Presented By: Department of Psychology
Developmental Brown Bag: A Developmental Perspective on Friendship and Health
Dr. Toni Antonucci, Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Scientist, Institute for Social Research Life Course, University of Michigan
This paper examines the presence and quality of friendship over 25 years. This analysis uses a subsample of the Survey of Social Relations which began in 1992 with a representative sample of Detroit area residents aged 8 to 93 (additional waves in 2005; 2015). Using latent class growth analyses, we identified three patterns of change in the proportion of friends in social networks (moderate and increasing; low and decreasing; high and increasing) and two patterns of change in positive friendship quality (high positive and decreasing; high positive and increasing) and negative friendship quality (low negative and steady, high negative and steady) over time. Neither, higher education and not being married was associated with social networks that in 1992 had the highest proportion of friends, that increased over time. Neither age nor gender were significantly associate with changing proportions or quality of friendship. Patterns of change in proportion of friends was not associated with self-rated health or depressive symptoms. However, results indicate that positive friendship trajectories, but not negative friendship trajectories, were associated with better self-rated health. The effects of increasingly positive quality friend relations over time are especially impactful on mental health earlier in the lifespan. People who are younger were more likely to report fewer depressive symptoms two waves later, if they have increasing friend positive relationship quality. This paper capitalizes on longitudinal data over twenty-five years to begin to identify the complexity of friendships and their effects over time.
Co-authors: Kristine Ajrouch, Noah Webster and Rita Hu
Co-authors: Kristine Ajrouch, Noah Webster and Rita Hu
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