Description

The Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS-23) is one of the most widely recognized psychometric instruments for assessing the quality of friendships during childhood and adolescence. Developed by Bukowski, Hoza, and Boivin (1994), the scale was designed to capture the fundamental dimensions of close friendships and to examine how friendship quality contributes to children’s and adolescents’ psychosocial development.

Unlike instruments that merely assess the number of friends or the frequency of social interactions, the FQS-23 focuses on the qualitative characteristics of friendship. It evaluates the extent to which friends provide emotional support, mutual trust, intimacy, companionship, and a sense of security, while also examining how conflicts and disagreements are managed within the relationship.

The scale consists of 23 statements organized into five core dimensions:

  • Companionship, assessing the frequency of shared activities and enjoyment of spending time together;
  • Validation and Caring, evaluating mutual respect, acceptance, emotional support, and appreciation;
  • Help and Guidance, measuring the willingness of friends to provide assistance and advice during challenging situations;
  • Intimate Exchange, assessing self-disclosure, confidentiality, emotional closeness, and mutual trust;
  • Conflict and Betrayal, examining the frequency of disagreements, interpersonal tension, and negative interactions within the friendship.

The Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS-23) is widely used in developmental psychology, educational psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, school counseling, social psychology, and pediatric mental health research, providing valuable insights into the role of friendship quality in promoting healthy social and emotional development.

Analysis

The Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS-23) enables a comprehensive assessment of interpersonal relationship quality and its contribution to the psychosocial development of children and adolescents.

FQS-23 scores can be used to:

  • evaluate the overall quality of close friendships;
  • examine specific dimensions of friendship, including trust, emotional support, intimacy, companionship, and conflict;
  • investigate the relationship between friendship quality and self-esteem, mental health, emotional well-being, and social adjustment;
  • examine the influence of friendship quality on loneliness, anxiety, depression, peer acceptance, academic adjustment, and school engagement;
  • evaluate interventions designed to improve social competence, interpersonal skills, peer relationships, and bullying prevention;
  • compare friendship characteristics across different age groups, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and educational settings.

In research settings, FQS-23 data are commonly analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analyses (Cronbach’s α), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Pearson or Spearman correlation analyses, group comparisons (independent-samples t-tests, ANOVA, and MANOVA), multiple regression analyses, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships between friendship quality and a broad range of psychological, behavioral, educational, and social variables.

Objective

The primary objective of the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS-23) is to provide a reliable and valid assessment of the qualitative characteristics of close friendships and their contribution to children’s and adolescents’ emotional, social, and psychological development.

More specifically, the instrument aims to:

  • assess the quality of close friendship relationships;
  • evaluate mutual trust, emotional support, cooperation, and interpersonal closeness;
  • investigate the role of friendship in the development of social competence, resilience, and emotional adjustment;
  • identify interpersonal difficulties that may be associated with psychosocial challenges;
  • support clinical practice and research focused on social development, loneliness, peer victimization, bullying prevention, mental health, and quality of life.

The FQS-23 contributes to a deeper understanding of the protective role of healthy friendships and provides valuable information for designing interventions that promote social inclusion, emotional well-being, and positive peer relationships among children and adolescents.

Scoring

The Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS-23) consists of 23 statements, each rated using a Likert-type response scale, in which respondents indicate the extent to which each statement describes their relationship with a close friend.

Separate scores are calculated for each subscale, while an overall friendship quality index may also be derived.

  • Higher scores on the positive subscales indicate stronger mutual trust, greater emotional support, more effective communication, increased companionship, and higher overall friendship quality.
  • Higher scores on the Conflict and Betrayal subscale indicate more frequent disagreements, interpersonal tension, conflict, and dysfunctional interaction patterns within the friendship.
  • Lower scores on the positive dimensions may reflect limited emotional closeness, reduced trust, weaker interpersonal support, and lower-quality friendship relationships.

The psychometric properties of the FQS-23 have been confirmed across numerous international studies, demonstrating high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α typically exceeding 0.80 for most subscales), strong test–retest reliability, and robust convergent and discriminant validity. Its five-factor structure has been consistently supported through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), while Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has further confirmed the stability of the instrument across diverse populations and cultural contexts.

References

Bukowski, W. M., Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1994). Measuring friendship quality during pre- and early adolescence: The development and psychometric properties of the Friendship Qualities Scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11(3), 471–484.

Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1993). Friendship quality and friendship processes in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(4), 611–621.

Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(1), 7–10.

Bagwell, C. L., & Schmidt, M. E. (2011). Friendships in Childhood and Adolescence. Guilford Press.

Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W. M., & Bowker, J. C. (2015). Children in Peer Groups. In Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science (7th ed.). Wiley.

Bukowski, W. M., Laursen, B., & Rubin, K. H. (2018). Handbook of Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.