Children's Friendships Research Articles

‘I wish that COVID would disappear, and we'd all be together’: Maintaining Children's friendships during the Covid‐19 pandemic

AbstractFriendship is a central focus in children's lives and is important for healthy development. During the Covid‐19 pandemic, children experienced restrictions on their interactions with friends. This research heard the voices of 10 children (7–11 years) in England regarding their friendships, drawing on data collected through creative participatory methods including drawings, photography and collages, and accompanying unstructured interviews. Findings provide new insights into how children endeavoured to maintain their friendships through virtual interactions, street/doorstep visits, and artwork, and how friendship disruption affected their well‐being. This paper argues for educators to heed the implications for the period of ‘Covid recovery’.

Child friendship patterns at a refugee center in Greece

Since 2015, Greece has seen a large influx of refugees, resulting in increased needs for accommodation and education provision. As most newcomers come in family units, innovative educational measures were established to assist schooling and inclusion for refugee children. Schools provide opportunities to young refugee communities for initiating connections and maintaining friendships with local native peers. However, segregated accommodation structures, such as large, remote Refugee Hospitality Centers, can hinder this process. A small-scale study was conducted at Skaramagas refugee camp in the outskirts of Athens, to investigate the number and type of friendships formed by adolescent refugees, including friendships with refugees/migrants from other countries, as well as native peers. Certain sociological factors, such as age, sex, country of origin, school attendance and duration of stay in Greece, were examined. The study was conducted through semi-constructed interviews with 21 adolescent students at the Refugee Hospitality Center, all of whom attended onsite non-formal language classes, although only half attended formal education outside the camp. The results indicate the positive impact of school attendance on relational inclusion and widening friendship circles. Children attending local formal schools were more likely to widen their friendship circles and form friendships with native peers than children who only attended non-formal classes inside the camp. Girls appear to have fewer friendships than boys, ethnicity and age do not seem to provide any significant differentiation, whereas duration of stay in Greece does not seem to affect socialization patterns directly. This study examines the patterns of friendship formation among newly arrived refugee adolescents and highlights the impact of schooling on relational inclusion, even at highly segregated accommodation structures, such as remote refugee camps.

Social Changes in “Enjottu Pene” Poem

Changes in social life and society is very common in every period. These changes in society is called the ideology of social change. M.N Sreevasan expressed the ideology of social change as two primary concepts. One of them is westernization that is the changes occur due to the cultural influence of western countries. Scholars opine that the autonomies affected by westernization are rootless. Records recorded in Tamil literature are designed to identify the root of these changes. A book of poetry called “Enjottu Pen” by Tamilachi Thangapandian’s traces these roots. This article is based on four poems to highlight the various changes that happens in village and how people changes their village life to city. These people are influenced by their childhood friendship memories. The article discusses about the traditional life, worship, beliefs and village life. It also highlights the fact that westernization uproots the human self-esteem.

Friendships in Children with Williams Syndrome: Parent and Child Perspectives.

Although children with Williams syndrome (WS) are strongly socially motivated, many have friendship difficulties. The parents of 21 children with WS and 20 of the children themselves participated in a semi-structured interview about the children's friendships. Parents reported that their child had difficulties sustaining friendships and low levels of interaction with peers. Barriers to friendships included difficulties with play and self-regulating behaviour. However, there was within-group variability, with a small number of children reported to have strong friendships. While parents reported friendship challenges, all of the children named at least one friend, and most said that they had never felt excluded by their peers. Future research is needed to determine optimal ways to support children with WS in their friendships.

Academic performance and depression in Chinese children: Same-domain and cross-domain effects in friendships.

This 1-year longitudinal study examined the effects of academic performance and depression in friendships among elementary school children in China. Participants included 1122 children (44% boys) within 561 stable friendship dyads initially in fourth and fifth grades (initial Mage =11 years). Data on academic performance, depression, and friendship were collected from multiple sources in the period of 2012 to 2014. Dyadic analysis using the actor-partner interdependence model showed that friends' academic performance significantly and positively predicted children's later academic performance, indicating same-domain effects, and significantly and negatively predicted children's later depression, indicating cross-domain effects, with a medium effect size (ε3 =.70) for the effects of academic performance. The results help understand the role of friendship in children's development in the Chinese context.

Parents' valuing diversity and White children's prosociality toward White and Black peers

Although scholars are increasingly building empirical evidence that helps us understand racism, they have conducted surprisingly little research on White children's prosocial behavior toward historically marginalized people. 190 White, non-Hispanic children (M = 7.09 years, 54.2% boys) participated in the study. We examined whether both parents' reported values for racial diversity in their children's friendships and parents' and teachers' reports of children's cross-race friendships were related to children's sharing behaviors toward Black or White peers. We found that parents' valuing of diversity was positively related to older, but not younger, children's sharing behavior toward Black peers but not White peers. Further, for children of all age, parental diversity values were positively related to teachers' and parents' report of children's cross-race friendships. Our findings indicate that interventions to improve White children's positive behavior toward Black peers should include a focus on contexts that promote equity (i.e., parents' values and friendships).

Parents' perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 and school transition on autistic children's friendships.

Research shows that moving schools can be a challenging time for autistic children and young people. One factor that has been found to support successful transition is friendships. However, there is little research exploring how transition between schools affects autistic children's friendships, and even less on how children's relationships during transition have been impacted by COVID-19. Fourteen parents of autistic children and young people were interviewed about their child's move to a new school and the impact they felt this had on their friendships. Parents described how moving with existing friends helped some children to find the transition less challenging. Others had differing experiences, with their children's friendships playing a much smaller role in the move. Differences were also seen with regard to the impact of COVID-19, with some parents speaking of how hard being away from friends was for their child, while others found the social restrictions a welcome break from interacting with peers. The study highlights how different the experiences of autistic individuals, and their parents, can be and the importance of a child-centred approach to transition support.

Chinese children’s heterogeneous friendship quality trajectories: Relations with school adjustment.

Friendships affect children's development and adjustment. This longitudinal study examined the possible heterogeneity and gender differences in the trajectories of children's friendship quality, as well as the relations between distinct friendship quality trajectories and school adjustment. A total of 3,779 Chinese elementary school students (45.5% girls, Mage = 9.94 years, SD = 0.72 at Time 1) completed measures of relevant constructs on five occasions at 6-month intervals. Latent class growth modeling revealed four heterogeneous developmental trajectory classes of friendship quality: high-increasing (49.6%), moderate-decreasing (5.1%), moderate-increasing (31.9%), and low-stable (13.4%). Girls were more likely than boys to fall into the higher friendship quality trajectory classes in reference to the low-stable class. Children in the high-increasing class and low-stable class showed the best and the worst school adjustment, respectively. The identification of four heterogeneous developmental trajectories of friendship quality with differential school adjustment outcomes highlights the importance of intervention programs tailored to specific groups for promoting children's friendship quality and school adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

“Like Two Musketeers”: Socialization beliefs about toddler's friendships among Dominican, Mexican, and African American mothers

AbstractParental ethnotheories shape socialization beliefs around childrearing more broadly, and children's friendships more specifically. While prior work has examined aspects of parental socialization of friendships among school‐aged children and adolescents, no studies have examined beliefs held around the function of friendships among ethnically diverse mothers of toddlers from low‐socioeconomic contexts. Toddlerhood marks a point in development when the concept of “friendship” gains impact and relevance due to leaps in children's social, cognitive, and motor skills, as well as children's increasing access to contexts where they organically encounter peers. Toddlerhood is also a time when caregivers may initially consider the influence of peers on their children, beliefs that could eventually guide and shift how they navigate socialization practices around friendship. In the present study, we document U.S. Dominican American, African American, and Mexican American mothers’ socialization beliefs around functions of friendship for their 2‐year‐old children. We found that mothers emphasized a variety of friendship functions, including learning of social skills and morality, and communicating and experiencing emotions. A majority of mothers viewed their children's friendships as unidirectional, and framed their children as undiscerning in their engagement with social information from peers. Findings are discussed in relation to mothers’ orientation to children and “childhood” via cultural and developmental beliefs.

Globally aspired, locally constrained; how national education test regime in Turkey shapes middle‐class parenting

AbstractThis article studies how middle‐class parents negotiate globally inspired and classed parenting dispositions with contextual circumstances for transferring their privileges to their children. By drawing on 3‐year longitudinal qualitative data from middle‐class parents in Istanbul, we show that, first, this class feels insecure in the face of changing its social position in the transformation of the state's political economy and ideological foundations. Second, consistent with patterns reported elsewhere, they generally follow a concerted cultivation style of childrearing – enrolling their children in various extracurricular activities, prompting them to discover or create specific talents, consciously developing their language use and forging their ability to interact with social institutions – to impose a competitive personality on their offspring. Third, however, the early tracking, which may stream their children to disadvantaged upper secondary schools through multiple choice and centralized standardized tests, limits their concerted cultivation process by necessitating test‐doing skills. We argue that the Turkish middle class aspires to cultivate their children culturally, but the national testing regime forces them to develop aggressive tactics such as strategically delaying the cultivation process and cutting children's friendships.

