1-066 - Child and Adolescent Friendship Formation and Adjustment: Functions of Individual and Interpersonal Environmental Characteristics

Session Type: Poster Symposium

Integrative Statement

Friendships provide benefits such as mutual support and companionship (Bukowski, Motzoi, & Meyer, 2011). However, in certain circumstances, friendships can contribute to psychological difficulties such as depression (Conway et al., 2011). Given the importance of friendships, many studies have been done on factors that influence friendship formation at different levels: child, dyadic systems, small social groups, and culture and community (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Adopting Bronfenbrenner’s theory as our framework, we investigate factors influencing friendship formation in childhood and adolescence.In addition, we investigate the influence of friendships on academic achievement and internalizing problems.

The first poster demonstrates that elevated levels of child anxious solitude predicted incremental decreases in number of reciprocated friendships, and more reciprocated friendships predicted incremental increases in academic achievement. The second demonstrates that child’s rejection sensitivity was modestly associated with more anxiety and avoidance of friend intimacy among preadolescents. The third explores how child cultural identification, together with parental and peer norms, influence outgroup friendship formation in adolescents.The fourth explores how supportive classroom emotional climate, a small social group factor, can lead to incremental increases in students’ friendship network connectivity from fall to spring.The last poster examines the risks associated with certain friend characteristics, revealing that shy friends may negatively impact the psychological adjustment of even popular and well-liked young adolescents.Collectively, the posters provide a multi-level understanding of child and interpersonal factors influencing friendship formation and effects of friendship on child adjustment.

Sub Unit

• Social Relationships

Chair

• Maedeh Aboutalebi Karkavandi, Univ of Melbourne

Discussant

• Heidi Gazelle, University of Melbourne

Individual Presentations

• 1. Testing Direction of Effects Among Anxious Solitude, Academic Achievement, and Reciprocated Friendships from 3rd to 7th Grade - Presenting Author: Siang Joo Seah, University of Melbourne; Heidi Gazelle, University of Melbourne

• 2. Anxiety and Avoidance of Friendship Intimacy and Rejection Sensitivity as Mediators in the Social Adversity-Loneliness Link - Presenting Author: Samantha Ferguson, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus; Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus

• 3. Cultural Identity, and Perceived Peer and Parent Outgroup Norms in Relation to Engagement in Cross-group Friendships - Presenting Author: Alaina Brenick, University of Connecticut; Kelly Romano, Univ of Connecticut

• 4. Change in Friendship Networks from Beginning to the End Third Grade: Effects of Classroom Emotional Climate - Presenting Author: Maedeh Aboutalebi Karkavandi, Univ of Melbourne; Heidi Gazelle, University of Melbourne; Garry Robins, University of Melbourne

• 5. Does Having a Shy Friend Impact Popular and Well-Liked Young Adolescents? - Presenting Author: Rebecca G. Etkin, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York; Julie C Bowker, University at Buffalo, SUNY