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Losing and gaining friends: Does friendship instability compromise academic functioning in middle school?
Leah M Lessard1, Jaana Juvonen1
1University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychology, Franz Hall, 502 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1521, USA.
Journal of School Psychology
|December 19, 2018
Summary
Friendship instability, including losing or gaining friends, negatively impacts middle school students' academic engagement and performance. This social disruption can lead to lower grades throughout middle school.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Previous research highlights the academic benefits of stable friendships in early adolescence.
- Friendship dynamics significantly evolve during the transition to middle school.
- Understanding the impact of friendship changes on academic outcomes is crucial for this age group.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between friendship instability (losses and gains) and academic engagement and performance in middle school.
- To examine the longitudinal effects of friendship instability on academic outcomes from sixth to eighth grade.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 5,991 ethnically diverse students across 26 middle schools.
- Data collected on friendship networks, academic engagement, and grade point average (GPA).
- Statistical analyses controlled for friendship network size to isolate the effects of instability.
Main Results:
- Over two-thirds of friendships experienced changes (losses or gains) in the first year of middle school.
- Both friendship losses and gains were concurrently linked to lower academic engagement and performance in sixth grade.
- Greater overall friendship instability in sixth grade predicted lower academic engagement in seventh grade, subsequently leading to lower GPA by the end of middle school.
Conclusions:
- Friendship instability represents a significant disruptive social process during middle school.
- This social disruption negatively affects students' academic engagement and performance.
- Interventions addressing friendship stability may be beneficial for supporting academic success in middle school.
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