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As adolescent mental health problems are currently frequent, we urgently need to explore the factors affecting adolescent mental health. Basic psychological needs, as an important variable affecting adolescent mental health, have been widely researched. As such, in this study, 769 middle school students (369 male students, mean age 14.37) were investigated using structural equation modeling to explore the relationship between friendship quality, self-presentation on social networking sites, social comparison, and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The results showed that (1) friendship quality significantly positively predicted basic psychological need satisfaction, (2) friendship quality predicted basic psychological need satisfaction through the independent mediating effects of authentic self-presentation on social networking sites and social comparison, (3) friendship quality predicted basic psychological need satisfaction through the chain-mediating effect of authentic self-presentation on social networking sites and social comparison, and (4) there were grade differences between authentic self-presentation on social networking sites and social comparison. These results thus provide reference for understanding the effect of adolescent social networking behaviors on the development of positive interpersonal relationships and positive psychological qualities of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to verify whether the links between features of best-friendship quality (intimacy, reliable alliance, conflict) and well-being indicators (self-esteem, loneliness) change from early emerging adulthood to early established adulthood. The moderating effect of gender and investment in romantic life on these links was examined as well. For the purpose, 346 individuals (58% women) completed questionnaires at age 20 and again at age 30. Multilevel analysis were performed for each well-being indicators separately. The results showed reliable alliance to be associated with both well-being indicators, and intimacy to be associated with loneliness. Age moderated the effect of intimacy on self-esteem, whereas investment in romantic life moderated the effect of reliable alliance. Finally, triple interactions emerged between conflict, gender and age in their associations with self-esteem and loneliness, underscoring particularities for men. These results underscore the most influential features of friendship quality for well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression and anxiety significantly impact adolescent well-being. Previous research shows that friendship can protect against these mental health issues. However, it is not entirely clear how different dimensions of friendship relate to diverse symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescents. In the present study, we used network analysis to explore the relationships between friendship quality and depression-anxiety symptoms. A total of 1528 adolescents participated in the study (46.80% boys, Mage = 15.64, SD = 1.60). The results found that anhedonia and regret were central in the depression and anxiety networks. The symptoms linking depression and anxiety are feelings of ineffectiveness in depression (a negative self-evaluation of one's ability) and low self-confidence in anxiety. Critically, jitteriness, conflicts and betrayals, interpersonal problems (i.e., difficulty in interaction with people), and intimate exchanges emerged as key nodes linking friendship quality with the network of depression-anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that strengthening the friendship quality, especially in managing conflict and increasing intimacy, may effectively prevent and intervene against anxiety and depression in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents has become a serious public health problem in many countries. Based on the integrated theoretical model of NSSI and the framework of developmental psychopathology, we tested the mediating mechanisms and the moderator of the association between interparental conflict and NSSI by constructing a moderated serial mediation model. 589 adolescents (50.1% girls; ages 12–19 years) were recruited from a secondary school in China. Participants anonymously completed questionnaires regarding interparental conflict, harsh parenting, identity confusion, friendship quality, and NSSI. Regression analysis showed that interparental conflict was positively associated with adolescent NSSI, and this association was mediated by harsh parenting and identity confusion independently. Interparental conflict also indirectly predicted NSSI through the serial mediation effect of harsh parenting and identity confusion. Friendship quality weakened the relationship between identity confusion and NSSI. The findings are consistent with the framework of developmental psychopathology, and highlight the important role of friendship quality in the prevention and intervention of NSSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Covid-19 has resulted in changes to college students' daily lives due to recommendations to socially distance. Social distance is likely to affect youths' peer relationships at a time when these relationships remain important for development. Participants and Methods: The current study utilized survey data to examine perceived changes in peer relationships and the association with behavioral health among 275 college students (Mage = 18.69, SD =.72) during the fall/spring of 2020–2021. Results: Quantitative results indicated that participants reported significant perceived decreases in peer support but did not report significantly worse quality of closest friendships. Qualitative responses from an open-ended survey question supported these quantitative results suggesting that although many participants perceived decreases in quality of relationships, there was also the perception that friendships became closer. Participants who perceived decreased peer relationship support and quality were more likely to report depressive symptoms and loneliness when compared to participants who perceived no changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAdolescents’ bystander defending behavior in cyberbullying contributes to reducing the harm done to cyberbullying victims. This study examined the relationships and underlying mechanisms of parental warmth, friendship quality, empathy and bystander defending behavior in cyberbullying among 848 Chinese adolescents (43.986% girls, mean age = 14.960 years old [SD = 1.398]). The results showed that parental warmth, friendship quality and empathy were all positively correlated with bystander defending behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents. Both friendship quality and empathy played a mediating role between parental warmth and bystander defending behavior in cyberbullying, indicating that parental warmth was associated with increased bystander defending behavior through higher levels of friendship quality and empathy, respectively. Friendship quality and empathy also played a chain mediating role between these two, indicating that parental warmth was linked to increased bystander defending behavior by first associating with higher level of friendship quality and subsequently with greater empathy. These results suggest that high degrees of parental warmth, friendship quality and empathy may all increase the likelihood of bystander defending behavior in cyberbullying among adolescents. This study provides practical implications for improving adolescent bystander defending behavior in cyberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For children, friends play an important role in their socio-emotional development and psychological well-being. Friendships may hold additional value for students who come from minoritized backgrounds. This study aimed to examine representations and themes of friendship in diverse Greek classrooms in which Roma and non-Roma elementary-age students interact daily as an attempt to examine how dyadic relationships may help minoritized students better cope and overcome barriers and adversity. For this qualitative survey, Thematic Analysis was used to analyse the answers of a sample of 57 upper elementary students, 25 Roma, and 32 non-Roma counterparts, that came from similar low socioeconomic status backgrounds, had a permanent residence, systematically attended school, and according to their school grades and teacher, information demonstrated low language achievement. Identified themes revealed that students across groups reported similar information. Children highlighted the perceived similarity between their closest friend and themselves in terms of physical and personality characteristics, emphasised their shared lived experiences expanding through space and time while reflecting the stability and richness, and brought forth aspects of high-quality friendships, such