Making boy friends at early age risky--study

According to the latest study, girls tend to initiate the transition to other-sex friendship network earlier than boys, and are faster in befriending males during adolescence.

As a result, girls who experience this transition early and fast are more likely to fall prey to substance abuse in late adolescence, the Science Daily reports.

The study, published in the 'Journal of Research on Adolescence,' suggests that among girls, antisocial behavior and early pubertal maturation accelerates the increase in the proportion of other-sex friends.

400 teenagers studied
In order to determine the gender specific impact on peer relationships, the researchers at the University of Quebec a Montreal in Canada followed a sample of 400 adolescents, 58 percent of whom were girls, ages 12 to 18 years, from a French speaking school in Canada.

The participants were interviewed annually for over 7 years about their peer relationships and their use of alcohol and drugs.

Study findings
The study found girls at a greater risk of substance abuse if they bonded with boys more rapidly than others during early adolescence.

Conversely, boys were less likely to drink and dope if they developed rapid networks with opposite-sex during adolescence.

Lead researcher Dr. Francois Poulin at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, said, "Peer relationships are considered to be one of the main risk factors for substance use. However, for boys, the formation of other-sex friendships is not associated with later substance use problems.

“Boys reported receiving higher levels of emotional support from their other-sex friends, whereas girls receive more support from their same-sex friends.

“It is possible that having other-sex friends is protective for boys because they gain emotional support and are therefore less likely to engage in problem behaviour."

It was also found that teenage girls tended to friend older males in out-of-school context more frequently then they did in same-sex friendship.

Since legal drinking age in Canada is 18 years, making it difficult for younger girls to buy their own drink, older boys at one point may make alcohol accessible to them.

The study was supported by research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from the Fonds Québécois pour la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture.

Parents' vigilance might help daughters from abuse
Researchers asserted the findings as worrisome and said that parents should take an active part in monitoring their growing daughter's friendships, especially with older boys.

However, the study authors maintained that once the transition is completed in middle adolescence, the impact of male friendship on girls' problem behaviors fades out.

Mixed-gender networks become normal by the time girls reach late adolescence. In fact, girls are more likely to get romantically involved with their male peers at this age.

Researchers are planning to further study the longitudinal associations between other-sex friends and other outcomes such as educational achievement and antisocial behavior.