Intolerance of uncertainty and anxious arousal in early adolescence: The importance of friendship security

• In Event: 2-052 - A More Detailed Examination of Friendship Experiences in the Lives of Adolescents

Integrative Statement

Introduction: A central feature of theory about well-being in early adolescence is the claim that the experience of anxiety during this developmental period can be moderated by experiences with a friend (Sullivan, 1953; Adams et al., 2011). For school-age children, friendship experiences are an integral part of one’s social context. According to Sullivan (1953), the characteristics of a friendship are crucial when considering the role that friendship plays in emotion regulation. Recently, it has been argued that specific features of friendship, namely friendship security, can minimize the continuity of anxiety in adolescence (Wood et al., 2015). Anxiety is multidimensional and is comprised of broad components that interact to affect the various ways in which symptoms can be experienced, manifested, and maintained across individuals. These components are: the intolerance of uncertainty (IU), worry and physiological arousal. However, little is known about the specific components of anxiety that are likely to be impacted by friendship factors, and therefore, the manner in which friendship disrupts the stability of anxiety over time is unclear. Specifically, studies have yet to investigate the longitudinal effects of friendship quality on IU. Thus, the goal of this study was to investigate the degree to which friendship security and intimacy attenuate levels of IU, worry and physiological arousal in preadolescents, in which it was predicted that security would decrease the stability of each component of anxiety over two time points.

Method: Early adolescents (N = 216) in grades 5 and 6 (Mage = 11.35) from Montreal, Quebec completed self-report questionnaires at two times across a two-month period. Participants rated newly developed items designed to assess anxiety (IU, worry and arousal) in social and test situations, and rated items of depressed affect, friendship security, and intimacy.

Results: Structural equation modeling using Mplus was used to assess the degree to which Time 1 levels of friendship security and intimacy interacted with initial levels of IU, worry and arousal to predict anxiety at Time 2. Three findings are noteworthy. First, friendship security was negatively related to subsequent levels of IU and arousal, but not to worry. Second, intimacy generally demonstrated a positive association with Time 2 levels of anxiety. Third, the effects of friendship were only observed in the social domain of functioning.

Conclusions: Overall, these findings provide unique evidence that ties literature on friendship and anxiety. This study is the first to assess the degree to which physiological and cognitive components of anxiety are differentially affected by specific friendship features over time. The results of the current study lend further empirical support to the importance of friendship security on reducing internalizing symptoms and identify IU as being the component that is most likely to be the first target of friendship factors. As such, it is important for youth to recognize the importance of establishing and maintaining friendships with those with whom they share these characteristics. By promoting such friendships, researchers and practitioners would be educating youth to identify friends that can help them cope with or manage their symptoms of anxiety.

Authors

• Bianca Panarello, Concordia University
  Presenting Author

• William M. Bukowski, Concordia University
  Non-Presenting Author