as intimacy and support. The significance and implications for researchers and practitioners of this study are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friendships are beneficial to a person's growth and well‐being. People in close relationships may experience four types of self‐change: self‐expansion, self‐pruning, self‐contraction, and self‐adulteration. The current cross‐sectional research sought to investigate whether these relational self‐change processes explain the links between friendship quality and well‐being in same‐sex best friendships. Study 1A (N = 187) adapted the Turkish Relational Self‐Change Scale to the friendship context and confirmed its psychometric adequacy in addressing friendship‐based self‐changes in Türkiye. Study 1B (N = 306) examined the links between different friendship functions and relational self‐changes, as well as whether relational self‐changes explain the link between friendship quality and ontological well‐being. Among the specific friendship functions, stimulating companionship and self‐validation were related to self‐expansion and self‐pruning, whereas reliable alliance was related to self‐contraction and self‐adulteration. Self‐adulteration also indirectly explained the relationship between friendship quality and ontological well‐being. Study 2 (N = 204) revealed that only self‐pruning explained the link between perceived friend responsiveness and overall well‐being. The contributions of friendships to self‐change and personal well‐being were discussed in light of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Developmental researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the role of social media in adolescents’ experiences with their peers; however, to date, few studies have investigated the association between youngsters’ interactions with friends online and the perceived quality of their friendship relationships. Methods: Thus, the current study aims to test the associations between three social media features, as perceived by adolescents, (i.e., availability, quantifiability, visualness) and the quality of adolescents’ friendships (in terms of perceived validation, intimacy, companionship), considering participants’ frequency of active social media use (i.e., self-oriented and other-oriented social media use), and the role of perceived group norms about social media use. Moreover, we tested potential differences across gender groups. Participants were 751 adolescents (Mage = 16.2, SD = 1.5). Results: A SEM analysis showed that, among the perceived social media features, availability was positively associated with perceived friendship quality–both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, friends who participated more in other-oriented social media use reported being more satisfied with their friendship relationships and the results showed that peer influence processes were also active on social media. Discussion: Taken together, these results emphasize the study of social media as a social context for a better understanding of contemporary peer experiences during adolescence. Specifically, novel behaviors (e.g., liking or commenting on posts or content of peers), which characterize interactions between friends, may support relational functioning and well-being purposes in both the offline and online context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a robust association between friendship quality and victimization in adolescence; yet, it remains unclear whether friendship quality may be linked causally with different forms of victimization in middle adolescence. To fill this gap, this study examines the bidirectional associations of friendship quality and relational/verbal victimization with data collected at two time points, 6 months apart, in a sample of 671 middle Chinese adolescents (M age = 15.63, SD age = 0.73, 49% males). Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed a two-way relationship between friendship quality and victimization, which existed in both verbal and relational victimization. Multi-group panel analyses observed that the cross-lagged associations between friendship quality and relational/verbal victimization were only found for males, but not for females. This result suggests that adolescent males' victimization is both affected by and a predictor of friendship quality, with implications for youth prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the negative consequences of alexithymia have been widely studied, few researches have delved into its influencing factors. The current study aimed to investigate how family functioning affects alexithymia among adolescents and the mediating roles of friendship quality and school connectedness in this relationship. A total of 585 participants aged 15 to 19 (80.8% of the 724 participants surveyed) were selected and measured using the following scales: Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Family Assessment Device, Friendship Quality Questionnaire, and School Connectedness Scale. Correlation analysis showed that alexithymia was negatively associated with friendship quality and school connectedness, but positively correlated with family dysfunction. Mediation analysis suggested that family dysfunction was a risk factor for alexithymia, and school connectedness mediated the relationship between family functioning and alexithymia. Moreover, friendship quality and school connectedness sequentially mediated the relationship between family functioning and alexithymia. These findings provide empirical evidence regarding the factors contributing to alexithymia in adolescents, with a particular focus on identifying risk and protective factors within family and school settings. This implies a potential perspective for interventions aimed at preventing the onset of alexithymia in individuals through their developmental stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Co‐rumination is an interpersonal emotion regulation strategy in which negative feelings and problems are discussed perseveratively with another person. Although co‐rumination is salient in adolescence, research to date has focused on co‐rumination occurring in person and has not kept pace with the surge in digital communication that begins in adolescence. This study examined the degree, associations among, and consequences (i.e., depressive symptoms, and friendship quality) of adolescents' co‐rumination via in‐person, text, social media, and phone modalities. Methods: Adolescents (n = 109; 51 girls, 57 boys, 1 nonbinary; Mage = 12.83 years) residing in Canada, completed self‐report questionnaires on co‐rumination, depressive symptoms, and friendship quality for up to 2 years. Results: Adolescents engaged in co‐rumination across all modalities, particularly in‐person. Findings indicated a negative association between in‐person co‐rumination at baseline and in‐person co‐rumination over time. Whereas less text co‐rumination was associated with increased depressive symptoms over time, greater phone co‐rumination was associated with increased depressive symptoms over time. Although greater in‐person co‐rumination was positively associated with friendship quality concurrently, it was negatively associated with friendship quality prospectively. Conclusions: Taken together, co‐rumination outcomes may vary depending on communication modality. Implications for adolescents' mental and social wellbeing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight percent of adolescent girls were found to be engaged in problematic social media use. Problematic social media use is associated with serious physical and mental consequences. This study aimed to explore the effects of thin-ideal internalization on problematic social media use and the role of selfie-related behaviors and friendship quality. We recruited 903 Chinese adolescent girls with an average age of 13.73 years (ranging from 11 to 16 years) recruited to complete the self-report questionnaire, which contained four measures. Results revealed a moderated mediation model. Girls who had internalized thin-ideal images were more vulnerable to social media's addictive properties, constantly engaged in selfie-related behaviors, and developed subsequent problematic social media use. However, for adolescent girls, high friendship quality buffered against developing problematic social media use, despite selfie-related behaviors. The study provides suggestions to reduce problematic social media use among adolescents to promote their physical and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jordanian Educational Journal is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Gifted students differ from their peers in cognitive, social and emotional development. This study aims to compare gifted and typically developing students in terms of friendship quality and empathy level and examine the gender differences in a sample of Turkish students. In addition, the predictive role of empathy