Forming and maintaining friendships is one of the most important developmental tasks in adolescence. Supportive and high-quality friendships have been related to positive developmental outcomes and mental health, both concurrently and in the long term. Friendships also protect against negative effects of adverse experiences, such as peer…

Although bullied adolescents experience elevated risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes, some youth exhibit resilience in the face of peer victimization. Given the developmental importance of peer relationships during adolescence, much of the research examining protective factors that can mitigate bullying-related harm has focused on…

Although research on the experiences of females on the autism spectrum is still developing, it is becoming increasingly apparent that their experiences are not comparable to their male counterparts. This scoping review aimed to collate research related to the peer interaction experiences of school-aged girls on the autism spectrum from their…

Racism remains a pervasive force around the world with widespread and well documented harmful consequences for members of marginalized racial groups. The psychological biases that maintain structural and interpersonal racism begin to emerge in early childhood, but with considerable individual variation--some children develop more racial bias than…

Using meta-analytic techniques, we examined systematically the evidence linking friendship to academically related outcomes, asking: To what extent is friendship related to academic performance and to academically related cognitive skills? Based on 22 studies that yielded 81 effect sizes and 28 independent samples, we examined relations between…

Friendships are developmentally important and personally beneficial relationships for all children and youth. Despite emphasis from families and educators of students with severe disabilities on the importance of promoting and supporting friendships with their typically developing (TD) peers in inclusive settings, such relationships remain…

The relationship between the polite and conventional nature of friendly language and the sincerity of the writer's feelings is a central topic in linguistic and historical research on friendship in epistolary communication. This relationship can be understood in the context of the emotional values and conventionalised emotional practices that…

Background: Although research on friendship among children without any reported disability is extensive, the investigation of the characteristics of friendship among children who are using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) has received little attention. In this systematic literature review we investigated the current research on…

Background: Self-harm is a significant public health concern during adolescence. Most cases of self-harm do not come to the attention of professional services, however, where adolescents do disclose self-harm, the majority confide in their friends. Objective: Therefore, more needs to be understood about the protective function and risks friends…

Decades of research has assessed the benefits of children's and adolescents' friendships, but friendships among youth often dissolve within a matter of months or years. Studies have investigated predictors and consequences of friendship stability with the expectation that, in order for friendships to have a positive or negative influence on youth,…

This paper reviews previous literature about peer acceptance and friendship, two of the most critical aspects of peer relations that have received most of research attention during the past years. In this review, we will focus on the processes explaining the way children use the ability to socialise with peers; explore the hypothesis that certain…

Background and aims: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are at risk of difficulties in their friendships and peer relations. The present review explores how research directly involving children with DLD can inform our understanding of peer relations in this group, and how research insights may change according to the nature of…

Youth with disabilities, compared with their typical peers, have a higher likelihood of dropping out of school and experience poorer transition outcomes. Evidence supports programs and interventions focusing on inclusive education and leadership skills results in successful transition to college and career. This article describes the experiences…

The purpose of this article is to describe what has been learned over the past 35+ years of research on the friendships of young children with disabilities. An extensive literature review was conducted to critically examine the purposes that guided the friendship studies, the methods used to measure friendships, and the major findings of these…

In this paper, we analyzed 50 faculty interviews to explore the function of colleagueship across different types of institutions. Our findings highlight that colleagueship served toward the improvement of teaching, disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning, securing one's research agenda, career management, and friendship. We attend to the…