Girls struggle as much as boys with friendship trouble

Girls have difficulty coping when a friend disappoints them, a new study has found.

Earlier research indicated that girls are better with friendship than boys. But girls are just as likely as boys to say the would seek revenge against a friend or threaten to end the friendship in if a friend violated the expectations of friends, researchers found.

267 fourth and fifth grade students were presented with 16 hypothetical scenarios, such as a friend failing to help with a joint assignment, resulting in bad grades for both, or not sympathising over a sick pet.