The Negativity Cycle of Friendship

Knowing your child has best friends is a good thing, right?

Well apparently a recent study reported that some friendships are based upon a cycle of negativity. That is, young girls (mainly) and boys get into a friend relationship that starts to focus on problems they are having with peers or parents, at school or at home, and it spirals to a point that the friendship is thriving more on the negative thoughts and experiences not positive ones.

Sorry, I cannot find the reference but I certainly see that sometimes friendships of young (and old) get into patterns which can be either negative or positive. One thing the study's author said was that as parents we should be aware of our children's friends (not always an easy task) and try to move them away from such friendships (an impossible task with teens). Sometimes the result of these types of friendships can lead to emotional problems such as increased anxiety.

Just another thing to think about as a parent.