Extending past research on the social and academic disruption associated with the transition from middle to high school, this study examined the role of friendship stability. Specifically, the goal was to investigate how friendships maintained from middle school and perceived (academic and emotional) support from friends at ninth grade contributed to school-related affect (e.g., school belonging, academic identification, burnout) at 10^th grade. Relying on a sample of 3410 ethnically diverse ninth grade students, multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) was conducted on 17,255 friendships. Friendships maintained from middle to high school (versus newly formed) provided greater academic support, and students with a greater number of stable friends reported higher levels of both academic and emotional support from friends. Tests of multiple mediation revealed that friendship maintenance across the high school transition was related with more positive school affect at 10^th grade, in part due to higher levels of perceived academic support from friends (e.g., homework help, course-taking advice), but not emotional support. The findings underscore the academic value of maintaining social ties across the high school transition.

这项研究扩展了过去对与从初中到高中过渡相关的社会和学术破坏的研究，考察了友谊稳定性的作用。具体而言，目标是调查从中学开始的友谊和九年级朋友的感知（学术和情感）支持如何影响 10 岁时与学校相关的影响（例如，学校归属感、学业认同、倦怠^）年级。依靠 3410 名不同种族的九年级学生的样本，对 17,255 个友谊进行了多层次结构方程模型 (MSEM)。从初中到高中保持的友谊（相对于新建立的友谊）提供了更大的学术支持，拥有更多稳定朋友的学生报告说，来自朋友的学术和情感支持水平更高。多重中介测试表明，高中过渡期间的友谊维持与 10 年级时更积极的学校影响有关^，部分原因是来自朋友的更高水平的感知学术支持（例如，家庭作业帮助、课程建议），但不是情感支持。研究结果强调了在整个高中过渡期间保持社会联系的学术价值。