Abstract
This study investigated the characteristics and development of peer support networks in an effort to unravel the role of friendship in this developmental process. The relationships between friendship networks and peer support networks were explored, and the influence of dyadic and triadic friendships on the development of peer support relationships was examined. Two waves of data were collected among a sample of adolescents in six Chinese junior high schools (n = 913 students from 28 classrooms; mean age = 14.13 years; 50.49% boys), and classroom friendship networks and peer support networks were analyzed. The results showed that peer support networks were sparse, hierarchical, and sex-segregated. Furthermore, peer support networks and friendship networks partially overlapped. Friends tended to have similar support-seeking and support-providing ties. Longitudinal multiplex social network analysis revealed that peer support networks changed moderately over time, and friendships played various roles in the development of peer support networks. Dyadic friendships improved the formation of peer support ties. A mutual friend improved the formation of support relationships between two students when the mutual friend chose the two students as friends, but a mutual friend also hindered or had no effects on the formation of support relationships in other cases. The implications for educators to improve peer support networks are presented, and directions for future research are discussed.
Highlights
Adolescents are usually confronted with growing stress and challenges because they are at physiological and psychological turning points in their lives
The results indicate that girls have more support ties in peer support networks, and this is consistent with prior studies (Turner and Marino, 1994; Levpušcek, 2006)
The present study explored the developmental process of peer support networks among adolescents in China
Summary
Adolescents are usually confronted with growing stress and challenges because they are at physiological and psychological turning points in their lives. Social support is beneficial for them to handle these challenges. Teachers, and peers usually provide different types of social support. Peers mainly offer emotional and informational support (Hombrados-Mendieta et al, 2012; Wentzel et al, 2016). Researchers have found that adolescents stay late at school and go out with peers often (Larson et al, 1996; Tarrant, 2002), and they usually seek support from peers to solve problems (Bokhorst et al, 2010). Researchers have found that social support from peers increases while support from parents and teachers decreases across the entire period of adolescence
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