Children's Friendships: Shifts Over a Half-Century in Perspectives on Their Development and Their Effects

Provocative ideas about the nature, development, and effects of children's friendships were included in the lectures of Harry Stack Sullivan, which were edited and published in the 1950s. Sullivan emphasized the love, intimacy, and collaboration found in the close friendships that children form around 8 to 10 years of age. Later research has shown that close friendships have both a positive dimension, with features such as intimacy, and a negative dimension, with features such as rivalry. However, close friendships do not emerge suddenly at 8 to 10 years of age. Rather, the closeness of children's friendships increases gradually during middle childhood and adolescence. Recent studies suggest that having close, high-quality friendships increases children's success in the peer social world. Having high-quality friendships could magnify the positive or negative influence of friends with positive or negative characteristics, but this hypothesis needs to be evaluated more thoroughly in the future.

[1]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Friendship Quality and Social Development , 2002 .

[2]  H. S. Sullivan.  The interpersonal theory of psychiatry , 1953 .

[3]  W. Hartup.  The company they keep: friendships and their developmental significance. , 1996, Child development.

[4]  M. Perlmutter.  Cognitive perspectives on children's social and behavioral development , 2014 .

[5]  G. Ladd,et al.  The role of chronic peer difficulties in the development of children's psychological adjustment problems. , 2003, Child development.

[6]  Z. Rubin,et al.  Friendship, proximity, and self-disclosure. , 1978, Journal of personality.

[7]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Influences of Friends and Friendships on Adjustment to Junior High School. , 1999 .

[8]  D. Buhrmester,et al.  Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal relationships. , 1992, Child development.

[9]  Elizabeth Ann Malcolm Douvan,et al.  The adolescent experience , 1966 .

[10]  B. Laursen,et al.  Perceptions of interdependence and closeness in family and peer relationships among adolescents with and without romantic partners. , 1997, New directions for child development.

[11]  Leonard Carmichael,et al.  Manual of Child Psychology , 1947, Pediatrics.

[12]  T. J. Berndt.  Friends' influence on children's adjustment to school. , 1999 .

[13]  T. Dishion,et al.  The Peer Influence Paradox: Friendship Quality and Deviancy Training Within Male Adolescent Friendships. , 1999 .

[14]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  The Features and Effects of Friendship in Early Adolescence. , 1982 .

[15]  K. Kerns,et al.  Individual differences in friendship quality: Links to child–mother attachment. , 1996 .

[16]  W. Hartup,et al.  Relationships as developmental contexts , 1999 .

[17]  Ron Coriell,et al.  Doing Unto Others , 1980 .

[18]  D. Buhrmester,et al.  Children's perceptions of the personal relationships in their social networks. , 1985 .

[19]  W. Furman.  The measurement of friendship perceptions: Conceptual and methodological issues. , 1996 .

[20]  A. Mannarino.  Friendship patterns and altruistic behavior in preadolescent males. , 1976 .

[21]  Robert Kubey,et al.  Changing channels: Early adolescent media choices and shifting investments in family and friends , 1989, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[22]  A. Newcomb,et al.  Children's friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. , 1995 .

[23]  W. Hartup,et al.  Friendships and adaptation in the life course. , 1997 .

[24]  J. Parker,et al.  Interpersonal processes in friendship: A comparison of abused and nonabused children's experiences. , 1996 .

[25]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Routine activities and individual deviant behavior , 1996 .

[26]  W. Bukowski,et al.  The power of friendship: protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. , 1999, Developmental psychology.

[27]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Influences of friends and friendships: myths, truths, and research recommendations. , 2002, Advances in child development and behavior.

[28]  D. Belle,et al.  Children's social networks and social supports , 1989 .

[29]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Obtaining support from friends during childhood and adolescence. , 1989 .

[30]  T. Dishion,et al.  When interventions harm. Peer groups and problem behavior. , 1999, The American psychologist.

[31]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Relations of Friendship Quality to Self-Esteem in Early Adolescence , 1996 .

[32]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Friends' influence of adolescents' adjustment to school. , 1991, Child development.

[33]  T. J. Berndt,et al.  Exploring the effects of friendship quality on social development. , 1996 .

[34]  H. Richards,et al.  Classwork and homework in early adolescence: The ecology of achievement , 1989, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[35]  J. Youniss.  Parents and Peers in Social Development: A Sullivan-Piaget Perspective , 1980 .

[36]  I. Sigel,et al.  HANDBOOK OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY , 2006 .

[37]  W. Bukowski,et al.  The power of friendship: protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. , 1999, Developmental psychology.

[38]  G. Ladd,et al.  Friendship quality as a predictor of young children's early school adjustment. , 1996, Child development.

[39]  K. Urberg.  Introduction: Some Thoughts about Studying the Influence of Peers on Children and Adolescents. , 1999 .

[40]  B. B. Brown,et al.  The development of romantic relationships in adolescence , 1999 .

[41]  W. Hartup,et al.  The Company They Keep: Friendship in Childhood and Adolescence. , 1996 .

[42]  J. Hofman,et al.  Girlfriend, boyfriend: Age and sex differences in intimate friendship. , 1981 .

[43]  P. Mussen,et al.  Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology , 1972 .

[44]  C. Howes,et al.  The earliest friendships. , 1996 .

[45]  A. Newcomb.  The developmental significance of children's friendship relations , 1996 .

[46]  R. Weiss.  The provisions of social relationships , 1974 .

[47]  Amanda J. Rose.  Co-rumination in the friendships of girls and boys. , 2002, Child development.

[48]  D. Buhrmester,et al.  The development of companionship and intimacy. , 1987, Child development.