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Friendship and Romantic Relationships During Early and Middle Childhood

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  • Eleonora Cannoni
  • Anna Silvia Bombi

Abstract

Ideas about romantic relationships have been studied in adolescents. This article extends this study to younger children. We asked two hundred seventy 5- to 11-year-olds to draw “two children who have a romance†and “two children who are friends,†and we subsequently interviewed each participant about the characters’ relationships. The drawings were coded with three scales of Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships (PAIR), an instrument by Bombi, Pinto, and Cannoni. Interviews were categorized by the characters’ age and identity and by the distinguishing features of romance and friendship: location, intimacy, activity, personal characteristics, and emotions. Scale scores were compared with variance analyses, whereas the categories frequencies were submitted to chi-square. Results showed that all participants were able to distinguish the two relationships, even if the descriptions increased in detail with age. Girls provided more information than boys about romance, but were less inclined to talk about their own romantic experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleonora Cannoni & Anna Silvia Bombi, 2016. "Friendship and Romantic Relationships During Early and Middle Childhood," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(3), pages 21582440166, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:3:p:2158244016659904
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244016659904
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laghi, Fiorenzo & Baiocco, Roberto & Cannoni, Eleonora & Di Norcia, Anna & Baumgartner, Emma & Bombi, Anna Silvia, 2013. "Friendship in children with internalizing and externalizing problems: A preliminary investigation with the Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1095-1100.
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