Friends Research Articles

The feeling is mutual: A randomised controlled trial testing the positive body image process of reciprocity among close friends

This study investigated the positive body image process of reciprocity and tested whether promoting positive body image can improve one’s own and the others’ body image. To this end, 124 pairs of female friends (N = 248) were randomised to the experimental or control group. Within each pair, friends were randomised to be the “letter writer” or “letter receiver.” Letter writers wrote a letter expressing appreciation for their friend’s body functionality (experimental group) or for their shared memories (control group) and read their letter to their friend. Body appreciation, functionality appreciation, and self-objectification were measured at pretest, midtest (after letter writing), and posttest (after reading). Letter writers in the experimental group reported higher body appreciation and lower self-objectification at midtest and posttest, and higher functionality appreciation at posttest, compared to the control group. Further, both groups reported higher body appreciation and functionality appreciation from midtest to posttest. Similarly, letter receivers in both groups reported higher body appreciation and functionality appreciation from midtest to posttest, and letter receivers in the control group reported decreased self-objectification. The findings suggest that promoting positive body image can improve one’s own and others’ body image, but the effects of the control activity must be considered.

“[A] soul’s release”: Confessional Modes in Elizabeth Bishop’s Emotional Correspondence

Abstract Elizabeth Bishop is a prolific letter writer, yet her letters to female friends have not received adequate attention. This article combines a textual approach to Bishop’s writing with an analysis of Bishop’s relationships to close female friends and argues that questions of emotional stability and Bishop’s poetic and epistolary practice are intricately interwoven concerning tone, form, and descriptive detail. The article focuses on selected letters by Bishop to Loren MacIver in 1949 to provide a case study on a rhetoric of addiction characteristic of Bishop’s writing to female friends about her daily struggles, anxieties, and alcoholism, while also examining her complicated, slow process of writing.

The Role of Perpetrator Attractiveness and Relationship Dynamics on Perceptions of Adolescent Sexual Grooming

ABSTRACT Sexual grooming, exacerbated by increased internet and social media usage , is a growing concern. Past researchers have found differences in perceptions of sexual grooming based on gender-pairing, perpetrator attractiveness, as well as perpetrator and victim age and gender. Our study extends this research by exploring how the attractiveness of the perpetrator and their relationship to the victim – specifically, whether they are a teacher, religious leader, or family friend – affects perceived grooming severity and recommended legal response. Contrary to expectations, relationship type, but not attractiveness, impacted perceptions. Vignettes involving family friends were perceived as less harmful compared to those involving teachers or religious leaders, highlighting nuanced responses based on the perpetrator’s role. These findings suggest that grooming perceptions are heavily influenced by the nature of the relationship rather than the attractiveness of the perpetrator, indicating a need for policies and educational initiatives that address these complexities to enhance the detection and prevention of sexual grooming.

Could be better: adolescent access to health information and care.

The purpose of this review is to examine how adolescents seek,and propose ways to helpadolescents access,health information and care despite the many barriers they face. • Adolescents encounter a broad range of barriers to access health information and care and turn to family members and friends, and search online, for health information. In addition, adolescents benefit from school-based health education programs and health centers that reduce barriers to healthcare access. • Adolescents engage in self-medication, including with cannabis use, to treat self-diagnosed illness or symptoms in a potentially harmful manner. • While many adolescents distrust health information shared on social media, recent evidence suggests adolescents are receptive to, and will change some beliefs, in response to health information posted on social media platforms.

Quantitative Measurements of the Effect of Framing and Social Closeness on Decision Making

According to prospect theory of framing, people's decisions are influenced by the potential outcomes themselves and how those outcomes are framed. In our study we investigated if social closeness would influence people in the same way and if it has an increased impact when used in combination with framing. We hypothesized that if the message is in gain-frame, then the potential donors, participants, will be more willing to donate, and if the potential donor and the recipient have a close relationship, then the donor will show higher willingness to donate. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that there will be an interaction effect between message framing and social closeness on willingness to donate. Participants (N = 1539) were randomly assigned to two different types of survey, one in a gain frame and other one in a loss frame. Social closeness was manipulated into two levels, close family member and close friend, and participants were again randomly assigned to two different types, with one asking to give the name of their close friend, and the other one asking to give the name of their close family member. Framing and social closeness both had effects on participants' decision making, however, unlike our hypothesis, did not have a combined effect. Our results imply that individuals may process information about framing and their social relations separately when deciding on donating. The cognitive process involved in this kind of decision making may require two separate processes for evaluating framing and social closeness, respectively.

