ADOLESCENT FRIENDSHIPS MEDIATING CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY AND ADULT OUTCOME

This interview based study compares the friendships of 50 girls, aged 15-16, identified on the basis of their childhood experiences as being at-risk for difficulties in early adult partnerships, with the friend ships of 50 girls of the same age from an inner-city school. Key diffe rences in the features of both romantic and non-romantic adolescent fr iendships between the two groups of girls give a clearer understanding of the processes linking childhood adversity and poor adult outcome. (C) 1997 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents .