Abstract
Supportive peer relationships (SPR) are crucial for mental and physical health. Early adolescence is an especially important period in which peer influence and school environment strongly shape psychological development and maturation of core social-emotional regulatory functions. Yet, there is no integrated evidence based model of SPR in this age group to inform future research and practice. The current meta-analysis synthetizes evidence from 364 studies into an integrated model of potential determinants of SPR in early adolescence. The model encompasses links with 93 variables referring to individual (identity, skills/strengths, affect/well-being, and behavior/health) and environmental (peer group, school, family, community, and internet/technology) potential influences on SPR based on cross-sectional correlational data. Findings suggest the central importance of identity and social–emotional skills in SPR. School environment stands out as a compelling setting for future prevention programs. Finally, we underscore an alarming gap of research on the influence of the virtual and online environment on youth's social realm given its unquestionable importance as a globally expanding social interaction setting. Hence, we propose an integrated model that can serve as organizational framework, which may ultimately lead to the adoption of a more structured and integrated approach to understanding peer relationship processes in youth and contribute to overcoming marked fragmentation in the field.
Highlights
IntroductionAdolescents’ social realm encompasses relationships with family members, peers, school staff, and people in any other physical (e.g., neighborhood; Karcher and Sass, 2010) or virtual community (Nesi et al, 2018a,b) to which an individual belongs
A Role of Supportive Peer Relationships inEarly AdolescenceAdolescents’ social realm encompasses relationships with family members, peers, school staff, and people in any other physical or virtual community (Nesi et al, 2018a,b) to which an individual belongs
We focused on the period between 8 and 14 years because it includes the major stages in the development of Supportive peer relationships (SPR) during early adolescence, primary school as a key setting in which early peer relationships (PR) are established and school transition, which imposes significant challenges for SPR (Waters et al, 2014; Oriol et al, 2017)
Summary
Adolescents’ social realm encompasses relationships with family members, peers, school staff, and people in any other physical (e.g., neighborhood; Karcher and Sass, 2010) or virtual community (Nesi et al, 2018a,b) to which an individual belongs. Some of these relationships reflect the norms of the adult world (conventional types—e.g., relationships with parents and teachers). In middle childhood and early adolescence the influence of PR on social and emotional outcomes intensifies (Somerville, 2013) and these relationships become one of the key factors in shaping and directing young people’s psychological development (Barnes et al, 2007). A lack of SPR is linked to a range of negative outcomes, including social withdrawal (Bond et al, 2007), risk-taking behavior such as early commencement of smoking, drinking, and sexual relationships (Kipping et al, 2012), increased risk of juvenile delinquency (Wasserman et al, 2003) and long-term metal health consequences (Lereya et al, 2015)
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