ABSTRACT
Relationships with peers are of central importance to children throughout childhood and adolescence. They provide companionship and entertainment, help in solving problems, personal validation and emotional support, and especially during adolescence, a foundation for identity development. In addition, positive peer interactions tend to promote the development of perspective-taking and empathic skills that serve as bases for cooperative, prosocial, and nonaggressive types of behavior; positive relationships with peers also have been related consistently to a range of positive academically related accomplishments (Wentzel, 2005).
