The Development of Comforting Communication Skills in Childhood and Adolescence

BURLESON, BRANT R. The Development of Comforting Communication Skills in Childhood and Adolescence. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 1578-1588. This study provides an analysis of the effects of age, sex, and communicative situations on several comforting communication skills. 12 subjects (6 males and 6 females) from each grade, 1 through 12, responded to 4 hypothetical situations in which a same-sex friend was experiencing some form of emotional distress. For each situation, subjects were specifically asked to state everything they might say to make their distressed friend feel better. Subjects' messages were coded for the number and variety of message strategies employed and for the extent to which these message strategies evidenced sensitivity to the feelings and perspective of the distressed other. Analyses indicated that the number, variety, and sensitivity of comfort-intended message strategies increased significantly with age; subsidiary analyses further indicated that these increases were largely monotonic in character. Females used a greater number, a greater variety, and qualitatively more sensitive comforting strategies than did males. A situation involving a conflict between a friend and a liked teacher was found to elicit significantly fewer strategies than 3 other situations. These results are discussed within the context of previous research on the development of social cognition, prosocial behavior, and functional communication skills.