Different Types of Teenage Friendships Critical to Well-Being as We Age

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Being a teenager is hard, confusing—and crucially important. Scientists studying teenage socializing have found that teenage friendships could lay essential foundations for well-being in later life, and that not just the kinds of friendships teenagers experience but the timing of those friendships is critical.

“A teen’s perception of how broadly socially accepted they are by their peers in early adolescence is particularly influential in predicting adult well-being,” said Emily Shah of the University of Arkansas, first author of the article in Frontiers in Developmental Psychology. “Conversely, in late adolescence, the quality of their more intimate close friendships is more influential for predicting adult well-being.”

The researchers recruited 184 participants attending an American middle school. They surveyed these students at ages 13–14, then again at ages 17–18, measuring the quality of their close friendships, their perceived social acceptance, and their likability as reported by their peers.

Finally, the researchers caught up with these teenagers as adults aged 28–30 to ask them about their physical and mental health, job satisfaction, romantic insecurity, and experience of aggression.

Overall, the researchers found that perceived social acceptance was the best predictor of adult well-being. When contacted as adults, teenagers who thought their peers liked them reported lower levels of social anxiety and aggression, better physical health, professional and romantic satisfaction, and feeling more socially connected.

However, likability as reported by teenagers’ peers did not predict any facet of adult well-being well—possibly suggesting that a teenager’s own perception of their social success is particularly important.

However, when the authors examined the two stages of adolescence separately, adult well-being was best predicted by social acceptance for young teenagers and close friendships for older teenagers. Close friendships predicted lower social anxiety and romantic insecurity and higher job satisfaction.

The difference between the two stages of adolescence also suggests that timing is critical. While self-perception of success could stop younger teenagers developing social anxiety, and contribute to preventing stress-linked poorer health, lower levels of social acceptance in later teenage years didn’t predict health outcomes.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-teenage-friendships-critical-age-scientists.html