Turkish preschool children's representations of friendship: Story completion method adaptation study

In the preschool period, children's friendships considered a crucial developmental task. Hence, it is critical to evaluate children's mental representations of friendships during this period. This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the story completion protocol designed to evaluate preschool children's mental representations of their friendships in school settings for Turkish children. The Preschool Friendship Story Completion Task consists of six stories, one of which is warming. The stories were translated into Turkish by researchers and Turkish-English language experts, and expert opinion was taken for Turkish-English compatibility. Two pilot studies were conducted to evaluate children's participation in the task and following the instructions. Seventy children attending pre-school education institutions participated in the study. Children are asked to complete the unfinished stories presented through a scene and figures. The coders evaluated the video-recorded children's narratives using a detailed rating system. In addition, teachers evaluated the social skills and problem behaviors of children. The results affirmed that the friendship dimensions were conceptually related to each other and the inter-coder reliability was high. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the story completion method on the basis of the narratives of children is a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate way to assess children's friendships.

Association between childhood friendship and cognitive ageing trajectory in later life: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS).

BackgroundChildhood experience has been suggested to affect cognitive function in later life. However, the association between childhood friendship status and cognitive ageing trajectory in middle-aged and older adults has not been fully assessed. This study examined the association between childhood friendship status and cognitive ageing trajectory and identified factors modifying this association.MethodsWe used four waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a national representative longitudinal study of adults aged 45 years or older, 2011–2018. The CHARLS included surveys on childhood friendship and cognitive assessments. Childhood friendship status was categorised as poor, fair, and good. To examine the association between childhood friendship and cognitive ageing trajectory in later life, we applied multilevel linear regression models, and explored potential influences of sociodemographic factors, health status and behaviours, and childhood conditions on this association.ResultsOf the 4,350 participants, 1,919 (44.1%) were women. The mean age was 56.29 ± 7.80 years. We found childhood friendship was significantly associated with cognitive ageing trajectory in later life, with a dose–response relationship. After adjusting for covariates, comparing to participants with poor childhood friendships, those with better childhood friendships had lower rates of cognitive decline (β = 0.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.03 to 0.22 [interaction term of fair friendship and time]; β = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.28 [interaction term of good friendship and time]) and higher level of cognitive functions (β = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.22 to 0.58 [fair friendships]; β = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.43 to 0.79 [good friendships]). These associations were stronger for those who were female, less educated, and had experienced more adverse childhood experiences.ConclusionsChildhood friendship is associated with cognitive ageing in later life. Enhancing childhood friendships can play an important role to promote healthy ageing in the future.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03181-6.

The Impact of Early Neighborhood Cohesion, and Its Mechanism, on Cognitive Function in Later Life.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the impact of early neighborhood cohesion, and its mechanism, on cognitive function in later life.MethodsIn total, 10,727 Chinese elderly, aged 60–90, forming two datasets (2014 and 2018) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were used as a sample. Childhood neighborhood cohesion was measured by the extent of how much neighbors were willing to help and how close-knit neighbors were. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) were used to assess the cognitive functions and depression of the elderly. We used a structural equation model to examine the relationship between early neighborhood cohesion and late-life cognitive function and conducted bootstrapping analyses to assess the mechanism.ResultsCognitive function was positively predicted by childhood neighborhood cohesion (β = 0.06, p < 0.001), and cognitive function of the elderly were also positively predicted through the mediating effects of childhood friendships, which included depression and social activity participation as two chain paths.ConclusionThe findings suggest that childhood neighborhood cohesion positively predicts cognitive function among elderly people through the mediating roles of childhood friendship, depression, and social activity engagement. Childhood neighborhood cohesion is correlated with better childhood friendships, then to fewer depression symptoms and greater elderly social activity participation, and finally to better cognitive functions in the elderly.

Peer relations and friendships in early childhood: The association with peer victimization

Peer relations and friendships in early childhood: The association with peer victimization

Peer relations and friendships in early childhood: The association with peer victimization.

