The purposes of this research are 1) to describe the developmental progression of friendship formation and maintenance in infants, toddlers, and preschool children, and 2) to compare the process of friendship formation in emotionally disturbed children with that of friendship formation in normal children. Longitudinal observations were made in naturally occurring groups of children over a nine month period. Using dyads as the unit of analysis both frequencies of interaction and the sequential patterns of social behaviors will be compared for the effects of age and of time in the group. Comparisons will also be made for friends and nonfriends and for normal and emotionally disturbed children.