Interplay of Early Adolescents' Friendship and Helping Networks

The aim of this study was to unravel the interrelatedness of friendship and help, and to examine the characteristics of friendship and help networks. We examined effects of mutual relations versus one-sided relations in the help network on friendship initiation and maintenance, and vice versa. We analyzed 41 classroom friendship and help networks (N = 953; M age = 12.7). Results illustrated that friendship and help networks show some similarities, but only partly overlap and have distinct characteristics. Longitudinal multiplex social network analyses showed that mutual help was important for the maintenance of friendship, but not for the initiation of friendship, and that particularly mutual friendships provide a context in which help takes place. Implications of these findings are discussed.