sex have poorer social functioning abilities. Yet, when children have friends primarily of the same sex, but some cross-sex friendships, they tend to be more well-adjusted and have stronger social skills. Additional studies conducted by Bell and Kalmijn oppose these negative observations behind cross-sex friendships in children, concluding that cross-sex friendships help children overcome communication barriers with the opposite sex, granting them an advantage with their social and communication skills later on. Their studies also observed that cross-sex friendships in children incorporate stronger senses of nurturance and intimacy that lack in same-sex friendships. Cross-sex friendships in adolescence are very different than in childhood. In adolescence, cross-sex friendships are not only more accepted by peers, but also can increase an individual's social status among same-sex peers. A study on adolescents in 6th through 8th grade conducted by Malow-Iroff (2006) discovered that adolescents often use the creation of cross-sex friends as a road to popularity because children with both cross-sex and same-sex friends are more accepted by both sexes. Adolescents mainly look for cross-sex friends who are sociable, as they expect less from these friendships as they do from same-sex friends. Another study by Ami Flam Kuttler, Annette M. La Greca, and Mitchell J Prinstein surveyed 223 students from grades 10 through 12. The study concluded that although the number of cross-sex friendships in adolescents increase with age, both girls and boys felt a sense of stronger companionship and prosocial support with their friends of the same sex. However, adolescent boys claimed they felt as if their female companions provide support in regards to self-esteem more so than males. In addition to these findings, the study concluded that adolescents with predominately cross-sex friendships at these ages is perceived in relation to a lower social acceptance, rather than attaining to social or behavioral complications as observed in children through middle childhood. Touch and sexual activity in cross-sex friendships In cross-sex friendships, Miller, Denes, Diaz, and Ranjit (2014) found that when men believe the friendship to be strictly platonic, they are more open to touching their friend. However, when they think intimacy may be increasing in the relationship, they are less likely to desire casual touching. In contrast, the opposite was discovered to be true when it comes to women. Miller et al. (2014), found that women report being more uncomfortable if touched by their cross-sex friend in a public situation than men did.