We examined the association between involvement in peer victimization in early childhood and different measures of peer relations to examine the role of the peer group in victimization with a special focus on the role of the aggressor, defender, and target. Children (N = 200; 45.5% girls) and teachers (N = 8; 100% women) were recruited from three primary schools in the south‐east of England. Children were aged 5−7 years (M = 75.6 months, SD = 10.39). Child and teacher reports of children's friendships were obtained. Children reported on the quality of their best friendship. Children provided peer reports on involvement in peer victimization (as aggressor, defender, and target) and social status (like‐most and like‐least). Results show that aggressive children received more like‐least nominations than other children, defenders were the most liked by peers, but targets' social status was not clearly identifiable. There were no significant differences between role in peer victimization and best friend nominations—most children said that they had a best friend. Similarly, there were no differences in reciprocated friendship between different roles. However, children who had their friendship reciprocated received more defender nominations. In line with the homophily hypothesis, aggressive children tended to have aggressive friends and have friendships characterized by conflict. Defenders were friends with other defenders. Targets tended to follow the social competence model of friendships by indicating defenders as their best friends. We discuss these findings in relation to the role that group processes may play in peer victimization in early childhood.

Peer contagion dynamics in the friendships of children with ADHD.

Friendships in middle childhood carry high developmental significance. The majority of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have few friendships, unstable friendships, or poor relationship quality in any friendships they have. The current study used time-window sequential analysis to map the dynamics within the friendships of children with ADHD, specifically the peer contagion processes of dyadic mutuality and coercive joining. Participants were 164 dyads consisting of a target child with ADHD and peer problems (age 6-11years; 68% male; and 73% white) and a reciprocated friend. Dyads were observed in the lab during a cooperative task eliciting verbal negotiation processes to decide how to share a limited resource and during a fast-paced, engrossing, and competitive task. Both tasks were designed to mirror the real-world interactions of friends. Sequences of dyadic mutuality (i.e., reciprocity of positive affect and positive behaviors) and coercive joining (i.e., reciprocity of aggressive, controlling, and rule-breaking behaviors) between target children and friends were coded. Regarding dyadic mutuality, target children reciprocated their friends' positive affect in both tasks. They also reciprocated their friends' positive behaviors but only in the cooperative task. In contrast, they only reciprocated their friends' coercive joining behaviors in the competitive task. Medium to large reciprocity effects was found for 36%-53% (dyadic mutuality) and 38%-55% (coercive joining) of target children. These results extend findings of peer contagion processes to the friendships of children with ADHD and suggest that contagion may vary according to interaction context (i.e., competition vs. cooperation). Understanding the spread of peer contagion may illuminate how children with ADHD and their friends influence each other's adjustment over time and may guide friendship-focused psychosocial interventions for this population.

Children's vocabulary and friendships: A comparative study between children with and without Specific Learning Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Language skills are important in the formation and maintenance of friendships. Children with specific learning disorder (SLD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulties with their relationships and have language-related problems. This study aims to examine how expressive and receptive vocabulary may relate to friendships of children with and without SLD or ADHD. Participants were 64 children with SLD, 64 children with ADHD, and 64 typically developing (TD) children, aged 8-12 years (Mage =9.77 years, SD=1.22), attending Grades 3 to 6 in inclusive primary schools of Attica, Greece. The Greek versions of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the expressive vocabulary subscale of the WISC-III were administered along with the sociometric nominations of friends and the self-reports of best friendship duration. Results showed that children with SLD and ADHD reported best friendships of shorter duration and had significantly poorer receptive and expressive vocabulary. Children with ADHD had significantly fewer close and best friends than children with SLD, who in turn had significantly fewer close and best friends than the TD children. Children's vocabulary in all three groups was positively correlated with the duration of their best friendships and was found to moderately predict children's close friendships.

