Editing Adolescence (section)

====Peers====
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Peer groups are essential to social and general development. Communication with peers increases significantly during adolescence and peer relationships become more intense than in other stages<ref>Papalia, D.E., Olds, S.W., Feldman, R.D., & Kruk, R. (2004). ''A Child's World: Infancy through Adolescence (First Canadian Ed.)'' McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. pp. 444–451</ref> and more influential to the teen, affecting both the decisions and choices being made.<ref name="Swanson">{{Citation |last1= Swanson |first1= D.P. |last2=Edwards |first2=M.C. |last3=Spencer |first3=M.B. |title=Adolescence: Development during a global era |publisher=Elsevier Academic Press |place= Boston |year=2010}}</ref> High quality friendships may enhance children's development regardless of the characteristics of those friends. As children begin to bond with various people and create friendships, it later helps them when they are adolescent and sets up the framework for adolescence and peer groups.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Berndt|first=Thomas J.|title=Friendship Quality and Social Development | journal = Current Directions in Psychological Science|date=February 2002|volume=11|issue=1|pages=7–10|doi=10.1111/1467-8721.00157|s2cid=14785379}}</ref>
[[Peer group]]s are especially important during adolescence, a period of development characterized by a dramatic increase in time spent with peers<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Larson R. |author2=Richards M. |year = 1991 | title = Daily companionship in late childhood and early adolescence: Changing developmental contexts | journal = Child Development | volume = 62 | issue = 2| pages = 284–300 | doi = 10.2307/1131003 | pmid = 2055123|jstor=1131003 }}</ref> and a decrease in adult supervision.<ref>Brown, B. (1990). Peer groups. In S. Feldman & G. Elliot (Eds.), ''At the threshold: The developing adolescent'', pp.&nbsp;171–196. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.</ref> Adolescents also associate with friends of the opposite sex much more than in childhood<ref>Brown, B. (2004). Adolescents' relationships with peers. In R. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), ''Handbook of adolescent psychology''. New York: Wiley.</ref> and tend to identify with larger groups of peers based on shared characteristics.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Eder D | year = 1985 | title = The cycle of popularity: Interpersonal relations among female adolescence | journal = Sociology of Education | volume = 58 | issue = 3| pages = 154–165 | doi = 10.2307/2112416 | jstor = 2112416 }}</ref> It is also common for adolescents to use friends as coping devices in different situations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shin |first1=Huiyoung |last2=Ryan |first2=Allison M. |title=How do Young Adolescents Cope With Social Problems? An Examination of Social Goals, Coping With Friends, and Social Adjustment |journal=The Journal of Early Adolescence |date=December 2012 |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=851–875 |doi=10.1177/0272431611429944 |s2cid=144031307 }}</ref> A three-factor structure of dealing with friends including avoidance, mastery, and nonchalance has shown that adolescents use friends as coping devices with [[social stress]]es.

