The impact of living on the streets on latency children's friendships.

OBJECTIVE This is a study to evaluate friendships in latency street boys of Porto Alegre, RGS, Brazil. METHODS A sample of 30 latency street boys was compared with a sample of 51 latency boys living with their low income families, using the Cornell Interview of Peers and Friends (CIPF). RESULTS The two groups had a significantly different CIPF global scores, and the boys of the street group had the highest mean score. Also, boys of the street had significantly lower developmental appropriateness, self-esteem and social skills scores than boys living with a family. CONCLUSIONS The urgent need for intervention street children, especially on boys of the street, is emphasized.