Friends' activities and well -being in childhood and adolescence
Abstract
The purposes of this study were to examine the age and sex differences in friends' activities and to examine how these activities were related to well-being. Seventy-four fourth graders, ninety-eight eighth graders and eighty twelfth graders completed a questionnaire about the frequency of, and satisfaction with, 20 activities with friends. Students also reported on their affect, life satisfaction, perceptions of competence, school adjustment and achievement, and friendship quality. The results of this study showed that participation in all categories of activities varied dramatically with grade and by sex. However, participation in all categories of activities with friends decreased by twelfth grade. Furthermore, boys more frequently participated in sports and entertainment activities with friends whereas girls more frequently participated in academic and socializing activities with friends. The results also established significant correlations between the specific categories of activities and measures of well-being. That is, although all categories were related to positive affect, not all categories of activities were consistently related to the broad (e.g., life satisfaction) and specific (e.g., school adjustment) domains of well-being. Finally, although previous research suggested that moderate participation in sports activities would be related to higher well-being than either frequent or infrequent sports participation, strong evidence for this hypothesis was not found. These results are discussed in relation to changes in adolescents' social networks from childhood to adolescence and changes in the nature of the specific activities themselves. Overall, the findings in this study highlight the importance of examining the specific categories of friends' activities when considering the effects of activity participation on both friendship and well-being.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Berndt, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Social psychology
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