications for practice are discussed.

Friendship quality and psychosocial outcomes among children with traumatic brain injury

This study examined differences in friendship quality between children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and orthopedic injury (OI) and behavioral outcomes for children from both groups. Participants were 41 children with TBI and 43 children with OI (M age=10.4). Data were collected using peer- and teacher-reported measures of participants' social adjustment and parent-reported measures of children's post-injury behaviors. Participants and their mutually nominated best friends also completed a measure of the quality of their friendships. Children with TBI reported significantly more support and satisfaction in their friendships than children with OI. Children with TBI and their mutual best friend were more similar in their reports of friendship quality compared to children with OI and their mutual best friends. Additionally, for children with TBI who were rejected by peers, friendship support buffered against maladaptive psychosocial outcomes, and predicted skills related to social competence. Friendship satisfaction was related to higher teacher ratings of social skills for the TBI group only. Positive and supportive friendships play an important role for children with TBI, especially for those not accepted by peers. Such friendships may protect children with TBI who are rejected against maladaptive psychosocial outcomes, and promote skills related to social competence.

Best friends' discussions of social dilemmas

Peer relationships, particularly friendships, have been theorized to contribute to how children and adolescents think about social and moral issues. The current study examined how young adolescent best friends (191 dyads; 53.4% female) reason together about multifaceted social dilemmas and how their reasoning is related to friendship quality. Mutually-recognized friendship dyads were videotaped discussing dilemmas entailing moral, social-conventional and prudential/pragmatic issues. Both dyad members completed a self-report measure of friendship quality. Dyadic data analyses guided by the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model indicated that adolescent and friend reports of friendship qualities were related to the forms of reasoning used during discussion. Friends who both reported that they could resolve conflicts in a constructive way were more likely to use moral reasoning than friends who reported that their conflict resolution was poor or disagreed on the quality of their conflict resolution. The findings provide evidence for the important role that friendship interaction may play in adolescents' social and moral development.

Integrating etiological models of social anxiety and depression in youth: evidence for a cumulative interpersonal risk model

Models of social anxiety and depression in youth have been developed separately, and they contain similar etiological influences. Given the high comorbidity of social anxiety and depression, we examine whether the posited etiological constructs are a correlate of, or a risk factor for, social anxiety and/or depression at the symptom level and the diagnostic level. We find core risk factors of temperament, genetics, and parent psychopathology (i.e., depression and anxiety) are neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of social anxiety and/or depression. Instead, aspects of children's relationships with parents and/or peers either mediates (i.e., explains) or moderates (i.e., interacts with) these core risks being related to social anxiety and/or depression. We then examine various parent- and peer-related constructs contained in the separate models of social anxiety and depression (i.e., parent-child attachment, parenting, social skill deficits, peer acceptance and rejection, peer victimization, friendships, and loneliness). Throughout our review, we report evidence for a Cumulative Interpersonal Risk model that incorporates both core risk factors and specific interpersonal risk factors. Most studies fail to consider comorbidity, thus little is known about the specificity of these various constructs to depression and/or social anxiety. However, we identify shared, differential, and cumulative risks, correlates, consequences, and protective factors. We then put forth demonstrated pathways for the development of depression, social anxiety, and their comorbidity. Implications for understanding comorbidity are highlighted throughout, as are theoretical and research directions for developing and refining models of social anxiety, depression, and their comorbidity. Prevention and treatment implications are also noted.

Self-development: integrating cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives

This review integrates cognitive, socioemotional, and neuroimaging perspectives on self-development. Neural correlates of key processes implicated in personal and social identity are reported from studies of children, adolescents, and adults, including autobiographical memory, direct and reflected self-appraisals, and social exclusion. While cortical midline structures of medial prefrontal cortex and medial posterior parietal cortex are consistently identified in neuroimaging studies considering personal identity from a primarily cognitive perspective ("who am I?"), additional regions are implicated by studies considering personal and social identity from a more socioemotional perspective ("what do others think about me, where do I fit in?"), especially in child or adolescent samples. The involvement of these additional regions (including tempo-parietal junction and posterior superior temporal sulcus, temporal poles, anterior insula, ventral striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, middle cingulate cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex) suggests mentalizing, emotion, and emotion regulation are central to self-development. In addition, these regions appear to function atypically during personal and social identity tasks in autism and depression, exhibiting a broad pattern of hypoactivation and hyperactivation, respectively.

Friendship and the religiosity of Indonesian Muslim adolescents

Adolescents' religious involvement occurs within a social context, an understudied aspect of which is relationships with peers. This longitudinal study assessed changes in religiosity over 1 year and explored the extent to which these were associated with their friends' religiosity and problem behavior. The first year sample included 1,010 (52.5% female) Muslim 13 and 15 year old Indonesian adolescents; 890 of these were assessed 1 year later. Adolescents were similar to their friends in religiosity. Changes in religiosity from year one to two were associated with friends' religiosity such that adolescents with religious friends were more religious at year two than those with less religious friends. Reductions in religiosity were also associated with the presence of problem behavior, consistent with the inverse relationship between these. Peers may play an important role in the development of adolescent religiousness and exploring these influences deserves further study.