The Impact of Peer Relationships, Moral Development, and Family Relationships on Collective Violence with the Mediating Role of Psychological Security

Background: Collective violence is a significant global and national social and health issue, particularly in Iran. Objectives: This study investigated the impact of peer relationships, moral development, and family relationships on collective violence, with the mediating role of psychological security, among male high school students in Mashhad. Methods: This correlational study involved a statistical population of all male high school students in Mashhad, with a sample size of 1,300 selected through cluster sampling. The tools used included multidimensional questionnaires: The Multidimensional Peer Acceptance of Collective Violence (MPACV) scale, the Moral Development Questionnaire (MDQ), Fine's Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire (FP-CRQ), the adolescent peer relations instrument (APRI), and Maslow's Psychological Security Questionnaire (MPSQ). Data were collected between November 2023 and January 2024 and analyzed using SPSS18 and LISREL8.8 software. Path analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between variables. Results: The findings revealed that moral development has a negative and significant impact on collective violence (standard coefficient -0.16, significance coefficient -2.45). Additionally, the father-child relationship (standard coefficient -0.59, significance coefficient -8.98) and the mother-child relationship (standard coefficient -0.46, significance coefficient -7.06) negatively and significantly affect collective violence. In contrast, peer relationships positively and significantly influence collective violence (standard coefficient 0.24, significance coefficient 3.70). Psychological security plays a crucial mediating role: Moral development (standard coefficient 0.41, significance coefficient 6.21), the father-child relationship (standard coefficient 0.54, significance coefficient 8.24), and the mother-child relationship (standard coefficient 0.50, significance coefficient 7.65) positively and significantly affect psychological security, which in turn reduces collective violence (standard coefficient -0.24, significance coefficient -3.70). However, peer relationships negatively impact psychological security (standard coefficient -0.53, significance coefficient -8.06), contributing to increased collective violence. Conclusion: Enhancing moral development and strengthening family relationships can significantly reduce collective violence among students by improving their psychological security.

Adult sibling relationships and media multiplexity theory

Sibling relationships are among the longest-lasting relationships in people’s lives. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), including voice calls, texting, and social media, help adult siblings keep in touch. The present study tests media multiplexity theory (MMT) in the context of adult sibling relationships. In the first study, a quota sample of American adults completed several name listing tasks to identify their most important relationship partners, ranging from 0 to 16 people, and 29% of participants listed at least one sibling. Multilevel modeling (MLM) results found that emotional closeness between siblings was positively associated with the frequency of phone calls and emails and negatively associated with the frequency of person-to-person media sharing. Showing mixed support for MMT, the number of ICTs used was negatively associated with emotional closeness, but the overall frequency of ICT use was positively associated with closeness. In the second study, a quota sample of American adults identified six of their closest friendships, and siblings constituted 2.9% of friends listed. MLM results found that the frequency of phone calls and text messages between siblings was positively associated with emotional closeness. The number of ICTs used was unrelated to emotional closeness, but the overall frequency of ICT use was positively associated with closeness, showing partial support for MMT. Both studies suggested that the frequency of communicating across ICTs was associated with greater life satisfaction, accounting for sibling closeness.

Our Health Counts Toronto: Commercial tobacco use among Indigenous peoples in Toronto.

