Predictors of friendship stability in school-age students and the role of classroom composition change

Abstract

Friendship can buffer the negative effects of peer rejection, but most friendships are not stable throughout an entire school year. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of grade, years in school, gender, same-gender friendships, peer rejection, and previous friendship instability on friendship stability across one school year. The moderating effect of classroom composition change was also examined. Data were collected from students in Grades 1 to 8 (n = 380, 5 to 14 years old) in one school at the beginning, middle, and end of a school year. Path models indicated that older students were more likely to retain their friends throughout the school year. Greater friendship instability and peer rejection at the beginning of the year predicted fewer stable friendships. New students were more likely to be rejected and less likely to have stable friendships in classrooms without a change in composition from the previous year than in those with a change. Changing classroom composition seems to give new students the same opportunities as their established peers.