Bar Beach Police Station

Bar Beach Police Station Maxim Matusevich (bio) In August 1999, I flew to Nigeria from Chicago via St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Amsterdam. If you get a kick out of experiencing intense and disorienting contrasts, try that route. My childhood friend Alex drove me to Helsinki from St. Pete. Alex was driving like a madman—honking incessantly, tailgating, yelling at slower traffic. Just past Vyborg a traffic policeman signaled us to stop. Alex slowed the car to a crawl but didn’t quite stop it. We continued to roll along the curb, with the police officer trotting next to the driver’s side window and Alex feeding him hundred-ruble notes: one, two, three . . . Enough? No? Okay . . . four, five . . . Eventually the cop (who never stopped jogging next to the moving vehicle) gave a sign that he’d received enough and wished us a happy onward journey. “These greedy assholes,” grumbled Alex as he floored the gas pedal. Soon after, we crossed the Finnish border and the minute we did Alex miraculously turned into a sensible just-under-the-speed-limit driver. I looked at him surprised. “You see, it’s a civilized country, they got laws, and you can’t really bribe anyone,” explained my friend. We both sighed, he—with visible regret, I—with some relief. My flight was early in the morning, and we slept in Alex’s Audi hatchback parked in some field, not far from the airport. Ah, those childhood friendships, very special . . . I had a long layover in Amsterdam, which was great, because I was able to drop by another childhood friend Dina and her husband’s place on Keerkstraat and take a shower. Florian was watching the news, which happened to be from Nigeria. Nigeria was very much in the news at the time due to the recent mysterious death of the country’s dictator, General Sani Abacha. Florian looked worried and suggested that instead of flying off to Lagos I stay with them in Amsterdam. Florian and Dina are among the most hospitable people I know; they are always hosting someone, sometimes for months on end. It’s been twenty years, but they are still at it. It would’ve been nice to stay with them, but I really couldn’t. We hugged and I left for the airport to board my flight to Lagos. The first few weeks in Nigeria were surreal, exhausting, maddening, exciting. The place was outrageously corrupt, palpably dangerous, and, in the aftermath of Abacha’s demise, overflowing with wild political rumors. But I also kept meeting [End Page 169] the most wonderful and warm people, who were eager to take me under their wing and help me out in any way they could. The mixture of dysfunction, brutality, and generosity would’ve been disorienting had it not been so familiar. In many ways, it felt like my native Russia. Strangely, Nigeria proved to be easier for me to figure out than the US (still a work in progress). That year Lagos was simmering with anticipation. My colleagues at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Victoria Island warned me that another coup was inevitable. They hinted darkly that Abacha had not died a natural death. Frankly, I would’ve been surprised had it been otherwise. And then there was this whole business of “armed robbers.” Every few weeks the army and the black-uniformed police fought pitched battles against gangs of marauding vigilantes (“area boys”) on the outskirts of the city. By December, the unrest would reach a boiling point and erupt into open warfare on the mainland. The posher neighborhoods of Victoria Island and Ikoyi remained relatively safe, but I was advised to drop my habit of hitching okada rides to the campus of the University of Lagos. Instead, I now spent most of my time working at the institute library. On the weekends, my friend Isaac and I would go to one of the city beaches— Bar Beach or Lekki Beach—to hang out under a rented canopy of palm leaves, which gave a lot of shade. We bought weed from the Hausa beach traders, who, once you’ve made your first purchase, would never...

Outside of Crime but Inside the World of Crime : Youth Experiences in the Midst of the War in the Peripheries of Maceió and Belo Horizonte

This article analyzes youth experiences in the face of criminal governance efforts in the peripheries of Alagoas state capital Maceió and Minas Gerais state capital Belo Horizonte. We consider the experiences of young people who are not involved in crime to demonstrate that being “outside of crime” is not the same as being outside the “world of crime,” in view of the fact that the trajectories of their lives are affected by criminal moral and legal regimes in the territories where they live and through which they pass. We argue that the instable criminal dynamics in the peripheries of Maceió and Belo Horizonte transform gang war into a form of central relationship that intersects with kinship, love, neighborhood, childhood friendship and torcida relationships.

“You've Got a Friend in Me”—An Exploratory Study on Greek Parents’ Views on Their Children's Friendships at the Preschool Setting

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to find out if educational activities about friendship can lead to children's well-being, socialization and adaptation in the preschool setting according to parents’ perceptions. It is generally accepted that there are strong links between subjective feelings of well-being and companionship (family solidarity and friendship). We gain happiness through our relationships with other people. The relationships in the early years of human life are significant in the development of a healthy and happy human being. A qualitative study using educational activities such as pretend play, drawings and a friend's party among parents, children and teachers was applied. Fifty-two Greek pre-school kids participated in the project. After the 2-month implementation project, 25 semi-structured interviews were carried out with volunteering parents whose children participated. Each was recorded and then transcribed verbatim. Ethical considerations included confidentiality, possibility to withdraw items and approval of both parents and municipal authorities. Interviews revealed that activities dedicated to friendship at the beginning of the school year, could direct to bonding among children, shorter adaptation period and a positive parents’ attitude toward school and staff. Although parents were not actively involved in this curriculum, they were able to recognize changes on their children's well-being and adjustment. The importance of this educational program is highlighted in happy bonding among all and in involving parents in school life.