Girls' and Boys' Problem Talk: Implications for Emotional Closeness in Friendships

This research highlights the critical role of gender in the context of problem talk and social support in adolescents' friendships. Early-and middle-adolescents' (N ϭ 314 friend dyads; Ms ϭ 13.01 and 16.03 years) conversations about problems were studied using observation and a short-term longitudinal design. Mean-level gender differences emerged in that girls participated in problem talk more than boys and responded in a more positive and engaged manner to friends' statements about problems (e.g., by saying something supportive, asking a question) than did boys. Interestingly, boys used humor during problem talk more than girls. Despite mean-level differences, there were not gender differences in the functional significance of participating in problem talk and positive engaged responses in that these behaviors predicted increased friendship closeness for both boys and girls. In contrast, humor during problem talk predicted increased closeness only for boys, highlighting an understudied pathway to closeness in boys' friendships. The relational orientations of girls are more communal and interdependent as compared to boys. These orientations play out in a variety of ways in girls' and boys' relationships, including their tendency to talk about problems in friendships. Using an observational assessment, the current study of adolescents aimed to replicate previous work indicating that girls talk with friends about problems more than boys and to extend past research by examining in detail how girls and boys respond to friends' statements about problems (e.g., by offering support, changing the subject). Importantly, in addition to examining mean-level gender differences, the current study considered whether there are gender differences in the functional significance of problem talk in friendships. That is, a short-term prospective design was used to test whether the impact of problem talk on changes over time in adolescents' feelings of closeness in friendships differed for girls and boys. Of particular interest was whether (or not) behaviors that are particularly common among among girls or boys also have an especially strong impact on friendship for that gender. In addition, boys' use of humor during problem talk was considered as a possible under-studied pathway to friendship closeness for boys.