Trajectories of Perceived Friendship Quality DuringAdolescence: The Patterns

Findings are presented from an ecologically grounded, longitudinal study of 206 urban, ethnic minority adolescents that used hierarchical linear mode-ling to examine: (1) individual trajectories of change in adolescents ’ per-ceptions of general and closest same-sex friendship quality from middle to late adolescence; (2) the effects of gender and ethnicity on these trajectories of change; and (3) the relative influence of adolescents ’ perceptions of indi-vidual-level (i.e., self-esteem) and contextual-level (i.e., family relationships and school climate) variables on change over time in perceptions of friend-ship quality. Findings indicated that adolescents ’ perceptions of the quality of friendships improved from middle to late adolescence. Boys reported sharper increases over time than girls in their perceptions of the quality of their closest, same-sex friendships. Furthermore, perceptions of contextual level variables (i.e., family relationships, teacher/student relations, and stu-dent/student relations) were significantly associated with change over time in perceptions of general and/or closest same-sex friendship quality. Decades of research have underscored the importance of friendships for adolescents and revealed the ways in which friendships foster adoles