in friendship quality among gifted and typically developing students was investigated. The sample consisted of 97 gifted and 135 typically developing primary and secondary school students. Data were analysed by two‐way analysis of variance and regression analysis. Results revealed that friendship quality was predicted by cognitive empathy in gifted and typically developing students. In addition, some gender differences emerged. The results are discussed in terms of the skills that need to be supported with preventive psychological counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines perceptions of relationship quality as antecedents of best friendship dissolution. Participants included 230 students in Florida (United States; 54.3% girls; ages = 8–13; 39.6% European American, 27.0% Hispanic American, 21.7% African American, and 2.6% Asian American) and 496 students in Lithuania (49.0% girls; ages = 8–14; 358 boys; nearly all ethnic Lithuanian) attending public schools in Florida (United States) and Lithuania. Reciprocated best friends were identified from friend nominations midway through the school year, at which time each partner described perceptions of social support and negativity in the relationship. Of the 363 reciprocated friend dyads, 26.2% (n = 95) were no longer friends 1–3 months later. Dyadic analyses were conducted with initial perceived friend negativity and initial perceived friend social support as predictors of subsequent friendship stability. When considered separately, perceived social support predicted self- and partner reports of friendship stability and perceived negativity predicted self- (but not partner) reports of friendship stability. In each case, lower initial social support and higher initial negativity predicted a greater incidence of friendship dissolution. When considered together, initial perceptions of social support predicted self- and partner reports of friendship dissolution, but perceptions of negativity predicted neither. The findings are consistent with those from married couples, which indicate that the absence of positive interactions is a stronger predictor of relationship instability than the presence of negative interactions. Public Significance Statement: The detrimental consequences of friend loss are well documented, but the characteristics that forecast it are not clear. Results from this study indicate that the absence of social support is more of a threat to friendship continuity than the presence of negativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friendship has been increasingly acknowledged as a beneficial factor in adolescent psychological adjustment. However, there remains a lack of understanding of the circumstances in which peer influence occurs and how it manifests. To address this gap, this study drew on the developmental situation theory and self-determination theory to investigate the moderating and mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNS) in the relationship between friendship quality (FQ) and positive emotional adjustment (PEA) among adolescents in boarding schools. A total of 1073 high school students (Mage = 16.23 ± 1.31 years, 58.2% female) from Northwest China participated in the survey. Research hypotheses were tested using bootstrap analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed that FQ had a significant positive predictive effect on three variables of PEA (i.e., positive emotion, life satisfaction, and self-esteem) and this effect was robust in girls. The moderating effect indicated that BPNS fostered the positive associations between FQ and positive emotion. The mediating effect indicated that BPNS also played a mediating role between FQ and PEA variables. These findings shed light on the potential psychological benefits of high-quality friendship for adolescents and on the mechanism through which they occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the psychological mechanism that underlies the relationship between parents' response style and children's subjective well-being and its boundary conditions, the mediating role of the parent–child relationship, and the moderating role of friendship quality. Using the Parents' Responses to Children's Performance Scale, the Buchanan Scale of Closeness to Parents, the Friendship Quality Questionnaire, and the Campbell Index of Well-being, our study investigated 686 pupils who were randomly selected from three public schools in central China. Employing Mplus 8.3 for pathway analysis, we found the following results: Failure-oriented responses negatively predict children's subjective well-being (β = −0.16, p < 0.001), while success-oriented responses positively predict children's subjective well-being (β = 0.13, p < 0.01). Both failure-oriented (ab = 0.18, SE = 0.03, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.25]) and success-oriented responses (ab = −0.10, SE = 0.02, 95% CI = [−0.14, −0.06]) predict children's subjective well-being through the mediating effect of the parent–child relationship. Friendship quality has a moderating effect on the mediating path (β = −0.09, p < 0.05), such that when friendship quality is lower, the parent–child relationship has a higher mediating effect between the parents' responses and children's subjective well-being. This study offers empirical evidence that parents' responses to children's performance significantly contribute to children's subjective well-being. Moreover, it offers actionable insights for enhancing children's subjective well-being. The enhancement could be achieved by fostering positive parent–child relationships and enhancing the quality of children's friendships, thereby positively impacting their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rural left‐behind adolescents are more vulnerable to Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms due to the lack of family support and parental supervision. This study was the first to investigate the longitudinal relationships between Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms and to examine the mediating roles of resilience and friendship quality in rural left‐behind adolescents. Methods: Included in this study, which was from a longitudinal study conducted five times over 2 years, were 1001 rural left‐behind adolescents. The internationally used scales for depressive and anxious symptoms, Internet addiction, resilience and friendship quality were administered. A structural equation model was used for analysis. Results: The prevalence of Internet addiction, depressive and anxious symptoms among rural left‐behind adolescents were 17.7%, 35.8% and 27.6%, respectively. Internet addiction predicted the later depressive and anxious symptoms (β = 0.200, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.116–0.274 and β = 0.263, 95% CI: 0.188–0.330). Resilience acted as an independent mediator in the relationships between Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms (β = 0.037 and 0.034, P < 0.01). Resilience and friendship quality played a chain‐mediating role on the longitudinal relationships between Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms (β = 0.011 and 0.010, P < 0.001). The mediating effects accounted for 24.0% and 16.7% of the total effects, respectively. Conclusion: Resilience and friendship quality play an independent or chain‐mediating role in longitudinal relationships between Internet addiction and depressive and anxious symptoms. The findings inform targeted intervention strategies to improve the mental health of left‐behind adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Jordanian Educational Journal is the property of Association of Arab Universities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Existing knowledge indicates that responsive parenting significantly influences the quality of friendships among adolescents. However, previous research has not fully elucidated the dynamics within the relationship between responsive parenting and friendship quality. This study seeks to investigate the role of interpersonal communication skills as a mediator in relationships between responsive parenting and friendship quality. It involved 150 respondents aged 12-20 years (Mage = 16.87; SD = 2.51), comprising 50 early adolescents, 50 middle adolescents, and 50 late adolescents. Measurement of the three variables utilized scales: the Parental Responsiveness Scale subscale, the Interpersonal Communication Scale, and the McGill Friendship Questionnaires-Friend's Functions. Hypothesis testing using mediation analysis reveals that interpersonal communication skills mediate the relationship between father/mother's responsive parenting and friendship quality. These findings suggest that positive interactions between parents and adolescents through responsive parenting serve as models for adolescents in their peer relationships by enhancing interpersonal communication skills. The limitations and directions for further research are discussed.

