Peer Interaction/Friendships

Lauren M. Likosar & Bonnie C. Fusarelli

In an effort to effectively understand children and their development, researchers and psychologists have dedicated tremendous energy toward the study of peer relationships. Friendships are vital to children because they serve as emotional resources for having fun and adapting to stress, expand cognitive resources for problem solving, provide the context for developing social skills, and are the forerunner of all other relationships. During the typical school day, children's peers and friends often become their only sources of companionship, security, and stability. Friends provide one another with recreation, advice, trust, encouragement, support, and other important needs. Unfortunately, some children have great difficulty developing positive relationships with others. These children lack the social skills that others are developing and fail to have their affective needs fulfilled. This impairs the children's emotional well-being, their selfefficacy, their interrelations with others, and their ability to focus in the classroom. The social and behavioral problems that ...

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