Abstract
This is a novel investigation of whether, and how, a single close supportive friendship may
facilitate psychological resilience in socio-economically vulnerable British adolescents. A
total of 409 adolescents (160 boys, 245 girls, four unknown), aged between 11 and
19 years, completed self-report measures of close friendship quality, psychological
resilience, social support, and other resources. Findings revealed a significant positive
association between perceived friendship quality and resilience. This relationship was
facilitated through inter-related mechanisms of developing a constructive coping style
(comprised of support-seeking and active coping), effort, a supportive friendship
network, and reduced disengaged and externalising coping. While protective processes
were encouragingly significantly present across genders, boys were more vulnerable to
the deleterious effects of disengaged and externalizing coping than girls. We suggest that
individual close friendships are an important potential protective mechanism accessible to
most adolescents. We discuss implications of the resulting Adolescent Friendship and
Resilience Model for resilience theories and integration into practice.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 338-358 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | British Journal of Psychology |
Volume | 107 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 25 Jun 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - May 2016 |