IntroductionDevelopmental researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the role of social media in adolescents’ experiences with their peers; however, to date, few studies have investigated the association between youngsters’ interactions with friends online and the perceived quality of their friendship relationships.MethodsThus, the current study aims to test the associations between three social media features, as perceived by adolescents, (i.e., availability, quantifiability, visualness) and the quality of adolescents’ friendships (in terms of perceived validation, intimacy, companionship), considering participants’ frequency of active social media use (i.e., self-oriented and other-oriented social media use), and the role of perceived group norms about social media use. Moreover, we tested potential differences across gender groups. Participants were 751 adolescents (Mage = 16.2, SD = 1.5).ResultsA SEM analysis showed that, among the perceived social media features, availability was positively associated with perceived friendship quality–both directly and indirectly. Furthermore, friends who participated more in other-oriented social media use reported being more satisfied with their friendship relationships and the results showed that peer influence processes were also active on social media.DiscussionTaken together, these results emphasize the study of social media as a social context for a better understanding of contemporary peer experiences during adolescence. Specifically, novel behaviors (e.g., liking or commenting on posts or content of peers), which characterize interactions between friends, may support relational functioning and well-being purposes in both the offline and online context.

A number of studies have examined the association between parent‒child conflict and the friendship quality of students, while few studies have investigated whether factors such as psychological resilience can protect against these conditions among this population. A total of 662 Chinese adolescents completed a survey assessing parent‒child conflict, friendship quality and resilience based on the conflict dimension of the Family Environment Scale, the Friendship Quality Questionnaire, and the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. The results showed that the total friendship quality score of adolescents was above average and that girls had higher friendship quality than boys. The moderately above average resilience of Chinese adolescents was also shown in the study, and there were no significant differences in terms of gender. There was a negative association between parent‒child conflict and adolescents' friendship quality. Individuals' resilience exhibited a strong association with their friendship quality. In addition, resilience played a fully mediating role between parent‒child conflict and friendship quality. These results suggest that interventions intended to bolster psychological resilience may help reduce the severity of parent‒child conflict among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friends play a vital role in a youth's life, as they spend most of the time with their friends, sharing intimate information about life. Sometimes, solitude brings out self-exploration, which is very helpful for an individual to know themselves well, which ultimately helps them build meaningful friendships with others. It is also essential that they remain wise enough to manage the conflict among friends and make logical decisions regarding their careers and other aspects of life. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to explore the impact of wisdom on the preference for solitude and friendship qualities of today's youth. A sample of 250 young adults, both male and female, belonging to urban, semi-urban, and rural areas and also belonging to all socio-economic backgrounds, was drawn through convenient sampling. Three instruments were used to collect data, including the Practice of Wisdom Assessment Scale (PWAS) by Singh and Mehrotra; the Preference for Solitude Scale by Burger (1995); and the Friendship Quality Scale (FQUA), developed by Thien, Razak, and Jamil (2001). Regression analysis and ANOVA were computed to analyse the quantitative data, which indicates that wisdom significantly predicted friendship quality and that there is a significant difference in wisdom and friendship quality among young adults belonging to urban, semi-urban, and rural areas. Qualitative data analysis further elaborates the conceptual meaning of wisdom and friendship quality, contributing to a better understanding of the association between wisdom and friendship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friendships are a primary source of social support during young adulthood; however, little is known about the factors associated with young adults feeling greater support during interactions with friends. We examined how micro-level verbal responses and macro-level judgments of friendship quality were associated with perceptions of support following an interaction between friends. Same-gender friend dyads (N = 132; 66.2% female; 18–24 years, M age = 19.63) took turns speaking about a problem, then participants rated their perceptions of support given and received following the task. We coded each participant's verbal responses while in the listening role. Actor Partner Interdependence Models (APIMs) revealed significant partner effects for negative engagement responses, such that greater negative engagement responses were linked with the partner perceiving poorer support both given and received. Models revealed significant actor effects for supportive responses, such that greater supportive responses predicted the actor perceiving better support both given and received. Additionally, models revealed significant actor effects of friendship quality predicting actors' perceiving better support both given and received. Finally, exploratory models revealed minimal interactions between a few types of verbal responses and positive friendship quality. Taken together, results suggest that (a) negative verbal responding styles may be more meaningfully associated with partners' perceptions of support in the moment than are supportive behaviours, whereas (b) supportive verbal responding styles may be more meaningfully associated with actors' perceptions of support in the moment, and (c) actors' judgments of friendship quality are strongly associated with their overall perceptions of support, and a critical factor to consider in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a convenience sample of adolescents (N = 1609; 63.5% female; Mage = 16.54), this study explored whether EI predicted adolescent life satisfaction and whether friendship quality and optimism mediated this relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic. The structural equation modeling revealed that EI predicted adolescent life satisfaction, friendship quality, and optimism, friendship quality partially mediated the relationship between EI and life satisfaction, and optimism partially mediated the relationship between EI and friendship quality. These findings prove that psychological or educative approaches focused on EI could increase life satisfaction in adolescents during difficult times such as COVID-19, but EI may be linked with life satisfaction via friendship quality only. Training in optimism approaches and friendship quality enhancement programs could also effectively promote life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High-quality friendships have a positive impact on the mental health of young people with childhood adversity (CA). Social stress buffering, the phenomenon of a social partner attenuating acute stress responses, is a potential yet unexplored mechanism that may underlie this relationship. Objective: This study examined whether perceived friendship quality was related to better mental health and lower neural stress response in young people with CA. Method: A total of N = 102 young people (aged 16–26) with low to moderate CA were included in the study. We first investigated associations between friendship quality, mental health, and CA. In a representative subset (n = 62), we assessed neural stress responses using the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. In our sample, CA was best described along two dimensions resembling threat or deprivation like experiences. Hence, we investigated both cumulative and dimensional effects of CA. Results: We found no support for social thinning after CA, meaning that the severity of CA (cumulative or dimensional) did not differentially impact friendship quality. High-quality friendships, on the other hand, were strongly associated with better mental health. Furthermore, acute stress increased state anxiety and enhanced neural activity in five frontolimbic brain regions, including the left hippocampus. We found weak support that threat experiences interacted with friendship quality to predict left hippocampal reactivity to stress. However, this effect did not survive multiple comparison correction. Conclusion: The absence of social thinning in our sample may suggest that the risk of developing impoverished social networks is low for rather well-functioning young people with low to moderate CA. Regardless, our findings align with prior research, consistently showing a strong association between high-quality friendships and better mental health in young people with CA. Future research is needed to examine whether friendships aid neural stress responses in young people with childhood threat experiences. Young people with childhood adversity underwent acute stress induction, eliciting frontolimbic reactivity. High-quality friendships were strongly associated with better mental health. Weak support for friendship stress buffering did not survive multiple comparison correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Internalizing and externalizing problems predict poor academic and social outcomes. However, ADHD co-occurs with internalizing and externalizing problems and is itself a risk factor, thus preventing precise inferences. This