Poster #229 - Bidirectional Associations Between Sympathy and Self-Disclosure in Friendships From Mid to Late Adolescence

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

Adolescence is a vital period for the development of close friendship. Two factors that are particularly important for adolescent positive friendship qualities are sympathy — the tendency to feel concern for others — and self-disclosure — the process of revealing information about oneself. Theoretical perspectives and cross-sectional research tentatively suggest bidirectional relationships between the development of sympathy and self-disclosure (e.g. Selman, 1980; Youniss, 1980). However, longitudinal, bidirectional evidence in this area is rare, particularly during the mid and late adolescent years – a time of important educational transitions, which open doors to new social contexts and often requires the formation of new friendships.

Previous research shows that major life transitions can play formative roles for developmental processes in adolescent friendship. For example, educational transitions seem to affect selection and socialization processes in friendships with regard to depressive symptoms (Goodwin et al., 2012).

Here, we test the hypothesis that sympathy and self-disclosure are reciprocally interrelated across the mid and late adolescent years. We also explore whether a framework focusing on life course transitions could help understand the bidirectional nature of these associations.

Data came from waves 1, 3 and 4 of the youth cohort of the Swiss Survey of Children and Youth COCON (N=1258), a representative sample of adolescents in the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland. Participants were assessed at ages 15, 18 and 21. In Switzerland, major life course transitions are pending after compulsory schooling, which ends at around age 16. Both sympathy and self-disclosure to friends were assessed via self-reports at each wave. Reliable multi-item measures were used (average alpha .78 for sympathy and .80 for self-disclosure), with the exception of wave 1 self-disclosure, which was assessed using a single item. Analyses adjusted for maternal education and adolescent-parent relationship quality. Cross-lagged panel analyses were conducted using structural equation models. These tested autoregressive stability paths, covariances and bidirectional cross-lagged paths between sympathy and self-disclosure across adjacent waves.

Model fit parameters indicated a good fit of the model to the data (CFI = 0.972, RMSEA = 0.068, SRMR = 0.026). Results showed significant degrees of rank order stability for both sympathy and self-disclosure over time. Bidirectional associations emerged adjusting for these stabilities. Sympathy at age 15 predicted self-disclosure at age 18, which in turn predicted sympathy at age 21 (see Figure 1). No sex differences in associations were identified.

The analyses support the hypothesis that sympathy and self-disclosure predict one another across the adolescent years. The developmental and educational transitions that characterize late adolescence are likely involved in initiating pathways from sympathy to more self-disclosure, and, in turn, more sympathy. In other words, sympathy appears to foster the selection or formation of friendship with higher levels of self-disclosure, which, in turn, constitute a learning environment for greater sympathy.

Our research extends existing evidence by applying a longitudinal framework, examining bidirectional associations and providing a possible explanation for changing bidirectional influences between sympathy and self-disclosure in friendship. The findings highlight the potential impact of life course transitions on social and emotional development.

Authors

• Laura Bechtiger, Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich
  Presenting Author

• Annekatrin Steinhoff, Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lilly Shanahan, Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich
  Non-Presenting Author