Gender-specific pathways to intimacy in early adolescence

Abstract

As part of a larger longitudinal study of psychosocial development, 148 girls and 130 boys were administered a series of questions regarding a close friend during their eighth-grade school year. Scales corresponding to shared experience, self-disclosure, and intimacy (defined as emotional closeness) were developed from these items. Path-analytic models tested the relative strength of the self-disclosure and shared experience paths to emotional closeness for boys and girls separately. The results indicated that the self-disclosure path to emotional closeness is significant for both boys and girls. No relationship was found between shared experience and emotional closeness in girls when controlling for self-disclosure. The relationship between shared experience and feelings of closeness was, however, significant for boys even while controlling for the effects of self-disclosure. Covariance structure analysis (LISREL) indicated that the covariance matrices for the three scales were significantly different for boys and girls. The results are considered in relation to the gender socialization and friendship literature. The potential importance of defining intimacy as emotional closeness is also discussed.

Prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: Considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination.

“…In this study (Rose, 2002), a survey measure of co-rumination with same-sex friends was developed with third-, fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade youths. Consistent with research indicating that selfdisclosure is linked with high-quality friendships (e.g., Camarena, Sarigiani, & Peterson, 1990;Parker & Asher, 1993), co-rumination was positively related to having high-quality, close friendships. However, consistent with research indicating that solitary ruminating is related to emotional problems (e.g., Nolen-Hoeksema, Morrow, & Fredrickson, 1993;Nolen-Hoeksema, Parker, & Larson, 1994;Schwartz & Koenig, 1996), co-rumination also was related to higher internalizing symptoms (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms).…”

Anticipating Adulthood: Expected Timing of Work and Family Transitions Among Rural Youth

“…One possible explanation is that girls of high school age have given more thought to their future role transitions compared to their male peers, and girls have a more elaborated vision of what they will be doing and how various aspects of their lives may affect each other. Because girls' friendslups involve more self-disclosure than those of boys (e.g., Camarena, Sarigiani, & Petersen, 1990), girls may have had more opportunity to discuss these future scenarios with peers and to develop a clear view of their futures. Boys' attention may be focused on more immediate concerns, and their view of the future may be more vague and less clearly conceived.…”

Taiwanese Adolescents’ Self-Disclosures on Private Section of Facebook, Trusts in and Intimacy with Friends in Different Close Relationships

“…Thus, trust is beneficial to the development of intimacy, and when a high level of trust emerges, the frequency of intimate interactions increases. However, researchers argued that self-disclosure does not always contribute to intimacy in a relationship (Camarena, Sarigiani, & Petersen, 1990). Another study indicated that participants' comfort with disclosure was not related to their levels of trust (Frye & Dornisch, 2010).…”