Moral Dimensions and Friendship Security Moderate Trajectories of Intolerance of Uncertainty in School-age Children

• In Event: 2-158 - Children's Perceptions of Their Social World: Effects on Socioemotional Adjustment and Peer Relations

Integrative Statement

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety is a multidimensional construct that is known to increase in frequency and intensity during the older school-age years. Although anxiety has been typically studied as a single factor construct, it is increasingly recognized to be comprised of several factors that are conceptually and experientially distinct from each other. The factors include (a) intolerance of uncertainty (i.e., excessive concerns with forms of insecurity), (b) worry (i.e., ruminative thinking about the possibility of negative outcomes); and (c) arousal (i.e., feelings of psychophysiological activation that occur in conjunction with potentially threatening events). Recent evidence has indicated that intolerance of uncertainty is an antecedent to worry and anxiety-related arousal.

A standard component of theory about peer relations is that interactions with peers can function as an antidote to anxiety by providing security-based experiences that limit moments of uncertainty. This study builds on prior support for this hypothesis at the level of the dyad by assessing the degree to which moral features of the group minimize the continuity of intolerance of uncertainty across the beginning of the academic year. Our analysis focused on (a) same-gender group norms for the moral dimension of care that indicates the degree to which group members are sensitive to the needs of others, and (b) security and intimacy as distinct forms of perceived friendship quality. It was expected that friendship security and peer group norms for care will lead to decreases in IU across the school year.

METHODS AND MEASURES: Fifth- and sixth-grade boys and girls (N = 357) from 18 classrooms who represented more than 80% of the potential pool participated in the study. The classroom groups were cleaved by gender to create 36 same-gender peer groups. The participants completed a measure of friendship quality, a measure of anxiety, and peer-assessment measures at each of three assessment times across a four-month period beginning in the first month of the school year. Four measures were used in the present study: the T1 measures of friendship security and intimacy, the same-gender peer group norms of care at T1, and measure of intolerance of uncertainty measured at T1, T2, and T3.

RESULTS: Growth curve modeling conducted within the framework of a multilevel model provided support for our hypotheses. Intolerance of uncertainty was more likely to decrease for children who perceived their friendships to be secure and for children in classes that had peer groups characterized by high levels of care. The effects of friendship security were moderated by group care. The effects of friendship security were weaker in high care groups.

SUMMARY: Friendship quality and group norms for care were observed to affect trajectories of intolerance of uncertainty in early adolescence. The effects of security were stronger when group care norms were low rather than high. These innovative findings show that the moral provisions of the peer group are a source of emotion regulation during the older school-age years.

Authors

• Bianca Panarello, Concordia University
  Presenting Author

• Ryan Joshua Persram, Concordia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melisa Castellanos, Concordia University
  Non-Presenting Author

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