study evaluated childhood anxiety, depression, and aggression as predictors of change in adolescent academic and social outcomes, including moderation by childhood ADHD. Methods: 182 ethnically-diverse 5- to 11-year-old youth with (54.7%) and without (45.3%) ADHD completed a separate baseline and 6- to 7-year prospective follow-up assessment, consisting of parallel measures across youth psychopathology, academic functioning (i.e., academic achievement, school competence), and friendship quality domains. Results: Whereas childhood ADHD inversely predicted academic competence, depression and aggression uniquely predicted worsening friendship quality. Interestingly, anxiety was unrelated to change in academic and friendship outcomes; similarly, neither ADHD, depression, nor aggression predicted change in objectively-measured academic achievement from a standardized assessment. Conclusion: Implications for intervention and prevention are considered, including school-based approaches, within a developmental psychopathology framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the relationship between parenting styles and the social adjustment of university students as well as the mediating effects of attachment avoidance and friendship quality. We further examined the moderating role of gender. This study used convenience sampling to recruit 501 Chinese university students to complete the Chinese version of the Negative Parenting subscale of EMBU, Attachment Avoidance Scale, Friendship Quality Questionnaire, and Social Adjustment Scale. SPSS 24.0 and the Process 3.5 macro program were used to carry out descriptive statistical and correlation analyses and mediating effect and moderated chain-mediating effect tests on the data. The analyses revealed that negative parenting styles significantly negatively predicted social adjustment in university students. Attachment avoidance mediated the relationship between negative parenting styles and social adjustment in university students, and friendship quality mediated the relationship between negative parenting styles and social adjustment in university students. Attachment avoidance and friendship quality played a chain-mediating role in the relationship between negative parenting styles and university students' social adjustment. Gender moderated the effect of negative parenting style on friendship quality among university students. These results show how negative parenting styles affect college students' social adjustment and its underlying mechanisms in the context of China's collectivist culture and high power distance and further reveal the gender differences involved, providing insights to better understand the factors influencing college students' social adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research findings demonstrate that both savoring ability and the presence of high-quality friendships play a significant role in enhancing one's overall sense of wellbeing. However, these associations have not been thoroughly investigated within a diverse range of adults across their lifespans, nor have they been explored in the specific cultural context of Greece. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to delve into the relationships between close friendship quality, the utilization of savoring techniques, and wellbeing within the Greek cultural framework. The study involved 771 adults from Greece with an average age of 38.35 years, who completed the McGill Friendship Functions Questionnaire, the PERMA Profiler, and the Abridged Ways of Savoring Checklist. Results revealed that there exists a positive correlation between friendship quality and savoring strategies with overall wellbeing. Moreover, the study identified a significant association wherein a greater employment of savoring strategies was linked to higher levels of friendship quality. While this study contributes valuable insights, it also has limitations that warrant acknowledgment. Furthermore, suggestions for potential future research directions are proposed, and the implications of these findings are discussed in relation to interventions aimed at enhancing both friendships and the practice of savoring across various contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents' friendship quality and positivity have been shown to be related to their prosocial behavior. However, little is known about how friendship quality is associated longitudinally with positivity and prosocial behavior. To address this gap, this study examined longitudinal bidirectional relations among friendship quality, positivity, and prosocial behavior in early adolescents. A sample of 3944 Chinese early adolescents (Mage = 10.44 years; 54.4% male) completed multiple measurements of relevant constructs on four occasions at six-month intervals. After controlling for sex and family socioeconomic status (SES), cross-lagged path analyses revealed bidirectional relations between positive friendship quality and prosocial behavior; positivity and prosocial behavior; and positive friendship quality and positivity. Negative friendship quality predicted subsequent prosocial behavior and positivity more than the reverse relations. Furthermore, tests of indirect effects indicated that positive friendship quality indirectly predicted prosocial behavior via positivity and vice versa; negative friendship quality indirectly predicted prosocial behavior via friendship quality and vice versa. The findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of how friendship quality and positivity temporally interrelate with prosocial behavior in early adolescents from a positive youth development perspective, and they yield significant implications for prosocial behavior interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade has seen a growing interest in understanding what role social media play in adolescent experiences, including friendship relationships. However, little is known about the associations of specific characteristics of social media and individual factors with friendship quality. This study was designed in line with the tenets of the so-called Transformation Framework (Nesi et al., 2018) with the aim of testing whether and how social media features, online social support, and online expressions of emotions play a role in adolescents' friendship quality. Participants were 744 Italian adolescents (64.5% females) with an average age of 15.9 years (SD = 1.31). First, a path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model on the whole sample of adolescents. Finally, two multi-group analyses (MGA) were conducted to analyze differences across gender groups (female vs. male) and group of social media users (problematic vs. non-problematic). Path analysis yielded a complex pattern of associations, in which different perceived social media features were significantly associated with different dimensions of friendship quality, both directly and indirectly via perceived online social support and the tendency to express e-motions on social media. Moreover, MGAs confirmed significant differences among both genders and social media users. The findings provide support for the importance of considering social media as a social context with its own characteristics for the study of adolescents' peer experiences, by taking into consideration that the hypothesized role of social media in supporting friendship relations during adolescence may depend on individual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have shown that childhood emotional neglect experiences are an important risk factor for later physical and mental health problems. However, previous studies have not fully clarified the underlying mechanisms between childhood emotional neglect and depression, especially for adolescents in vocational schools. In the present study, we examined the mediating role of self-compassion in the association between childhood emotional neglect and depression and the moderating role of friendship quality in the direct and indirect relations involved. The participants were 848 vocational school adolescents, aged 14 to 20, who completed the questionnaires about childhood emotional neglect, self-compassion, depression, and friendship quality. The results showed that self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and adolescent depression. Importantly, friendship quality moderated the direct link between childhood emotional neglect and depression, and the indirect link between childhood emotional neglect and self-compassion, but not the indirect link between self-compassion and depression. Especially, adolescents in vocational school with high friendship quality displayed higher levels of self-compassion and lower levels of depression after experiencing childhood emotional neglect than those with low friendship quality. These findings highlight the mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and depression in vocational school adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forming quality interfaith friendships is not impossible. Additionally, our society has become accustomed to differences. However, a clear explanation for the difficulty of forming such friendships has yet to be established. This study aimed to investigate the influence of tolerance and stigma consciousness on the quality of interfaith friendships. The research involved 400 respondents aged 18-25, comprising 200 Muslim respondents with at least one non-Muslim friend and 200 non-Muslim respondents with at least one Muslim friend. The quality of friendship was evaluated using the McGill Friendship Questionnaire (MFQ), while tolerance and stigma consciousness were measured using the Tolerance Index Questionnaire (TI) and Stigma Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ), respectively. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to test the research hypothesis. The study results indicate that tolerance and stigma consciousness are significant factors in determining the quality of interfaith friendships. Individuals with tolerance and low levels of stigma consciousness are more likely to form quality interfaith friendships.

