Phonefriend: A developmental description of needs expressed by child callers to a community telephone support system for children

Abstract

Research on children's social support only recently begun. Although most investigators agree on the common sources of emotional support, there is less consensus regarding the types of social support needs experienced by children. The current study provides an empirically derived categorization of the needs identified by over 4,000 children contacting PhoneFriend, a community telephone support line. These empirically derived categories parallel the categories of need derived conceptually by several researchers of children's social support. The categories include a need for instrumental assistanec, advice, emotional expression, and companionship. Changes in need with development parallel trends reported in at least one prior study and are consistent with developmental theory. The importance of additional work on developmental changes in children's social support and on this type of extrafamily social support is stressed.