Fueled by the commercial tobacco industry, commercial tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of premature death in Canada, with opportunities to improve health outcomes. The objective of this research was to work with Indigenous partners to generate Indigenous population prevalence estimates of commercial tobacco use in Toronto, and examine the association between smoking and sociodemographic, cultural, resiliency, and social variables. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used to generate prevalence estimates of commercial tobacco use and potentially associated sociodemographic, cultural, resiliency, and social connection variables for Indigenous adults living in Toronto. Statistical analysis examined associations between smoking and variables theorized to be predictors of tobacco use. The findings indicated that 36.3% (95%CI 28.2-44.5) of the Indigenous population in Toronto do not smoke, and 63.6% (95%CI 55.5-71.7) reported smoking. Univariate analysis of demographic, social, and cultural variables found age and employment to be statistically significantly different between adults who smoked and adults who did not smoke. Indigenous adults who were above the before-tax low-income cut-off (LICO) were more likely to smoke compared to those who were below the before-tax LICO. Indigenous adults who completed high school were more likely to smoke compared to those who did not complete high school, similarly to those who were unemployed compared to those who were employed. However, those who were not in the labour force (student or retired) were less likely to smoke compared to those who were employed. These effects remained after adjustment for age, gender, and LICO. Indigenous adults with stable housing were 20% less likely to smoke compared to those experiencing homelessness. Adults who had at least one close friend or family member to confide in were more likely to smoke compared to those who did not have any close friends or family members. Indigenous adults were more likely to smoke if they participated in Indigenous ceremony compared to those who did not participate. The Indigenous population in Toronto continues to experience smoking prevalence nearly four times greater thanthat in the general population. This highlights the need for accurate population data to inform programs and policies and address the social determinants of health.

Fighting fiscal awkwardness: How relationship strength changes individuals' communication approach when resolving interpersonal debt.

Social interactions can be uncomfortable. The current research focuses on a particularly uneasy interaction that individuals face with their friends and acquaintances: the need to request owed money back. Nine preregistered studies (N = 6,953) show that individuals' approach to resolving interpersonal debt varies based on their closeness with the requestee. Specifically, people prefer communication methods low in social richness (e.g., digital apps) when requesting money back from weak social connections such as distant acquaintances. However, they prefer communication methods high in social richness (e.g., in-person interactions) when requesting money back from strong social connections such as close friends. Process evidence reveals the psychological dynamics at play: (a) people anticipate discomfort when requesting money back from distant acquaintances in person, driving them away from in-person requests and toward digital apps, and (b) people are more averse to appearing impersonal with close friends, driving them away from digital apps and toward in-person requests. In sum, individuals adaptively approach uncomfortable financial interactions based on the relationship dynamics at hand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

How peer relationships influence adolescents' reasoning about theft-based moral transgressions.

Two studies (Ntotal = 1,153) investigated how adolescents reason about whether to report a transgression committed by a close friend versus distant classmate. In Study 1, sixth-ninth graders (Mage = 12.36 years, SDage = 1.14 years; 55% girls, 44% boys; 2% Asian, 63% Black, 13% Latino, 7% multiracial, 7% White; low-income urban schools) were less willing to report close friends than distant classmates, for both high- and low-severity thefts. In Study 2, seventh-eighth graders (Mage = 12.87 years, SDage = 0.07 years; 48% girls, 45% boys; 2% Asian, 2% Black, 3% Latino, 85% White, 2% multiracial; 29% free/reduced lunch) said they both actually would and morally should report close others less than distant others, but relationship affected "would" judgments more than "should" ones. In their explanations, participants most often appealed to practical outcomes, morality, and relationship to the transgressor-but frequency of these varied based on relationship to the transgressor and judgment type. These studies provide evidence that relational closeness influences both how adolescents reason about peers' transgressions and what they think is morally right to do-and that their reasoning involves both practical and moral considerations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Beyond Binary: Exploring the Dynamics of Bi-Curiosity Propulsion and Persistence Among Young Women

Sexual identity fails to adhere to the dichotomous models, transcending to a more fluid quality than normative compulsory heterosexuality. The present study investigates the experience of bi-curiosity, focusing on its initiation among young women residing in urban India. Bi-curiosity, a sexual orientation questioning marked by exploratory experiences, is a possible but not a necessary precursor to bisexuality. This qualitative study explores on the psychological and social factors contributing to a bi-curious orientation. It focuses on the subjective processes of development and maintenance of sexual identity questioning. Three organizing themes emerged from the Reflective Thematic Analysis: (a.) Affective Indicators, (b.) Social Experiences, and (c.) Intimacy in friendships. While sexual identity questioning was propelled by more psychological factors, like physical attraction, fantasy, experienced jealousy toward men, and comfort with the same sex, social and environmental factors contribute significantly. Individual experiences with patriarchy, social attitudes toward same-sex relationships, and their representation on media platforms often reinforce the process. Another important contributor was women’s close friendships with the same sex, which are sites for physical closeness, emotional intimacy, and personal growth, and share these characteristics with romantic relationships. These factors emerged as important reinforcers to the development and maintenance of sexual identity questioning.

