How to help kids navigate friendships and peer relationships

“How your child relates with peers and friends might seem like something you have little control over. But, parents and caregivers can make a big difference in helping their children develop healthy relationships and friendships, using tools that sustain them later in life.

“A lot of times parents think, ‘Kids will be kids—as long as they’re coming home and doing what I want them to do, that’s all that matters,’” said Mitch Prinstein, PhD, chief science officer at APA, who studies peer relations in kids. But research shows that children who are likeable among their classmates in childhood fare better than those who are less likeable, perhaps because negative peer interactions promote patterns of aggressive behavior and low confidence.

Here are ways to help your child grow into a socially savvy adult, based on psychological science…”

Continue Reading at https://www.apa.org/topics/parenting/navigating-friendships