Is a friend truly a treasure? Evolution of friendship competence from pre-school up to the last year of primary school

A Friend is truly a treasure, in accordance with age and competence’s qualitative changes. The aim of this study was to confirm the increase in friendship competence and its multifactorial nature in 3- up to 10-year-old children, and to verify gender differences, and parenting influences on the concept of friendship. A semi-structured interview was administered in a natural context to 3- to 10-year-old children (N = 167; Mean = 7.6 years; SD = 2.16). According to Selman’s Model, the coding provides five sub-categories: (1) friendship; (2) social perspective taking; (3) emotions understanding; (4) social interaction strategies; and (5) aggressiveness. Three parental style questionnaires were administered to parents. Results point up an increase in social skills according to age. The Friendship Interview turned out to be a reliable tool able to investigate how the concept of friendship is also structured in preschool children.