Adolescents’ Experiences Disclosing Problems to Same- and Other-Gender Peers: Gender Differences and Associations with Emotional Adjustment

• In Event: Gender today: Advances in the gendered nature of children’s and adolescents’ peer relationships

Abstract

Although same-gender peer relationships predominate childhood and adolescence, other-gender peer relationships increase from adolescence to adulthood (Furman & Rose, 2015; Poulin & Pedersen, 2007). As such, it is important to understand how adolescents’ other-gender peer relationships contribute to their adjustment. The current study considers gender differences in adolescents’ problem disclosures with same- and other-gender peers.
Participants were 566 adolescents (304 girls, 262 boys) in 7th grade (n = 275; M = 13.01 years) and 10th grade (n = 291; M = 16.03 years). In terms of race and ethnicity, 63.5% of the adolescents were White, 28.8% were Black, 5.7% were Asian; 3.7% of the sample was Latinx. Adolescents completed an event-sampling assessment and two lab visits. Adolescents recorded information about their problem disclosures using handheld computers for approximately one week. For each problem disclosure, adolescents indicated the identity of the disclosure partner (same-gender friend, other-gender friend, romantic partner) and responded to 4 items assessing co-rumination (e.g., “We tried to figure out everything about the problem, even parts we may never understand.”). Adolescents also reported on their depressive symptoms using the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) during an initial lab visit and a 9-month follow-up.
Two 2 (gender) x 2 (grade) x 3 (partner type) ANOVAs were conducted to examine the extent to which adolescents disclosed problems and co-ruminated with peers. For total problems, there was a significant gender x grade interaction, F(1, 562) = 4.61, p = .03. Tenth grade girls reported the most problem disclosures to peers (M = 2.08) and seventh grade boys reported the fewest (M = 0.70). There was also a significant gender x partner type interaction, F(2, 561) = 4.31, p = .01. Girls reported more problem disclosures to same-gender friends (M = 2.36) and other-gender friends (M = 1.34) than did boys (same-gender friends: M = 1.31; other-gender friends: M = 0.85; p’s < .01). Boys and girls did not differ in problems disclosed to romantic partners. For the ANOVA examining co-rumination, there was a significant gender x partner interaction, F(2, 88) = 6.03, p = .004. Girls co-ruminated more with same-gender friends (M = 3.44) than other-gender friends (M = 2.98) or romantic partners (M = 3.22; p’s < .05). Boys co-ruminated less with same-gender friends (M = 3.16) than other-gender friends (M = 3.32) and romantic partners (M = 3.67; p’s < .01). Co-rumination with other-gender friends compared to romantic partners did not differ for boys or girls.
Analyses next tested whether co-rumination was associated with emotional adjustment. Separate regression models were tested for each partner with depressive symptoms at the 9-month visit predicted from initial depressive symptoms, gender, co-rumination, and the gender x co-rumination interaction. Results indicated that only co-rumination with same-gender friends was associated with later depressive symptoms (β = .16, p = .03).
Discussion will address implications for how boys’ and girls’ problem disclosures with different relationship partners might affect adjustment across adolescence and adulthood.

Authors

• Sarah K Borowski, Lehigh University
  Presenting Author

• Allie Spiekerman, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amanda Rose, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author