Premium
The Interplay Between Adolescents' Friendships and the Exchange of Help: A Longitudinal Multiplex Social Network Study
Author(s) -
Rijsewijk Loes G. M.,
Snijders Tom A. B.,
Dijkstra Jan Kornelis,
Steglich Christian,
Veenstra René
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12501
Subject(s) - friendship , psychology , context (archaeology) , multiplex , longitudinal study , developmental psychology , social psychology , bioinformatics , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , biology
The aim of this study was to unravel the interrelatedness of friendship and help, and to examine the characteristics of friendship and help networks. The effects of mutual versus one‐sided help relations on friendship initiation and maintenance, and vice versa, were examined. Friendship and help networks were analyzed ( N = 953 students; 41 classrooms; M age = 12.7). The results illustrate that friendship and help networks show some similarities, but only partly overlap and have distinct characteristics. Longitudinal multiplex social network analyses showed that mutual help was important for the maintenance of friendship, but not for the initiation of friendship. Further, particularly mutual friendships provided a context in which help took place. Implications of these findings are discussed.