"Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who your friends will be": Consistency and change in social competence in adolescent friendships across school transitions

Abstract

This study examined selection effects in behavioral similarity between adolescents and their new best friends after a school transition. Participants were 322 adolescents with a best friend in elementary school (Time 1, age 11) and a new best friend three years later in secondary school (Time 2, age 14). Three aspects of participants' and their two best friends' social competence were measured (antisocial behavior, prosocial behavior, low sociability). Structural equation modeling was used to predict the competence profiles of the adolescents' new friends from their own and their previous friends' social competence. There was evidence for the consistency across friendships in sociability and antisocial behavior. Findings indicate consistency and opportunities for change in friendship patterns across developmental transitions in adolescence.