ВСПОМИНАЕМ ЮРИЯ ВИЗБОРА (20.06.1934–17.09.1984) 40 ЛЕТ СПУСТЯ

On June 20, 2024, we celebrated the 90th anniversary of the birth of the beloved poet, singersongwriter, screenwriter, film actor, journalist Yuri Iosifovich Vizbor. Yu. I. Vizbor is one of the founders of the genre of author’s, tourist song, the creator of the genre of songreportage. Exhibitions, concerts, literary and musical evenings were dedicated to the memory of Yu. I. Vizbor. 40 years ago, in the last year of his life, on February 9, 1984, Yuri Vizbor came to the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences with a concert. Among the employees of our institute were close friends of Yuri Vizbor, with whom he went to the mountains, rafted down rivers in kayaks, participated in the famous Grushinsky festival of author’s songs. They provided stories-memories of different periods of Yuri Vizbor’s life. Some excerpts from their memoirs, written in a reportage form close to Vizbor, are presented in this article.

Self vs. Other in Affective Forecasting: The Role of Psychological Distance and Decision from Experience

This work tests self–other differences in the impact bias using the perspectives of psychological distance and decision from description vs. experience. Two studies compared the bias participants made for themselves and for others in a sequential gambling task. The task involved two identical gambles where the first gamble was mandatory and participants made decisions (accept or reject) for the second gamble. Planned decisions were made anticipating a gain or loss in the first gamble, and revised decisions were made following the actual experience of gain or loss. Study 1 compared decisions for self, abstract other, and a close friend. Study 2 replicated the comparison between the self and a close friend and added a measure of empathy. Both studies demonstrated an impact bias indicating that participants tended to overestimate the impact of anticipated outcomes on their tendency towards risk. Specifically, revised decisions indicated risk-aversion shifts after experienced gain and risk-seeking shifts after experienced loss. A reversed pattern emerged for close friends, indicating risky shifts after gain and cautious shifts after loss in Study 1 and for highly empathetic participants in Study 2. Assessing the utility functions that underlie participants’ decisions revealed a qualitative difference. The utility function for the self was consistent with prospect theory (with moderate intensity and diminishing sensitivity), while the utility function for others was more intense with little or no diminishing sensitivity. This research offers new insights regarding the roles of psychological distance and description vs. experience in affective forecasting and impact bias for self vs. other.

Villa Rhabani: An Unfinished Play by Thornton Wilder

Abstract Written while Thornton Wilder spent a year in Italy after graduating from Yale (1920–21), Villa Rhabani is a Henry Jamesian American abroad story, a genre to which Wilder would return in his first novel, The Cabala (1926). In this uncompleted play (only three out of a four proposed acts exist in manuscript), the American abroad is a young wealthy widow, Helen Darrall. She lives in a villa on the isle of Capri, just off the Italian mainland. She is plagued by an unspecified medical condition that will ultimately require surgery, but her family friend and physician, Dr. Kemper, further prescribes that she engage in activities that will make her happy, as he seems to think that her temperament is crucial to curing her illness. Thus when Helen’s friend visiting from the States, Ailsa Morrow, tells Dr. Kemper that local adventurers view the wealthy widow as lucrative prey, he is all for Helen enjoying herself—that is, until he meets the adventurer with whom she has fallen in love: Dario Stiavelli. Villa Rhabani has another visitor—The Baroness von Dorrn, an art appraiser hired to catalog Helen’s collection of paintings—who it is revealed has her own relationship with Dario. Dr. Kemper and Ailsa try to persuade Helen that Dario is using her for her money, but she professes to them (and in scenes with Dario) that they have a romantic relationship that is out of the ordinary, not based on the expectation of domestic life but instead two beautiful people giving themselves to the moment. Whether Dario has actually fallen in love with Helen in the process of his con is left ambiguous. While this brief synopsis may strike readers that Villa Rhabani is a conventional even clichéd melodrama, the excellence of Wilder’s dialogue raises the characters and action to a higher level that engages the reader.

