Friendship and Cognitive Development

            Until recently, close relationships between children have not been studied in relationship to cognitive development. In commenting on research trends, Hartup (1996) observes that most research to date has centered on the impact of peer interactions and especially cooperation on cognitive development.  He identifies three major theorists:  Piaget, George Herbert Mead, and Vygotsky. While Piaget saw cooperation as playing an important role in children’s structuring of new strategies in problem solving, Vygotsky and Mead saw certain cognitive attributes as originating in social interactions.

The close emotional attachments between friends have generally not been studied in relationship to cognitive development.  Nevertheless, there is some evidence that friends are more talkative, mutually oriented, task-oriented, expressive with positive affect, affirmative, equitable in managing conflicts, and argumentative than nonfriends.  Hartup is cautious here, noting that few empirical studies have been done in this area.  But it appears that close relationships are important resources in cognitive regulation, and in particular, problem solving, communication, and creative activity (Hartup, 1996).

While some caution is warranted, there are certain questions that deserve mention before we turn our attention to the social development of the early adolescent:  (1)  Can friendship bonds mitigate against the decrease of creative problem solving and communication that is so characteristic of depression?  (2)  Similarly, do friendships bolster the cognitive aspects of coping for a child when parents are unavailable as coaches during a time of family stress?  (3) Can the tenuous results discussed above be generalized from child populations to young adolescents? (4) Do parents who have the added strain of long commutes to work have the same ability to encourage and facilitate friendships for their children and does this indirectly have an impact on the cognitive development of the young adolescent?  (5) Does the presence or absence of close friendships produce an effect upon a child’s mood via facilitation or hindrance of cognitive development (e.g., creative problem solving, internal dialogues)?

While most of these questions are beyond the scope of the present study, they point to a larger constellation of issues and interwoven aspects of cognitive development that must be kept in view when we consider the emotional experience of the early adolescent.  For example, if a 13-year-old daughter of parents with long commutes is depressed, it may prove that commuting stress has an indirect connection to her depression.  Perhaps her expertise within the domain of emotional self-regulation was negatively affected in years prior to adolescence while absent parents were unavailable to facilitate, encourage, and coach her in her development of close friendships.  Perhaps this lack of close friendships served to limit her repertoire of problem solving strategies in dealing with her own negative attributions about herself.

Social Development and the Emotional Experience of the Early Adolescent

            While cognitive and social development are necessarily interrelated, they constitute differing standpoints or platforms from which to view the emotional experience of children.  An attempt will be made here to identify the key aspects of social development that may pertain to the family experience of commuting stress and the affect of early adolescence.   We will examine the attachment relationships, needs and developmental tasks, family life cycle changes, friendship, and the interplay between rapid social change and the physiological stressors of puberty from the standpoint of socioemotional development.

Attachments

            In considering a child’s attachments within the context of his or her social development, it is useful to distinguish between attachments and friendships.  Kerns (1996) notes that in attachment theory, an attachment refers to a relationship with a someone who is stronger and wiser than one’s self (i.e., a caregiver or parent).  A secure attachment to a particular caregiver involves a child’s confidence in the responsiveness and availability of that caregiver.  Bowlby developed the notion that this confidence provides the child a secure base from to explore the world, face challenges, and then find a safe haven in times of distress (Bowlby, 1988).  Thus, attachment relationships differ from peer friendships by definition.