Poster #232 - Peer Interactions Post Stress Inducing Tasks Among Early Adolescent Same-Sex Friend Dyads

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

During adolescence, social interactions become increasingly complex and more frequent. Although parents are among the earliest and strongest influences in children’s development, other relationships, including those with peers, are known to influence children and adolescents’ behavior as well (Rubin, Bukowski, & Laursen, 2009). Beginning in late childhood and early adolescence, young people tend to gravitate toward friends to discuss personal matters and emotions (Buhrmester, 1996). Various characteristics of individuals, including personality, cognitive, and behavioral tendencies inform who associates with whom (Boutwell, Meldrum, & Petkovsek 2017). The influence of friends on emotion expression may be particularly relevant during adolescence because of the emphasis placed on developing close peer relationships (Phillipsen, 1999). Despite the abundance of literature on quality and types of friendships in early adolescence, research focusing on the interactions between friends and how these interactions may influence reactions to stress is lacking. The purpose of the present study is to examine adolescents’ verbal and behavioural actions during and after stressful social situations, while in the presence of a close friend, in order to provide insight into the role of the close friend in mitigating or exacerbating the stress.
Our preliminary sample includes 68 pairs of 15-16 year-old adolescents from cities surrounding a major university in the United States. Target adolescents were ask to invite a close friend to join them at the lab to complete various tasks. The present study focuses on the first task: post-speech debrief. In the post-speech debrief targets were reunited with their friend after giving a speech in a separate room to two unfamiliar peers and a research assistant. Upon reunification, targets were instructed to tell their friend about their experience with the unfamiliar peers and giving the speech. Target adolescents were given 4 minutes to do so. The task was video-recorded. Data were coded by two trained independent coders for a variety of positive and negative behaviors as well as amount of time speaking, separately for each member of the dyad. The mean Cronbach’s alpha for the coded variables showed very good reliability (α=.854). Change scores were created by subtracting displays of anxious behaviors during the second half of the task from displays of anxious behaviors during the first half of the task. Preliminary results revealed a significant relation between the friends’ positive behavior composite throughout the debrief task and targets’ change in anxious behaviors across the debrief task (r = -.28, p = .03). In other words, when friends displayed more warmth, support or encouragement, or empathy throughout the debrief task, targets’ displays of anxious behaviors decreased from the beginning of the task to the end. Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) analyses will be used to examine relations between target and friend behaviors more thoroughly once data from the full sample has been collected. Our preliminary findings highlight the important role adolescents can play in mitigating the stress experienced by a friend after engaging in a stressful social interaction or situation.

Authors

• Gioia Stokovac, The University of British Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Alisa Almas, The University of British Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author