Communication within peer groups allows adolescents to explore their feelings and identity as well as develop and evaluate their social skills. Peer groups offer members the opportunity to develop social skills such as empathy, sharing, and leadership. Adolescents choose peer groups based on characteristics similarly found in themselves.<ref name="Rawlins"/> By utilizing these relationships, adolescents become more accepting of who they are becoming. Group norms and values are incorporated into an adolescent's own self-concept.<ref name="Swanson"/> Through developing new communication skills and reflecting upon those of their peers, as well as self-opinions and values, an adolescent can share and express emotions and other concerns without fear of rejection or judgment. Peer groups can have positive influences on an individual, such as on academic motivation and performance. However, while peers may facilitate social development for one another they may also hinder it. Peers can have negative influences, such as encouraging experimentation with drugs, drinking, vandalism, and stealing through peer pressure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Peer-groups.html |title=Peer groups – children, therapy, adults, drug, people, skills, effect, women |publisher=Minddisorders.com |access-date=September 15, 2012}}</ref> Susceptibility to peer pressure increases during early adolescence, peaks around age 14, and declines thereafter.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=18020830|year=2007|last1=Steinberg|first1=L|last2=Monahan|first2=KC|title=Age Differences in Resistance to Peer Influence|volume=43|issue=6|pages=1531–43|doi=10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1531|pmc=2779518|journal=Developmental Psychology}}</ref> Further evidence of peers hindering social development has been found in Spanish teenagers, where emotional (rather than solution-based) reactions to problems and emotional instability have been linked with physical aggression against peers.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Carlo G. |author2=Mestre M. V. |author3=McGinley M. M. |author4=Samper P. |author5=Tur A. |author6=Sandman D. | year = 2012 | title = The interplay of emotional instability, empathy, and coping on prosocial and aggressive behaviors | journal = Personality and Individual Differences | volume = 53 | issue = 5| pages = 675–680 | doi=10.1016/j.paid.2012.05.022| hdl=10550/77037 |s2cid=2672618 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Both [[Assault|physical]] and [[relational aggression]] are linked to a vast number of enduring psychological difficulties, especially depression, as is [[social rejection]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=French D. |author2=Conrad J. | year = 2001 | title = School dropout as predicted by peer rejection and antisocial behavior | journal = Journal of Research on Adolescence | volume = 11 | issue = 3| pages = 225–244 | doi = 10.1111/1532-7795.00011 }}</ref> Because of this, bullied adolescents often develop problems that lead to further victimization.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hodges E, Perry D | year = 1999 | title = Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | volume = 76 | issue = 4| pages = 677–685 | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.76.4.677 | pmid = 10234851 }}</ref> Bullied adolescents are more likely to both continue to be bullied and to bully others in the future.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Jose P. E. |author2=Kljakovic M. |author3=Scheib E. |author4=Notter O. | year = 2012 | title = The Joint Development of Traditional Bullying and Victimization With Cyber Bullying and Victimization in Adolescence | journal = Journal of Research on Adolescence | volume = 22 | issue = 2| pages = 301–309 | doi = 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00764.x }}</ref> However, this relationship is less stable in cases of [[cyberbullying]], a relatively new issue among adolescents.

Adolescents tend to associate with "cliques" on a small scale and "crowds" on a larger scale. During early adolescence, adolescents often associate in [[Adolescent cliques|cliques]], exclusive, single-sex groups of peers with whom they are particularly close. Despite the common{{According to whom|date=April 2016}} notion that cliques are an inherently negative influence, they may help adolescents become socially acclimated and form a stronger sense of identity. Within a clique of highly athletic male-peers, for example, the clique may create a stronger sense of fidelity and competition. Cliques also have become somewhat a "collective parent", i.e. telling the adolescents what to do and not to do.<ref>Grier, Peter. "The Heart of a High School: Peers As Collective Parent." ''The Christian Science Monitor''. April 24, 2000: n.p. ''SIRS Researcher''. Web. October 25, 2010.</ref> Towards late adolescence, cliques often merge into mixed-sex groups as teenagers begin romantically engaging with one another.<ref name="Connolly J 2004">{{cite journal |author1=Connolly J. |author2=Craig W. |author3=Goldberg A. |author4=Pepler D. | year = 2004 | title = Mixed-gender groups, dating, and romantic relationships in early adolescence | journal = Journal of Research on Adolescence | volume = 14 | issue = 2| pages = 185–207 | doi = 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2004.01402003.x |citeseerx=10.1.1.578.7047 }}</ref> These small friend groups then break down further as socialization becomes more couple-oriented. On a larger scale, adolescents often associate with ''crowds'', groups of individuals who share a common interest or activity. Often, crowd identities may be the basis for stereotyping young people, such as [[Jock (athlete)|jocks]] or [[nerd]]s. In large, multi-ethnic high schools, there are often ethnically determined crowds.<ref>{{cite journal | author1 = Brown, B. |last2=Subrahmanyam| first2=Kaveri | last3=Greenfield| first3=Patricia|date= Spring 2008|title= Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships|journal= The Future of Children| volume=18| issue=1 |pages=119–146| doi=10.1353/foc.0.0006| pmid= 21338008 |s2cid=10958863}}</ref> Adolescents use online technology to experiment with emerging identities and to broaden their peer groups, such as increasing the amount of friends acquired on Facebook and other social media sites.<ref name="Swanson"/> Some adolescents use these newer channels to enhance relationships with peers however there can be negative uses as well such as cyberbullying, as mentioned previously, and negative impacts on the family.<ref name="Subrahmanyam">{{Cite journal|last1=Subrahmanyam| first1=Kaveri | last2=Greenfield| first2=Patricia|date= Spring 2008|title= Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships|journal= The Future of Children| volume=18| issue=1 |pages=119–146| doi=10.1353/foc.0.0006| pmid=21338008 | s2cid=10958863 }}</ref>