While family and friendship relationship qualities are associated with life satisfaction, evidence on how these types of relationships interact to contribute to older adults’ life satisfaction is sparse. This study examined how family and friendship relationship qualities may be supportive of (compensatory) or conflict with (competing) older adults’ life satisfaction. We adopted a cross-sectional design to analyze data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 1178, females = 54.8%, mean age = 67.9 years, SD = 9.3 years) to examine compensatory (as in social support) and competing (as in social strain) qualities of family and friendship social relationships and their association with life satisfaction in older adults. For greater explanatory power, we also controlled for life satisfaction by sociodemographic variables of age, gender, education, self-reported general health, physical health and activity, depression, and personality traits. Our findings indicate that the spouse/partner support relationship contributes to older adults’ life satisfaction overall and is associated with greater social support and less social strain. Friendship support is associated with improved life satisfaction for older adults reporting spouse/partner strain. Relationship support for the life satisfaction of older adults should consider their need for social support from their social network while minimizing the risk of social strain from adversarial relationships in life situations.

ABSTRACTBackground: High-quality friendships have a positive impact on the mental health of young people with childhood adversity (CA). Social stress buffering, the phenomenon of a social partner attenuating acute stress responses, is a potential yet unexplored mechanism that may underlie this relationship.Objective: This study examined whether perceived friendship quality was related to better mental health and lower neural stress response in young people with CA.Method: A total of N = 102 young people (aged 16–26) with low to moderate CA were included in the study. We first investigated associations between friendship quality, mental health, and CA. In a representative subset (n = 62), we assessed neural stress responses using the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. In our sample, CA was best described along two dimensions resembling threat or deprivation like experiences. Hence, we investigated both cumulative and dimensional effects of CA.Results: We found no support for social thinning after CA, meaning that the severity of CA (cumulative or dimensional) did not differentially impact friendship quality. High-quality friendships, on the other hand, were strongly associated with better mental health. Furthermore, acute stress increased state anxiety and enhanced neural activity in five frontolimbic brain regions, including the left hippocampus. We found weak support that threat experiences interacted with friendship quality to predict left hippocampal reactivity to stress. However, this effect did not survive multiple comparison correction.Conclusion: The absence of social thinning in our sample may suggest that the risk of developing impoverished social networks is low for rather well-functioning young people with low to moderate CA. Regardless, our findings align with prior research, consistently showing a strong association between high-quality friendships and better mental health in young people with CA. Future research is needed to examine whether friendships aid neural stress responses in young people with childhood threat experiences.

Perception of friendship quality has been shown to be a key ingredient for children's mental health, however, less is known about how the learning environment might impact these relations. This study investigated how children's perceptions of friendship quality are related to their mental health (i.e., satisfaction with life and depressive symptoms) and whether school goal structures are potential moderators for these relations in a sample of elementary school children. A sample of 423 fourth-grade students (Mage = 10.85, 46.33% boys) and their teachers (N = 24) participated in the study. Children filled out questionnaires assessing friendship quality, satisfaction with life, and depressive symptoms. Teachers completed a scale evaluating their perception of the school goal structures. Results indicated that children who reported high positive friendship quality were more satisfied with their lives, whereas children who reported high levels of negative friendship quality experienced lower levels of life satisfaction and higher levels of depressive symptoms. School mastery goal structures reported by teachers moderated the relation between children's perception of friendship quality and their depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Further, school performance goal structures reported by teachers moderated the relation between children's perception of negative friendship quality and their depressive symptoms. The results seem to suggest that the effects of mastery goal structure are not always positive, whereas a performance goal structure might sometimes be beneficial for students' mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study expanded current understanding of the previously demonstrated association between parent-adolescent relationships and friendship quality. A moderated mediation model was constructed to examine whether adolescent psychological capital (PsyCap) mediated this association and whether the result was further moderated by neighborhood safety and satisfaction. This was a cross-sectional study for which we recruited 733 adolescents (Mage =15.08 years, SD =1.96) in Macao, China. Participants completed questionnaires regarding their parent-adolescent relationships, PsyCap, neighborhood safety and satisfaction, and friendship quality. After controlling for gender and age, it was found that the positive association between parent-adolescent relationships and friendship quality was partially mediated by PsyCap. Moreover, neighborhood safety and satisfaction moderated the second stage of the indirect effect. Specifically, the positive effect of PsyCap on friendship quality was much stronger for adolescents reporting high as opposed to low level of neighborhood safety and satisfaction. The results underscore the importance of integrating the conservation of resources theory, ecological model, and the model of individual ↔ context relations, to understand how and when parent-adolescent relationships are associated with friendship quality. These findings also highlight the need to simultaneously consider family, neighborhood, and individual factors when developing effective interventions to improve adolescent friendship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forming quality interfaith friendships is not impossible. Additionally, our society has become accustomed to differences. However, a clear explanation for the difficulty of forming such friendships has yet to be established. This study aimed to investigate the influence of tolerance and stigma consciousness on the quality of interfaith friendships. The research involved 400 respondents aged 18-25, comprising 200 Muslim respondents with at least one non-Muslim friend and 200 non-Muslim respondents with at least one Muslim friend. The quality of friendship was evaluated using the McGill Friendship Questionnaire (MFQ), while tolerance and stigma consciousness were measured using the Tolerance Index Questionnaire (TI) and Stigma Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ), respectively. