Play and Communicative Processes within Long- and Short-Term Friendship Dyads

Twenty-four dyads of 4-year-old children participated in this study. Six of the dyads were long-term friends (children who had been friends for three years), 12 dyads were short-term friends (friendships formed within the previous 6 months) and six of the dyads were never-friends. Children's joint play and communications were coded from videotapes. Dyads who more often used communicative behaviors to extend and clarify play also more often played in more complex ways. Long-term friendship dyads were more likely to use communicative behaviors that extended play and to play in a more complex way than either of the other two dyad types.