Adult communicative play is a pervasive interpersonal phenomenon and a defining element of most close friendships. With a few notable exceptions (e.g., Aune & Wong 2002; Aune & Wong, 2012; Baxter, 1992), adult communicative play is largely understudied within the field of interpersonal communication. A primary factor in satisfaction with friends is fulfillment of relational needs, specifically the needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, as described by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). In this project, I report two studies exploring the impact of play within close friendships. Study 1 examined the relationships between and among adult communicative play, interpersonal needs, and relationship satisfaction in close, same-sex, platonic friends. The results indicated support for all hypotheses, including support for the theoretical path model. In this path model, a) the effect of adult communicative play on relationship satisfaction is mediated by interpersonal need satisfaction and b) the effect of playfulness on satisfaction is fully mediated by play. Study 2 sought, first, to replicate the findings of Study 1 and, second, to extend Study 1 by exploring whether playfulness and play scores of one friend are associated with his or her partner’s satisfaction, as well as whether playfulness scores are associated with a partner’s score on play. Because of poor model fit in Study 2, the results of Study 1 could not be replicated; instead, post hoc alternative models were explored. Furthermore, path analysis results of an actor-partner interdependence model for indistinguishable pairs revealed that one partner’s playfulness is associated with the other’s reporting of play and one partner’s play is associated with the other’s relationship satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and future recommendations are then discussed.

Bakgrund: Bakgrunden till denna studie är att tidigare forskning har visat att det finns många unga individer som kan beskriva känslan av att vara blyg och hur de lever med denna. Tidigare studier har varit inriktade på barn och ungdomar med målet att komma fram till en kategorisering av de unga, och det leder till att denna studie har en annorlunda vinkling av blyghet. Den teoriram som studien utgår ifrån är symbolisk interaktionism och social interaktion med begreppen generaliserande och signifikanta andra samt främre och bakre regioner. Syfte: Följande studie har som syfte att förstå hur barn och ungdomar ser på blyghet. Syftet är även att se hur unga individer hanterar blyghet i sina kamratrelationer under skoltiden. Frågeställningarna som har undersökts är: Hur beskriver barn och ungdomar blyghet?; Vilken betydelse har kamratrelationer för ungas sätt att hantera blyghet?; Vilka föreställningar finns om blyghet i situationer med nära och flyktiga relationer?; Hur upplever unga att blyghet hanteras genom strukturerade miljöer som i klassrummen, och i friare valda umgängesformer som under luncher, raster, innan och efter skolan? Metod: Genom att arbeta med semistrukturerade intervjuer där varje informant ges utrymme till att själv beskriva sina tankar och ord om blyghet i förhållande till kamratrelationer, tydlig-görs att utgångspunkten är en kvalitativ metod. En förståelse av att individer har egna sätt att se på fenomenet finns med under studien och det leder sedan fram till resultatet. Resultat och slutsatser: Resultaten visar att de tillfrågade barnen och ungdomarna hanterar blyghet på olika sätt, då en del väljer att hålla sig undan blyga människor och andra vill hjälpa dem. De har även egna ord på vad blyghet innebär, i och med att de flesta upplever det som ett negativt sinnestillstånd, medan några få informanter kan se det positiva med blyghet. Enligt dessa finns det nämligen fördelar med att som individ inte vilja vara i fokus hela tiden, att förstå andra samtidigt som en försiktighet hindrar den från att vara elak mot andra, och slutligen ser de en positiv aspekt av att blyghet gör att individen inte tjatar, utan i större utsträckning lyssnar. / Background: The background of this study is previous research has shown that there are sev-eral young individuals whom can describe shyness and how to live with it. Previous studies have had a focus on children and youth with the purpose of categorizing them, which leads this study to have a different approach to shyness. The study is based on symbolic interactionism and social interaction using the terms generalized others/significant others along with Front Stage/Back Stage. Aim: This study has an aim to understand how children and youth perceive shyness. The aim is also to see how young individuals handle shyness in friendships during school-hours. The leading questions which have been studied are: How does children and youths describe shyness?; To what degree does friendships affect young individuals ability to handle shyness?; Which conceptions about shyness exists in regards to close and transient relationships?; How does young individuals perceive how shyness is handled in structured environments such as in the classroom and in chosen relations with people such as lunch breaks, time between classes, before, and after school? Methods: By working with semi-structured interviews where each interviewee is freely able to describe their thoughts and words regarding shyness in relation to friendships, it's clarified that the basis of this study is qualitative. An understanding that individuals have their own perspec-tive on the phenomenon is incorporated into the study which leads to the result. Results and conclusions: The result shows that the interviewed children and youths handle shyness in different ways as some choose to keep away from shy individuals while others want to help them. They also have their own words to describe what shyness entitles since most find it to be a negative experience while some interviewees can see something positive with it. According to them there are advantages by not wanting to be in the spotlight, to understand others while caution prevents the person from being mean to them, and finally they find a positive aspect when shyness leads the individual to not badger, and instead listens to a greater extent.

Illicit use of prescription stimulants (IUPS) has become more common in the late adolescent and emerging adulthood populations. This study examined the impact of close friend and parent disapproval/approval on IUPS in college students. A sample of 903 college students (MAge = 19.23) completed a questionnaire assessing variables including lifetime IUPS (14.59% of sample), and perceived close friend/parent disapproval/approval of either academic or recreational IUPS. A 2 X 2 chi-square test of independence was used to analyze data regarding perceived close friend/parent disapproval/approval and IUPS. There were four primary findings. First, students were significantly less likely to report having engaged in IUPS if they perceived close friend (CHI2 (1) = 55.99, p < .001) or parent disapproval (CHI2 (1) = 31.99, p < .001) of IUPS for academic purposes. Second, students were significantly less likely to report having engaged in IUPS if they perceived close friend disapproval of IUPS for recreational purposes (CHI2 (1) = 24.38, p < .001). Third, students were significantly more likely to report having engaged in IUPS if they perceived close friend approval (CHI2 (1) = 51.17, p < .001) and parent approval (CHI2 (1) = 7.87, p = .005) for academically-motivated IUPS. Fourth, students were significantly more likely to report having engaged in IUPS if they perceived close friend approval for recreationally-motivated IUPS (CHI2 (1) = 33.86, p < .001). Future researchers should focus on conducting longitudinal studies to confirm if perceived close friend and parent approval function as risk factors for IUPS and if disapproval functions as a protective factor. Future research is also needed to help identify whether student perceptions of disapproval and approval are accurate (i.e., do close friends and parents really approve or disapprove of IUPS?). Finally, investigators should work to assess whether increased perceptions of disapproval can function to reduce level of IUPS (i.e., not just lifetime prevalence) and whether increases in perceived approval function to exacerbate IUPS. Results of these kinds of research efforts would better inform whether psychoeducational interventions should target decreasing approval and increasing disapproval perceptions in order to both prevent and reduce IUPS behaviors.