Building Friendships Through Volunteering in Late Life: Does Gender Moderate the Relationship?

Friendship plays a crucial role in maintaining social connectedness in late life. Volunteering helps older adults to stay socially engaged and often times provides the opportunity to meet and make new friends. A small literature suggests that volunteering may be associated with friendship, but many studies are limited by reliance on small, non-probability samples and simplistic analytic approaches. The literature is also unclear on how volunteering behaviors relate to specific characteristics of friendships and whether there are gender differences that condition these relationships. Using the 2014 and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N=1,638 ), we investigate whether volunteer status and hours volunteered in 2014 are associated with friendship characteristics in 2018 (i.e., number of close friends, friendship quality, and contact frequency) among community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and above (M=65.60 years old, SD=8.31). We also examine whether gender moderated these relationships. Volunteer status and hours in 2014 were positively associated with the number of close friends and contact frequency in 2018. Only those who volunteered 200 hours or more in 2014 were positively associated with friendship quality in 2018. Regarding gender differences, men who volunteered 200 hours or more in 2014 had higher friendship quality in 2018 than women, while women who volunteered 100-199 hours in 2014 had greater contact frequency in 2018 than men. Hence, our results suggest volunteering is integral in shaping late-life friendships and volunteering might be more critical for understanding friendship characteristics among older men and women.

Grandparent-child cohesion, friendship quality, and left-behind children’s positive/negative affect in rural China

This study examined the roles of grandparent-child cohesion and friendship quality in left-behind children’s positive and negative affect compared with non-left-behind children. Data from 557 participants indicated that grandparent-child cohesion and friendship quality predicted children’s emotional adaptation. Friend trust and support and intimate exchange had a stronger predictive effect on positive affect among non-left-behind children. Moreover, the interaction effects between grandparent-child cohesion and friendship quality on children’s positive affect supported the reinforcement model, while the interaction effects on negative affect supported the reinforcement model among left-behind children but supported the compensation model among non-left-behind children.

Validating the Supervision Partnership as a Phase of Attachment

The goal of this study was to expand current attachment models by validating a three-component model of the supervision partnership conceptualization of attachment (accessibility and availability of attachment figures, willingness to communicate, and mutual recognition of other’s rights in decision-making). The model was tested by examining associations with parenting, friendship quality, other attachment measures, temperament, and IQ. In a sample of 92 10- to 14-year-olds, the three components of the supervision partnership were significantly related to each other, other attachment measures and child reports of parenting and friendship, and demonstrated some discriminant validity with temperament and IQ. This study provides support for the supervision partnership as a phase of attachment in late middle childhood and early adolescence.

Computer-Mediated Communication and Child/Adolescent Friendship Quality after Residential Relocation

The experience of residential relocation can affect children and adolescents in various ways. It often affects their close social relationships, and this is especially true when these individuals are no longer in close proximity to their family members and friends. Although face-to-face communication may be limited after relocation, computer-mediated communication can assist in maintaining and developing existing relationships. It may even help individuals initiate new social relationships. In the present study, we investigated the role of communication behavior with friends for perceived friendship quality among children and adolescents who recently experienced residential relocation. Based on a representative survey study of families in Germany, we selected parents having moved with their child (8 to 14 years) to another village or town within the last 24 months. In total, 57 parents who had recently moved – majority of whom were mothers – allowed their child to participate in the phone interview. These participants were, on average, 11 years of age, and 58% of them were male. The children answered questions about their communication behavior and the friendships they had with their three current best friends. Using multilevel analysis, we found that children and adolescents who more often communicated face-to-face with their friends also more intensively used computer-mediated technologies to stay in touch. However, the findings further revealed that computer-mediated communication has the potential to remove limitations in existing friendships in the event of relocation. In the following discussion, implications are examined regarding the role of new communication technologies for families with enhanced mobility requirements.

The Standard of Selecting Friends and Its Effect on Friendship Quality among College students

Objective To explore the present status of standard of selecting friends and friendship quality, and analyze the effect of standard of selecting friends on friendship quality among undergraduates. Methods A random sampling was used to select 1002 undergraduates through Internet in Guangdong province. They were investigated with Standard of Selecting Friend Scale for College Students (SSFS) and McGill Friendship Questionnaire (MFQ). Results ⑴ The friendship quality of undergraduates was relatively high, with MFQ total score of (254.16±38.80). ⑵ The most important standards of selecting friends were mutual compatibility and complementarity, followed by personality, physiology condition, social conditions and other conditions. ⑶ Multivariable stepwise linear regression showed that the total score of MFQ was positively correlated with the following 4 factors such as mutual compatibility and complementarity, personality, as well as other conditions (β=.477～.690，all P<.001). Conclusion The overall level of friendship quality among undergraduates is relatively high. Mutual characteristics may be related factors of friendship quality.