Lifestyle-specific association between adversity dimensions with group-based mental health trajectories.

Childhood adversity (CA) has a substantial correlation with mental health problems. Keeping a healthy lifestyle is essential for mental health interventions; it is unclear, however, how healthy lifestyle affect the relationship between CA and persistent mental health problems. This longitudinal study (n=1112, 54.5% male) collected the data on CA (measured through three dimensions: threat, deprivation and unpredictability), mental health problems, and lifestyle factors. Group-based multi-trajectory modeling (GBMTM) was utilized to estimate trajectories for three mental health problems (i.e., depression, ADHD and overanxiety). Close friendships, regular physical activity, appropriate sleep duration, shorter screen time, and healthy eating were combined to establish a healthy lifestyle score (which ranges from 0 to 5). Higher scores indicated a healthier lifestyle. Three trajectories of mental health problems were identified: persistently low risk (24.9%), persistently medium-high risk (50.0%), and persistently high risk (25.1%). Multinomial logistic regression showed that high adversity (high-threat: β=2.01, P<0.001; high-deprivation: β=1.03, P<0.001; high-unpredictability: β=0.83, P=0.001; high-overall adversity: β=1.64, P<0.001) resulted in a persistently high risk of mental health problems; these outcomes were maintained after robust control for covariates. Further lifestyle stratification, null associations were observed among children with a healthy lifestyle, irrespective of their gender; however, after controlling for covariates, the above associations remained relatively stable only among boys. The generalizability of our findings is restricted by 1) limited racial diversity and 2) missing data. This finding underscores the benefits of promoting a healthy lifestyle in children to prevent persistent mental health problems caused by CA.

Embodying Tourette’s Syndrome in Young Adult Literature

The article foregrounds two protagonists with Tourette Syndrome (TS) from contemporary Young Adult (YA) novels written by authors with TS. Grounded in the interdisciplinary field of cultural disability studies in education (CDSE), each protagonist is analyzed for (1) physical manifestations of TS (external depiction), (2) emotional reactions about having TS (internal depiction), and (3) the response of parents and family members, friends, acquaintances, and strangers (societal depiction). Both main characters navigate a world in which they are viewed as abnormal, frequently working through internalized feelings of freakery as they struggle to become more self-accepting during their adolescent years. Such depictions “engage with disability as an isolating, hurtful, and joyful experience” (Bolt 11), allowing for the complexities, tensions, contradictions, and general messiness of embodying TS. These depictions suggest that the authors seek to provide readers with an empathetic understanding of TS, while allowing the simultaneous contemplation of ways in which the embodiment of TS informs us about our culture.

Pain and the risk of social isolation and loneliness in older Chinese adults: Do gender, age, and education make a difference?

ObjectivePain has long been known to affect the health and well-being of older adults. However, no longitudinal study has examined the associations between pain, social isolation, and loneliness among older adults in China. This study aims to explore the relationships between pain and older Chinese adults’ social isolation (family isolation and friend isolation) and loneliness, and whether these associations are moderated by gender, age, and education groups. MethodData derived from the four waves of the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS, 2014-2020). The sample included 18,692 respondents (aged 60 years and older), and mixed-effects logistic models were used. ResultsPain is not significantly associated with family isolation. In contrast, pain increases the risk of friend isolation and loneliness. Regarding the moderating roles of gender, age, and education, the results show that the relationship between pain and friend isolation is stronger among older women compared to their male counterparts. The association between pain and the risk of friend isolation is stronger among young-old adults (60-69 years) than among their older counterparts (70 years and older). Conversely, the oldest old adults (80+ years) are more likely to experience loneliness combined with pain than their younger counterparts. In addition, the negative effect of pain on the risk of loneliness is stronger among the more educated than among the less educated older adults. ConclusionsThe findings underscore the pivotal role of pain in shaping the social well-being of older adults, and highlight the need to consider sociodemographics and socioeconomic status when developing pain prevention and management strategies.

Self-Management and Relationships: Perspectives of Young Adults With Chronic Conditions and Their Peers.

