Friendship Reciprocity, Stability, and Quality of Students With or at Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide deeper insight into the substantive nature of the friendships of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. We examined the friendship nominations of a group of U.S. kindergarten to third grade students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (focal students), and their classmates, to describe the reciprocity, stability, and quality of friendships at two time points during the school year. Results revealed that a majority of focal students nominated at least one best friend in the beginning of the year. However, only 32% of these nominations were reciprocated by their classmates. Focal student’s reports of friendship quality did not differ between their reciprocated and unreciprocated nominations. Later in the year, 60% of the friendship nominations from Time 1 remained. However, focal student’s perceptions of friendship quality did not differ between the stable and unstable nominations. Finally, of the friendship nominations that were present at Time 1 and Time 2, approximately 48% were reciprocated. Findings reinforce that focal students experience social challenges, and that this population of students may overestimate the presence of reciprocal friendships. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for research and practice.