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to test the research hypothesis. The study results indicate that tolerance and stigma consciousness are significant factors in determining the quality of interfaith friendships. Individuals with tolerance and low levels of stigma consciousness are more likely to form quality interfaith friendships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing a person-centered approach, the present study explored 614 adolescents' reports of self-disclosure, help, conflict, and conflict resolution with a close friend to investigate variability in profiles of friendship quality, whether gender and gender homophily and ethnicity homophily of friends are associated with profile membership, and how the profiles relate to feelings of school belonging. A latent profile analysis revealed three profiles of friendship: an ideal friendship profile (25.57% of the sample), a realistic friendship profile (54.56%), and a somewhat problematic friendship profile (19.87%). Compared to adolescents in the somewhat problematic profile, female adolescents were more likely to have a realistic or ideal friendship profile than males. Adolescents with ideal and realistic friendship profiles reported the highest feelings of school belonging; those in the somewhat problematic profile reported the lowest school belonging. The advantages of attending to profiles that incorporate multiple dimensions of friendship quality to understanding the social and academic experiences of adolescents are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on children as social actors to explore the factors that influence their subjective well-being. The primary purposes of this study are twofold: (1) to examine the potential mediating effects of out-of-school activities on the association between neighborhood quality and children's subjective well-being; and (2) to examine the potential moderating effects of friendship quality on the associations between neighborhood quality, out-of-school activities, and children's subjective well-being. This study used international data from the third wave of the International Survey of Children's Well-Being (ISCWeB). The final sample consists of 93,344 children (mean age = 10.95, 49.3% were boys). The results revealed a significant indirect effect of neighborhood quality on children's subjective well-being via out-of-school activities. Furthermore, the effect of neighborhood quality on children's subjective well-being was stronger for children with low friendship quality than for those with high friendship quality. Similarly, the effect of out-of-school activities on subjective well-being was stronger for children with low friendship quality than for those with high friendship quality. This study provides important theoretical and practical implications for future research and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research findings demonstrate that both savoring ability and the presence of high-quality friendships play a significant role in enhancing one’s overall sense of wellbeing. However, these associations have not been thoroughly investigated within a diverse range of adults across their lifespans, nor have they been explored in the specific cultural context of Greece. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to delve into the relationships between close friendship quality, the utilization of savoring techniques, and wellbeing within the Greek cultural framework. The study involved 771 adults from Greece with an average age of 38.35 years, who completed the McGill Friendship Functions Questionnaire, the PERMA Profiler, and the Abridged Ways of Savoring Checklist. Results revealed that there exists a positive correlation between friendship quality and savoring strategies with overall wellbeing. Moreover, the study identified a significant association wherein a greater employment of savoring strategies was linked to higher levels of friendship quality. While this study contributes valuable insights, it also has limitations that warrant acknowledgment. Furthermore, suggestions for potential future research directions are proposed, and the implications of these findings are discussed in relation to interventions aimed at enhancing both friendships and the practice of savoring across various contexts.

Introduction: The mechanism underlying the positive longitudinal link between adolescents' friendship quality and their well‐being is unclear. The present study was performed to investigate whether this longitudinal association between friendship quality and well‐being was established via adolescents' global self‐esteem, and to examine gender differences in these associations. Methods: Online questionnaire data were collected in two waves (in Spring 2018 and Spring 2019) from 1298 Dutch adolescents aged 11–17 years (mean age 13.7 ± 1.1 years, 53.2% girls). Results: Multigroup path analyses revealed a significant indirect effect between friendship quality and well‐being over time via global self‐esteem for girls. For boys, significant direct effects of friendship quality on global self‐esteem and well‐being were found, but no significant indirect effect. Conclusions: The findings indicate that higher‐quality friendships improve boys' global self‐esteem and well‐being directly, and that they affect girls' well‐being indirectly and positively, by improving their global self‐esteem. These results suggest that preventive and intervention‐based strategies for the promotion of well‐being during the developmental stage of adolescence should incorporate focus on friendships, global self‐esteem, and gender specificities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bullying perpetration and victimization are common and problematic occurrences during adolescence. Typically, bullying incidents involve different bullying roles. However, little is known about the developmental stability and changes in these roles. In the present study, we aimed to assess the stability and changes in bullying roles and examine risk and protective factors associated with bullying involvement. A total of 1711 Chinese early adolescents (47.4% girls, Mage = 11.99) participated in the study at two time points approximately 6 months apart. Three subgroups of bullying were identified: bully‐victims, victims, and the uninvolved. In terms of stability and changes, the uninvolved were the most stable over time, while victims and bully‐victims tended to become the uninvolved. Bully‐victims also tended to become victims. Early adolescents with higher levels of parental psychological control and depression symptoms were more likely to be victims or bully‐victims. Higher levels of depression symptoms increased the risk of transitioning from being the uninvolved or bully‐victims to becoming victims. Higher levels of friendship quality were associated with higher odds of being the uninvolved or transitioning from being victims or bully‐victims to becoming the uninvolved. Our findings indicate that bullying roles were relatively stable, with some changes over time. The results also highlight the important function that parental psychological control, friendship quality, and depression symptoms can play in preventing and intervening in bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the impact of a child self-regulation program on the self-perception and friendship quality of children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study employed a semi-experimental research design with a pre-test-post-test methodology and a control group. The statistical population for this research comprised all 9-12-year-old girls diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in Tehran during the 2021-2022 period. The sample size consisted of 30 participants, with 15 assigned to the experimental group and 15 to the control group, selected from the statistical population using an available sampling method. While the control group remained on the waiting list, the experimental group received a child self-regulation program. The research instruments utilized were Harter's self-perception scale (2012) and Zohrevand and Hejazi's (2001) friendship quality assessment. The results indicated that the self-regulation intervention had a significant impact on enhancing self-perception and friendship quality during the post-test and follow-up stages. These findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of self-regulation programs, which can be utilized by counselors and psychologists to enhance self-perception and friendship quality among children with ADHD.Extended abstractIntroductionAttention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that often starts in childhood and continues into adulthood (Singh, Kumar, Kaur, Mandal & Kumar, 2022). Literature shows that children with ADHD overestimate their own competence (Varma & Wiener, 2020); for example, in this population, their self-perceptions are often inconsistent with objective measures of performance or parent and teacher ratings of competence. This may lead children with ADHD to have unrealistic self-perceptions (Hoza, Mrug, Gerdes, Hinshaw, Bukowski, Gold & et al., 2005). However, studies show that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have less stable friendships compared to neurotypical children (Powell, Riglin, Ng-Knight, Frederickson, Woolf, McManus & et al., 2021) and tend to be more friendly with people who have a learning or behavioral problem (Marton, Wiener, Rogers & Moore, 2015). Current strategies for treating children with ADHD mainly focus on pharmacological treatments, but these treatments often do not meet children's and families' needs (Villodas, McBurnett, Kaiser, Rooney & Pfiffner, 2014), and have shown a limited effect (Swanson, Baler & Volkow, 2011). As such, the importance of psychological interventions, especially self-regulation interventions, is becoming increasingly important to reduce and even resolve these problems in individuals with ADHD. The use of self-regulation interventions, such as cognitive behavior therapy, is one of the most common and widely used interventions, and it can be very effective (Guderjahn, Gold, Stadler & Gawrilow, 2013).Research QuestionsDoes the child's self-regulation program effectively change the self-perception of children with ADHD?Does the child's self-regulation program effectively improve the quality of friendship in children with ADHD?" or "What is the impact of a self-regulation program on the quality of friendship for children with ADHD?Literature ReviewIn line with the effectiveness of self-regulation training, the results of Moradi, Hashemi, Farzad, Beyrami & Ketamati (2009) showed that teaching self-regulation strategies, motivational behaviors and verbal self-education have significant effects on reducing hyperactivity symptoms of students with ADHD. They are active. In another study, Ebrahimi & Taher (2019) found that self-regulation training is effective in increasing the social skills of students with mild mental retardation by improving the ability to plan, self-review and organize. The results of Abolghasemi, Barzegar & Rostamoghli (2015) also indicate the effectiveness of self-regulation training on improving students' self-efficacy and quality of life.MethodologyThe design of the research was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design and follow-up with a control group. The sample consisted of female students aged 9 to 12 years with ADHD who were studying in schools in Tehran in 2022. The students were selected by education consultants who received a diagnosis of ADHD. For a more accurate diagnosis, a semi-structured clinical interview was conducted to these children. Finally, a sample of 30 students was selected based on the entry criteria and they were replaced in two experimental and control groups (15 experimental people, 15 control people). Both groups completed the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 2012) and the Friendship Quality Questionnaire (Hejazi & Zohrevand, 2001) as a pre-test. The experimental group then participated in 12 sessions of 45 minutes based on the child's self-regulation intervention, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Immediately after the end of the training sessions, the self-perception scale and the quality of friendship were assessed as a post-test for both groups. They were then followed up after 2 months.resultsThe results of this analysis show that there was a significant interaction between stages (pre-test, post-test, follow-up) and groups (experimental and control) for several of the research variables, including self-perception and quality of friendship. The Bonferroni test indicated that the experimental and control groups were significantly different from each other in terms of the research variables at all stages of the study, and that the improvement in self-perception and the quality of friendship observed in the experimental group was stable over time and still present at the follow-up phase. Overall, these results suggest that the child's self-regulation education was effective in improving the self-perception and quality of friendship of the children in the experimental group, and that this effect was sustained over time.

Social connections are critical for mental and physical health; however, the developmental pathways to children's social connectedness outcomes are not well understood. This study examined the pathways from children's inhibitory control at 4 years to two social connectedness outcomes – loneliness and friendship quality at age 10 – through behavioral problems at age 7. As part of a longitudinal study (N = 291, 54% girls), children's inhibitory control was assessed via a Go/No-Go task when children were 4 years old. Mothers reported on children's behavioral problems at ages 4 and 7 years. Children reported on their friendship quality and loneliness at ages 7 and 10 years. Greater inhibitory control at 4 years predicted lower behavioral problems at 7 years, which in turn predicted better friendship quality and lower loneliness at 10 years. Indirect effects from inhibitory control at 4 years to loneliness and friendship quality at 10 years via behavioral problems at 7 years were significant. Findings suggest that inhibitory control in early childhood may play a key role for the development of social connectedness in middle childhood via its impact on children's behavioral problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has documented that body dissatisfaction is positively related to social anxiety. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation. Based on person-environment interaction theory, this study aimed to examine the chain mediation effect of feeling of inferiority and family cohesion in the relationship between body dissatisfaction and social anxiety among adolescents and whether this mediating process was moderated by friendship quality. A total of 972 students (M = 15.77, SD = 0.856) were enrolled in this study. All participants completed questionnaires regarding adolescent body dissatisfaction, feeling of inferiority, family cohesion, friendship quality and social anxiety. Our study found that body dissatisfaction was positively associated with social anxiety. Feeling of inferiority and family cohesion were found to play a chain-mediated role in the relation between body dissatisfaction and social anxiety. In addition, friendship quality plays a moderating role in the relationship between body dissatisfaction and social anxiety. According to the person-environment interaction theory, this study not only confirms the effect of body dissatisfaction on social anxiety in a collectivist culture, but also reveals the mechanism of the role of individual characteristics (feeling of inferiority) and external environmental factors (family cohesion) in the relationship between body dissatisfaction and social anxiety, and the moderating effect of friendship quality on the whole mechanism. These findings show lights on how body dissatisfaction is associated with social anxiety in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the moderating effect of technology use for friendship maintenance in the associations between self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and friendship quality, measured 6 months later (Time 2). Participants were 1,567 seventh and eighth graders (51% female; 51% white; M age = 13.47) from the United States. They completed questionnaires on friendship quality at Time 1, and self-isolation during COVID-19 and technology use for friendship maintenance and friendship quality at Time 2. The findings revealed that self-isolation during COVID-19 was related positively to technology use for friendship maintenance and negatively to Time 2 friendship quality. Higher technology use for friendship maintenance buffered against the negative impacts on friendship quality associated with self-isolation during COVID-19, while lower technology use had the opposite effects on Time 2 friendship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]