Close friendship as understood by socially withdrawn, anxious early adolescents

The aim of the present study was to explore the social cognitions of socially withdrawn anxious early-adolescents regarding the concept of friendship. From a pool of children referred to an after-school social skills and social contact program, 38 withdrawn/anxious participants were identified and matched with community controls. Interviews regarding their expectations of a best friend revealed that withdrawn/anxious participants tended to focus on their own needs in their concepts of friendship and frequently referred to friendship as a source of help. They also tended to ascribe their best friendship to the circumstantial interactions of classmates or neighbors. Control participants more frequently mentioned the intimacy of a close friendship, which is considered a core defining feature of true friendship. Within the community sample, older participants displayed a more mature understanding of friendship, whereas there were no age effects within the socially anxious group.