Girls' Perceptions of Peer Relationship Support and Stress

This research asked two questions: (a) What is the nature of social milieu perceptions (i.e., social support and stress) for middle school girls? and (b) How do girls' perceptions relate to peer-rated sociometrics? Emotional support; problem-focused support, and behavioral support dimensions were identified using the Social Milieu Scales, as were the social stress domains of general stress, discord, hurt feelings, and embarrassment. Girls differentiated between support and stress provided by their best friend versus friends in general. Individual differences in perceived support and stress were reliably detected on the Social Milieu Scales and were meaningfully related to peer popularity. Popular and neglected girls reported less stress than controversial, rejected, or average girls. Popular girls did not report feeling more supported Supportiveness was positively related to the simple number of friend nominations that a girl received Reciprocity of best friendship was positively associated with increased feelings of intimate support.