As children grow older, their conception of friendship may change. Younger children tend to view friends
in terms of rewards and costs; older children begin to look at friends using emotional terms, such as
loyalty and trust. (O’Brien Productions/Corbis)found that peer contact predicts problem behavior
primarily among children who have a history of prob-
lem behavior.
Friends likely influence children and adolescents
in positive as well as negative ways. Friends influence
academic achievement and prosocial behaviors. Par-
ticularly during adolescence, individuals are influ-
enced by friends because they admire their peers and
respect the opinions of their friends, not typically be-
cause of coercive pressures. Teens are most influ-
enced by peers in middle adolescence, compared to
early and late adolescence.
Friendship and Healthy Development
As suggested by important developmental theo-
rists like Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Harry Stack
Sullivan, friends provide emotional support, valida-
tion and confirmation of the legitimacy of one’s own
thoughts and feelings, and opportunities for the de-
velopment of important social and cognitive skills.
Children with friends are less likely to feel lonely, and
friendships provide a context for the development of
social skills and knowledge that children need to form
positive relationships with other people.
In general, having friends is associated with posi-
tive developmental outcomes, such as social compe-
tence and adjustment. For example, young children’s
initial attitudes toward school are more positive if
they begin school with a large number of prior friends
as classmates. Exchanges with friends also promote
cognitive development. This is because children are
more likely to criticize each other’s ideas and to elabo-
rate and clarify their own thoughts with friends than
nonfriends or adults. Children also benefit from talk-
ing and working together, and older friends often act
as mentors for younger children. Friendships serve as
a buffer against unpleasant experiences, like peer vic-
timization and teasing from other children. Because
friendships fill important needs for children, it might
be expected that having friends enhances children’s
long-term social and emotional health. In fact, having
a close, reciprocated best friend in elementary school
has been linked to a variety of positive psychological
and behavioral outcomes for children, not only dur-
ing the school years but also years later in early adult-
hood. This is especially true if children’s friendships
are positive and do not have many negative features.
In summary, the nature of friendship changes as
children grow, and friendship plays an important role
in development. As children mature, friends rely on
each other and increasingly provide a context for self-
disclosure and intimacy. Adolescent friends, more
than younger friends, use friendships as a context for
self-exploration, problem solving, and a source of
honest feedback. Friendship is important in healthy
growth and development, and children with close
friendships reap the benefits of these relationships
well into adulthood.158 FRIENDSHIP