Facts In Action

A two-year study of 471 children from thirty Head Start classrooms found that children who had reciprocated friendships (friendships where both children consider one another to be friends, rather than one-sided friendships) showed more advanced social skills than children without reciprocated friendships. It also found the greater the number of reciprocated friendships a child experienced, the more advanced were the child's social skills.

Previous studies of children's friendships suggest that these more advanced social skills are a result of children having more opportunities to practice social interactions with others if they have friends. In addition, those children with long-term friendships engaged in more complex play than children with newly made friends. Other studies have found that children who transitioned to school with a friend had more positive school adjustment and greater academic success.

Although the children in this sample were at risk for a range of social and cognitive problems associated with poverty, their social skills and behaviors were similar to those of children from more economically advantaged families. The researchers claim that such a finding is significant because it suggests that basic social strategies involved in building and maintaining friendships are similar across social and economic status, and it highlights young children's potential for overcoming economic and social adversity.

Source:
"Friendship and Social Competence in a Sample of Preschool Children Attending Head Start," B.E. Vaughn, M.R. Azria, L. Kryzysik, L.R. Caya, K.K. Boost, W. Newell, and K.L. Kazura, Developmental Psychology, Volume 36, Number 3, 2000.

Facts in Action, April 2001