Protective and Promotive Factors for Healthy Peer Relationships Among Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Background and Purpose: Adolescent peer relationships include ongoing social ties with similar-aged friends and broader peer networks. Negative peer relationships, marked by patterns of aggression and victimization and approval of violence norms, have been linked to both IPV perpetration and victimization in adulthood. As part of the PROTECT-IPV Project, this systematic review was conducted to understand factors protecting against or mitigating poor peer relationships and factors promoting positive peer relationships in adolescence as an avenue to interrupt the pathway to IPV in adulthood. We also explore how youth’s social identities (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation) influence positive peer relationships among youth.

Methods: A total of 1,365 articles published between 2004-2024 were identified from a search in ten databases. Studies were included if they were empirical, discussed a protective factor related to peer relationships among adolescents (10-19 years old), and were published in English. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess data quality on a range of 1-5.

Results: The final synthesis included 38 studies. Studies were generally of high quality, with 68% of studies scoring 4 or 5. Peer relationships were assessed via three outcomes: friendship quality/closeness (n = 16), bullying and/or violence perpetration or victimization (n = 18), and involvement with deviant peers (n = 4). Protective factors were observed across multiple domains: individual (e.g., self-esteem, resilience), peer (e.g., support, trust), family (e.g., parental warmth, communication), school (e.g., student-teacher relationships, school climate), and technology (e.g., messaging with friends). The role of some protective factors differed based on identity (race, gender), but the representation of minoritized identities was limited within the included studies. While girls generally experienced higher levels of peer violence, certain protective factors (empathy, prosocial behavior, father’s warmth) benefit girls more than boys, while boys tend to experience more barriers to developing and maintaining positive peer relationships. Included studies offered no exploration of protective factors based on gender minority identity or sexual orientation.

Conclusions and Implications: Individual protective factors were particularly salient among early adolescence (ages 12-14), peer protective factors emerged during early to mid adolescence (ages 12-17), and technology-based protective factors were impactful among mid to late adolescence (ages 15-19). Clinical interventions centered on developing internal strengths, increasing trust and empathy within peer support, and building supportive school and community environments may promote positive peer relationships, and in turn, healthier relationships in adulthood. Technology played a pivotal role in peer relationship development and maintenance, warranting further examination. Broadly, the included studies emphasized the need for more longitudinal, causal research with diverse populations and larger samples to continue to explore the relationships between promotive factors and peer relationship outcomes. Overall, this review identified empirical support for protective and promotive factors for positive peer relationships among youth across ecological systems, advancing proximal prevention and intervention opportunities for adolescent peer relationship development and maintenance, and laying a foundation for developmental prevention of IPV.