Best Friendships of Students with and Without Learning Disabilities Across Late Elementary School (Report‪)‬

Friendships are a vital part of positive adaptation in the school context. The beginning of formal schooling can be a stressful time for young children, and friendships help children to successfully make this transition (Ladd, 1990; Ladd & Price, 1987; Tomada, Schneider, de Domini, Greenman, & Fonzi, 2005). Once in school, high-quality friendships are associated with positive school attitudes and can lessen the likelihood of being victimized by peers (Fox & Boulton, 2006; Hodges, Boivin, Vitaro, & Bukowski, 1999; Ladd, Kochenderfer, & Coleman, 1996). Having even a single friendship has been shown to reduce the negative impact of general peer rejection, including reducing feelings of loneliness (Parker & Asher, 1993) and the subsequent externalizing and internalizing behaviors that often arise from social marginalization (Laursen, Bukowski, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2007). In contrast, a lack of friendships predicts lower prosocial behavior, higher emotional distress, and lower levels of achievement (Wentzel, Barry, & Caldwell, 2004). Bagwell, Newcomb, and Bukowski (1998) found that the effects of friendships endure: having a friendship in fifth grade was associated with higher levels of self-worth in adulthood, whereas preadolescent isolation predicted symptoms of psychopathology 12 years later. Taken together, the extant literature suggests that close friendships are a key factor to students' success in school and subsequent functioning as young adults. Friendships have major implications for positive emotional and academic development. However, research has long shown that students with learning disabilities struggle socially (Estell et al., 2008; Kavale & Forness, 1996; Kuhne & Wiener, 2000; Pearl et al., 1998; Vaughn, Hogan, Kouzekanani, & Shapiro, 1990). Maximizing the socioemotional and cognitive outcomes for students with special needs requires a comprehensive understanding of friendship patterns of students with exceptionalities. Toward this end, the present study examines several variables that Wiener (2002, 2004) identifies as among the key factors characterizing friendships: the presence, number, stability, and identity of friendships. Due to the important changes in the nature and function of friendships in late childhood and early adolescence (Berndt, 1982), these relationships are studied from fourth through sixth grade in students with and without learning disabilities.