What Research Says About Social Skills and Friendships in Children

Quick answer

Research on typical (non-clinical) children finds that social-skills training programmes improve interpersonal and emotional skills on average, especially when they explain a skill and then let children practise it. Research specifically on friendship interventions is concentrated in children with neurodevelopmental needs such as autism or ADHD, so it should not be applied directly to all children. Parents can reasonably help children practise joining in, taking turns and repairing conflict, while remembering that friendships also depend on opportunity, fit and time.

What social skills and friendships mean in research terms

Social skills are the behaviours used to interact well: greeting, listening, sharing, cooperating, and managing conflict. Friendship is a mutual, voluntary relationship; having skills does not automatically create one. CASEL's “relationship skills” and “social awareness” competencies, and UNICEF's interpersonal life skills, describe these abilities.

What researchers have studied

What researchers studied

de Mooij et al. (2020) meta-analysed 97 articles and 839 effect sizes on social-skills programmes for non-clinical children and adolescents. Cordier et al. (2023) systematically reviewed friendship interventions for children with neurodevelopmental conditions, including ADHD, autism, developmental language disorder and intellectual disability.

What they found

For non-clinical samples, programmes had positive average effects on interpersonal and emotional skills, with psychoeducation and skill-building linked to effects. The friendship review appraised intervention quality and effects specifically in neurodevelopmental groups.

What parents can reasonably conclude

Practising specific social behaviours is a reasonable way to support typical children's social skills.

What cannot be concluded

Findings from neurodevelopmental samples do not describe all children, and skill gains do not guarantee friendships.

What higher-quality evidence suggests

Evidence for social-skills training in general populations is reasonably strong on average. Evidence specifically about making and keeping friends in typical 8–14-year-olds is thinner, which is why this page does not claim that any programme creates friendships.

What the research does not prove

• It does not prove a child without many friends has a problem; some children prefer one or two close friends.
• It does not diagnose autism, ADHD or other conditions.
• It does not address bullying, which is a safety issue for adults and schools to act on.
• It does not show that LeadXkids courses improve friendships.

Practical implications for children aged 8–14

• Rehearse one move, such as asking to join a game, before trying it.
• Create repeated, low-pressure chances to be with the same peers.
• Talk through a conflict afterwards: what did each person want?
• If a child is isolated, distressed or being bullied, contact the school and, if needed, a qualified professional.

How LeadXkids approaches social skills

LeadXkids stories show characters handling moments such as being left out, joining a new group or feeling jealous of a friend. Children choose responses, see possible outcomes and reflect on one action to try. This describes how the product is designed. The studies on this page did not evaluate LeadXkids, and they do not show that LeadXkids courses produce these outcomes.