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Most research on the subject of friendship has concentrated on peer acceptance, dyadic properties, and the contribution that friendship makes to development and adjustment. This book explores the role of friendships in a child's social and emotional growth. The articles, based on presentations made at an SRCD (Society for Research in Child Development) study group meeting on friendship and development, are divided into four areas: the nature of friendship, its measurement, and development; interdependence of relationship systems; friendship and its associations with other aspects of development; and friendship and adaptation. Following an introductory article, "Friendship and Its Significance in Childhood and Adolescence" (William Bukowski and others), the articles are: (1)"Amicitia, Drujba, Shin-yu, Philia, Freundschaft, Friendship: On the Cultural Diversity of a Human Relationship" (Lothar Krappmann); (2) "The Measurement of Friendship Perceptions: Conceptual and Methodological Issues" (Wyndol Furman); (3) "The Earliest Friendships" (Carollee Howes); (4) "Determinants of Friendship Selection and Quality: Developmental Perspectives" (Frances Aboud and Morton Mendelson); (5) "Parents' Interpersonal Relationships and Children's Friendships" (Anna Beth Doyle and Dorothy Markiewicz); (6) "Individual Differences in Friendship Quality: Links to Child-Mother Attachment" (Kathryn Kerns); (7) "Need Fulfillment, Interpersonal Competence, and the Developmental Contexts of Early Adolescent Friendship" (Duane Buhrmester); (8) "Closeness and Conflict in Adolescent Peer Relationships: Interdependence with Friends and Romantic Partners" (Brett Laursen); (9) "Cooperation, Close Relationships, and Cognitive Development" (Willard Hartup); (10) "Friendship and Morality: (How) Are they Related?" (William Bukowski and Lorrie Sippola); (11) "Friendships of Maltreated Children and Adolescents: Contexts for Expressing and Modifying Relationship Theory" (Joseph Price); (12) "The Developmental Significance of Children's Friendship Relations" (Andrew Newcomb and Catherine Bagwell); (13) "Linkages between Friendship and Adjustment during Early School Transitions" (Gary Ladd and Becky Kochenderfer); (14) "Exploring the Effects of Friendship Quality on Social Development" (Thomas Berndt); and (15) "Distinguishing Friendship from Acceptance: Implications for Intervention and Assessment" (Jeffrey Parker and Diane Walker). Each of the articles contains references. (HTH)

Peer relations research in North America has become increasing complex and divergent in its approaches, its topics, and its concerns. Whereas peer research at one time hade been largely concerned with the univariate effects of rejection, acceptance and friendship, current research is concerned with the role of peer relations as mediators and moderators in modes that include multiple predictors and outcomes. Current topics of research on peer relations included processes, such as deviancy training and co-rumination, as well forms of interaction such as victimization, and types of negative relationships such as enemies. As in Europe, the study of peer relations during adolescence is alive and well in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]