Dyadic analyses of friendship in a sample of preschool-age children attending Head Start: correspondence between measures and implications for social competence.

Friendships among a large sample of preschool-age children (N = 471) attending Head Start were assessed. Based on sociometric data, friendship dyads were identified as reciprocated (mutual choice) or nonreciprocated (unilateral choice). Dyads were further classified with respect to gender composition as either same- or mixed-gender dyads. Older children were more likely to participate in a reciprocated friendship than were younger children and reciprocated dyads were more likely to be same-gender than were nonreciprocated dyads. Analyses of interaction between dyad partners revealed that reciprocated friends interacted more frequently across all categories of interaction coded and looked at each other more frequently than did members of nonreciprocated dyads. For the positive interaction subscore, the friendship status effect was modified by a significant interaction with gender composition such that significant effects of friendship status were obtained only for same-gender dyads. Additional analyses indicated that the average social competence level was greater for reciprocated dyads than for nonreciprocated dyads. The findings suggest that reciprocated friendships are meaningful for preschool-age children and may serve as special socialization contexts in which the repertoire of behavior can be exercised and perhaps improved. They also highlight the salience of same-gender friendships in the preschool classroom.