Friendships differ in terms of their quality and participants may or may not agree as to their perceptions of relationship quality. Two studies (N = 230 and 242) were conducted to identify distinct and replicable categories of friendship among young adolescents (M = 11.6 years old) using self and partner reports of relationship quality. Same-sex friendships were identified from reciprocated friend nominations. Each friend described perceptions of negativity and social support in the relationship. Cluster analyses based on reports from both friends yielded 4 friendship types in each study: a high quality group, a low quality group, and two groups in which friends disagreed about the quality of the relationship. High quality friendships were most apt to be stable from the 6th to the 7th grade. Participants in high quality friendships reported the highest levels of global self-worth and perceived behavioral conduct and the lowest levels of problem behaviors. Dyads reporting discrepant perceptions of quality differed from dyads who agreed that the friendship was high quality in terms of stability and individual adjustment, underscoring the advantages of person-centered strategies that incorporate perceptions of both partners in categorizations of relationships.

Objective The present study was designed to examine best friend influence over alcohol intoxication and truancy as a function of relative perceptions of friendship satisfaction. Method The participants were 700 adolescents (306 boys, 394 girls) who were involved in same-sex best friendships that were stable from one academic year to the next. Participants completed self-report measures of alcohol intoxication frequency and truancy at one year intervals. Each member of each friendship dyad also rated his or her satisfaction with the relationship. At the outset, participants were in secondary school (approximately 13-14 years old) or high school (approximately 16-17 years old). Results More satisfied friends had greater influence than less satisfied friends over changes in intoxication frequency and truancy. Problem behaviors of less satisfied friends increased over time if the more satisfied friend reported relatively higher, but not relatively lower, initial levels of drinking or truancy. Conclusions The results support the hypothesis that adolescent friends are not similarly influential. The power to socialize, for better and for worse, rests with the partner who has a more positive perception of the relationship.

This investigation was designed to identify dyadic differences in mother-adolescent conflict. In 2 studies (N = 131 and N = 147), adolescents (M = 13.88 and 14.65 years old) described the number of disagreements with mothers during the previous (1 or 3) days, their affective intensity, and perceptions of negativity in the relationship. Cluster analyses yielded 3 unique groups that replicated across studies: (a) placid dyads (50% of Study 1 participants and 36% of Study 2 participants), notable for low disagreement affective intensity and low relationship negativity; (b) explosive dyads (25% of Study 1 participants and 31% of Study 2 participants), notable for high affective intensity; and (c) squabbling dyads (25% of Study 1 participants and 33% of Study 2 participants), notable for frequent conflict. Longitudinal analyses revealed that cluster group membership was stable from 1 year to the next. Follow-up analyses indicated that adolescents in placid dyads had lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors than those in the explosive or squabbling dyads, concurrently and prospectively. (PsycINFO Database Record

Friend influence over prosocial behaviour and delinquent behaviour was examined as a function of relative parental protectiveness in a community sample of Lithuanian high school students (M = 16.5 years old). Participants completed self-reports describing commitment to personal values, delinquent behaviours, prosocial behaviours, and perceived parental protectiveness. Mutual friends (158 male dyads, 241 female dyads) were identified from peer nominations. Distinguishable dyad Actor-Partner Interdependence Model analyses illustrate how parenting promotes positive peer influence. The results indicate that friend influence is greatest in the context of protective parenting: Adolescents who perceived more parental protectiveness were positively influenced by the strength of their friend's personal values, whereas adolescents who perceived less parental protectiveness were not. Copyright