The Consequences of Friend-Related Stress Across Early Adolescence

Abstract

The current study investigated early adolescents’ experiences of friend-related stress across middle school and its developmental consequences following the transition to high school. Using a sample of approximately 1,000 middle school students, four unique friend-related stress trajectories were observed across middle school: consistently low friend-related stress (57% of the sample), consistently high friend-related stress (7%), moderate and increasing friend-related stress (22%), and moderate but decreasing friend-related stress (14%). Groups characterized by higher levels of friend-related stress across middle school were linked to subsequent poorer socioemotional well-being, lower academic engagement, and greater involvement in and expectancies around risky behaviors following the transition to high school. Increased friend-related stress across the high school transition was also linked to poorer outcomes, even after taking into account earlier stress trajectories. Gender differences highlighted the particular struggles girls experience both in friend stress and in the links between friend stress and subsequent well-being.

Breaking Up (With a Friend) Is Hard to Do: An Examination of Friendship Dissolution Among Early Adolescents

“…When assessing reasons that adolescents thought would hypothetically lead to the end of a friendship, conflict was rated among the top causes by middle school youth (Azmitia, Lippman, & Ittel, 1999). Given that early adolescents identified as aggressive were most likely to experience friendship dissolution (Ellis & Zarbatany, 2007) and skills for managing friendship conflict and stress are still developing in childhood and adolescence (Benner, Hou, & Jackson, 2020;Selman, 1980), conflict is likely a common reason for dissolution reported by early adolescents. Conflict may be especially risky for friendships, as compared with romantic relationships, as there may be less social pressure to continue a friendship after a fight and more opportunities to replace a friend if needed (Johnson et al, 2004).…”

How Adolescents Learn to Build Social Bonds: A Developmental Computational Account of Social Explore-Exploit Decision-Making

“…Additionally, the resources associated with a group may decline if a central aspect of the group's identity, which was previously associated with positive outcomes, loses popularity or relevance (i.e., outcome devaluation). Given limited time, the opportunity cost of maintaining group membership may increase if bonds with group members diminish in value or if one's preferences change (e.g., growing interest in acting pursuits) (Benner et al, 2020). Thus, it is crucial to understand how adolescents arbitrate between competing signals of group valuation from their broader social network and balance membership across multiple groups that maximize their own social value.…”

Schooling from adolescence through early adulthood.

“…Moreover, adolescents in secondary schools who feel that their classmates respect and value them report higher levels of academic motivation (Nelson & DeBacker, 2008). Greater friend-related stress, in contrast, is linked with lower levels of both cognitive and behavioral school engagement (Benner et al, 2020).…”