Psychological Correlates, Consequences of Late Childhood Friendship Dissolution

描述（申请人提供）：本项目的目的是了解不同类型的最佳友谊解散对儿童心理健康的影响。虽然这是公认的，一贯的友谊参与促进情绪健康和心理社会调整，很少有人知道的影响，儿童的友谊参与的变化，如当儿童的友谊被解散或中断。如果估计是正确的，那么近一半的友谊在童年后期的一个学年中被破坏。最近的研究结果表明，失去友谊的儿童心理压力的风险增加，而失去友谊且无法取代友谊的儿童会经历更大的受害和孤独。因此，友谊的解体是一种常见的但未得到充分研究的风险因素，可能对许多儿童构成重大危险。因此，本项目的第一个目的是研究不同类型的最好的友谊解体发生在童年后期的程度。两种不同类型的解散可能是：（1）完全解散，其中儿童不再作为朋友联系，以及（2）“降级”解散，其中儿童继续分享友谊，但不再是最好的朋友。第二个具体目标是评估友谊解体与儿童心理健康的关系。具体来说，该项目将评估两种不同类型的最佳友谊解体与心理社会困扰的自我报告之间的关联（例如，孤独、抑郁）以及内化和外化情绪（悲伤和愤怒）。来自纽约郊区布法罗中学的300名儿童（150名女孩）将在六年级的三个时间点和他们过渡到七年级后的一个时间点在教室里完成问卷调查。本项目将采用四个时间点的纵向设计，以评估短期友谊解体的影响（例如，当友谊解除但随后是友谊替换时），以及重复/长期的友谊解除（例如，当友谊解散并被取代时，但后一个友谊也解散）。问卷调查数据还将评估儿童评价或思考友谊解体的方式。分析儿童的认知可能有助于理解溶解心理伴随物的个体差异。在整个研究过程中，将特别强调儿童的个体特征，如性别和行为特征（例如，攻击性的），这可能使儿童更容易受到解散和相关的负面后果。该项目的长期目标是促进对二元一级的同伴困难及其与心理健康关系的认识。该项目的应用可能包括教育学校和儿童保育专业人员的警告信号，风险，不良的心理健康和调整后果的友谊解散和干扰，并改善干预措施，旨在解决心理社会失调和同伴关系的困难。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this project is to understand the impact of different types of best friendship dissolution on children's psychological well-being. While it is well-established that consistent friendship involvement promotes emotional health and psychosocial adjustment, little is known about the impact of changes in children's friendship involvement, such as when children's friendships are dissolved or disrupted. If estimates are correct, nearly half of all friendships are disrupted over the course of one school year during late childhood. Recent findings indicate that children who lose friendships are at increased risk for psychological distress, and that children who lose friendships and are not able to replace them experience significantly greater victimization and loneliness. Thus, friendship dissolutions represent common yet understudied risk factors that may pose significant dangers for many children. Accordingly, the first aim of this project is to examine the extent to which different types of best friendship dissolution occur in late childhood. Two different types of dissolution may be: (1) complete dissolution, where children no longer relate as friends at all, and (2) "downgrade" dissolutions, where children continue to share a friendship but are no longer best friends. The second specific aim is to assess the relations between friendship dissolution and children's psychological health. Specifically, the project will evaluate the associations between two different types of best friendship dissolution and self-reports of psychosocial distress (e.g., loneliness, depression) and internalizing and externalizing emotions (sadness and anger). 300 children (150 girls) from middle-schools in the suburban Buffalo, New York area will complete questionnaires in their classrooms at three time points throughout the 6th grade year and one time point after they transition into the 7th grade. This project will employ a four time-point longitudinal design to permit evaluation of the impact of short-term friendship dissolution (e.g., when a friendship dissolves but is followed by friendship replacement), and repeated/long-term friendship dissolution (e.g., when a friendship dissolves and is replaced, but the latter friendship also dissolves). Questionnaire data will also assess the ways in which children evaluate or think about friendship dissolution. Analyzing children's cognitions may be useful in understanding individual differences in the psychological concomitants of dissolution. Throughout the study, a special emphasis will be placed on individual child characteristics, such as sex and behavioral profile (e.g., aggressive), which may make children more vulnerable to dissolution and associated negative consequences. The long-term goal of this project is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge about peer difficulties at the dyadic level and their relation to psychological well-being. Applications of this project might include educating school and childcare professionals about the warning signs, risks, and adverse mental health and adjustment consequences of friendship dissolution and disturbance, and improving interventions designed to address psychosocial maladjustment and peer relationship difficulties.