Because their disease is largely managed in the private environment, people with chronic conditions perform "chronic homework." The environment with which self-management is coordinated forms a kind of "chronic care infrastructure" in dealing with the disease and, in the case of young adults with chronic conditions (YACCs), is essentially formed by peers. The article investigates how YACCs handle their illness in the context of their peer relationships and how peers see their own role in the context of the YACCs' self-management. What do chronic homework and chronic care infrastructures look like, if the chronic conditions concern young adults in comparatively unstable and non-committal relationships with their peers? Episodic interviews were conducted with 60 YACCs (with type 1 diabetes, cancer, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and rare conditions) and 30 peers. The interviews were analyzed using thematic coding. The YACCs' statements were compared to the peer perspectives on a case-by-case basis. We found that peers differ in the extent to which they seek to monitor or control the YACCs' self-management. We identified three groups of YACCs: (a) those who focus on their health needs; (b) those who seek to balance their disease management with their need for sociability and belonging; and (c) those who deprioritize their illness in their everyday life in favor of peer acceptance. The multi-perspective approach to YACCs' and their peers' experiences with self-management on the one hand and referring to a range of chronic conditions on the other allows to analyze this issue in a complex and comprehensive way.

Design and methodology of the harmonized diagnostic assessment of dementia for the longitudinal aging study in India: Wave 2.

The rising burden of dementia calls for high-quality data on cognitive decline and dementia onset. The second wave of the Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD) was designed to provide longitudinal assessments of cognition and dementia in India. All Wave 1 participants were recruited for a follow-up interview, and a refresher sample was drawn from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India, a nationally representative cohort of Indians aged 45 and older. Respondents underwent a battery of cognitive tests, geriatric assessments, and venous blood collection. Their health and cognitive status were also assessed through an interview with a close family member or friend. Clinical consensus diagnosis was made based on the Clinical Dementia Rating®, and comprehensive data on risk factors of dementia were collected, including neurodegenerative biomarkers, sensory function, and environmental exposures. A total of 4635 participants were recruited between 2022 and 2024 from 22 states and union territories of India, accounting for 97.9% of the population in India. The response rate was 84.0%, and 71.5% of the participants provided venous blood specimen. LASI-DAD provides rich new data to study cognition, dementia, and their risk factors longitudinally in a nationally representative sample of older adults in India. Longitudinal cognitive data, together with longitudinally assessed biomarker data and novel data on sensory function and environmental exposures, provide a unique opportunity to establish associations between risk factors and biologically defined cognitive aging phenotypes.

Close female friendships and knowledge of recommended abortion methods in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo among a representative sample of reproductive-aged women.

There is a high incidence of unsafe abortion among women in Nigeria and the DRC. Low knowledge of recommended abortion methods [i.e., surgical and medication abortion (MA) pills] is a barrier for women accessing safe abortions. Women often rely on friends for information about abortion methods. Understanding characteristics of women with knowledge of recommended abortion methods, and MA specifically, and how it is influenced by close female friendships may help identify women most at risk of relying on unsafe abortion. We used survey data from Performance Monitoring for Action from 11,106 women of reproductive age in Nigeria (April-May 2018) and 3,697 women in Kinshasa and Kongo Central, DRC, (December 2021-April 2022) to produce representative estimates of knowledge of abortion methods at the national and province levels, respectively. We performed bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to determine which characteristics were independently associated with knowing a recommended abortion method, with knowing of MA pills specifically, and to assess our hypothesis that having at least one female confidante would increase one's odds of knowing about these methods. A minority (26.9%) of women in Nigeria and the majority in Kinshasa (76.7%) and Kongo Central (58.1%) reported having knowledge of at least one recommended abortion method, while knowledge of MA pills was low in all sites. Having at least one close female confidante was associated with increased odds of knowing a recommend abortion method in Nigeria (aOR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.25-1.79) and in Kongo Central (aOR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.40-5.40), and with increased odds of knowing about MA specifically in Kinshasa (aOR = 1.44, 95% CI 1.08-1.93) and Kongo Central (aOR = 3.61, 95% CI 1.28-10.22), but not Nigeria. In legally restrictive contexts where knowledge of recommended abortion methods (particularly medication abortion) is low, having close female friends is related to increased knowledge of recommended abortion methods.