Trajectories of perceived friendship quality during adolescence: The patterns and contextual predictors

Niobe Way, Melissa L. Greene

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Findings are presented from an ecologically grounded, longitudinal study of 206 urban, ethnic minority adolescents that used hierarchical linear modeling to examine: (1) individual trajectories of change in adolescents' perceptions of general and closest same-sex friendship quality from middle to late adolescence; (2) the effects of gender and ethnicity on these trajectories of change; and (3) the relative influence of adolescents' perceptions of individual-level (i.e., self-esteem) and contextual-level (i.e., family relationships and school climate) variables on change over time in perceptions of friendship quality. Findings indicated that adolescents' perceptions of the quality of friendships improved from middle to late adolescence. Boys reported sharper increases over time than girls in their perceptions of the quality of their closest, same-sex friendships. Furthermore, perceptions of contextual level variables (i.e., family relationships, teacher/student relations, and student/student relations) were significantly associated with change over time in perceptions of general and/or closest same-sex friendship quality.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)293-320
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of Research on Adolescence
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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