Social support, loneliness and friendship preference among Asian adolescents

In this paper the support-seeking behavior of adolescents (aged 14 and 15 years) of South Asian and other backgrounds, the association between friendship choice and perceived feelings of loneliness, and the complex interrelationship between these variables were examined. Standardized psychological measures were administered to a sample of 824 adolescents. The findings for a weighted sample of 651 showed that Asian adolescents have higher levels of perceived feelings of loneliness and a lower level of preference for mixed-ethnic friendship than their non-Asian counterparts. A significant difference was also obtained on the support-seeking behavior between Asian and non-Asian adolescents. The development perspectives of the findings that are implicated in the socialization process are discussed.