You've got a friend(ly school): Can school prosocial norms and friends similarly protect victims from distress?

Testing the potential protective effects of school‐level prosocial norms and having friends on peer victimization‐related distress, this study examined whether one protective factor is particularly important in the absence of the other. An ethnically diverse sample (N = 5,991) from 26 middle schools reported on peer prosocial behavior, social anxiety, loneliness, and perceived school safety; peer nominations assessed victimization and friends. Multilevel analyses revealed that sixth grade friendless victims felt significantly less anxious, lonely, and unsafe a year later in schools characterized by stronger peer prosocial norms (e.g., helping others). Additionally, victims in less prosocial schools experienced less social anxiety if they had at least one friend. The findings suggest that attending a school characterized by prosocial peer norms can compensate for high social risk (victimized and friendless) following the transition to middle school, and having friends is important for bullied youth in less prosocial school contexts. These results highlight the importance of simultaneously studying relational and school‐level protective factors; implications for anti‐bullying interventions are discussed.     

Self-perceived Social Acceptance and Peer Social Standing in Children with Aggressive–Disruptive Behaviors

Examining children's perceptions of their social acceptance in conjunction with others’ ratings of their peer social standing can enhance our understanding of the heterogeneity in children exhibiting disruptive behavior problems. Using a sample of 213 youth rated in the top 31 percent of their class on aggressive–disruptive behaviors, the current study examined the interaction between children's perceptions of their social acceptance and their peer‐rated social standing in predicting emotional and behavioral problems. Overall, lower peer‐rated social standing was associated with higher levels of antisocial behavior, academic problems, and hyperactivity/inattention. On the other hand, higher self‐perceived social acceptance was associated with increased levels of peer‐rated fighting at school. For children who were rated as having high social standing among their peers, poorer self‐perceived social acceptance was associated with increased oppositional behaviors and conduct problems at home. In addition, children who reported lower self‐perceived social acceptance exhibited increased levels of depressive symptoms, even when they were relatively well liked by their peers. The potential implications for working with subgroups of children with aggressive–disruptive behaviors are discussed.     

Aggressive and Prosocial Peer Group Functioning: Effects on Children's Social,School, and Psychological Adjustment

This study examined the effects of aggressive and prosocial contexts of peer groups on children's socioemotional and school adjustment. Data on informal peer groups, social functioning, and different aspects of adjustment were collected from multiple sources in a sample of elementary school children (149 boys, 181 girls; M age = 10 years). Multilevel analyses indicated that group aggressive and prosocial orientations made direct contributions to children's social, school, and psychological functioning. Group contexts also moderated the individual‐level relations between social behavior and self‐perceptions; prosocial behavior was associated with social or scholastic self‐perceptions more evidently in low prosocial and high aggressive groups. The results suggest that the peer group is an important context for children's performance and adjustment in various domains.     

Children's Friends and Behavioral Similarity in Two Social Contexts

The general purpose of this study was to examine similarity between friends with respect to behavior. The specific goals were to consider; 1) different sources of evaluation (peer ratings and direct observations); 2) different social contexts (classroom and play group); and 3) different subtypes of aggressive behavior (proactive and reactive aggression). In the first phase of the study, sociometric assessments and peer evaluations of behavior were conducted in the school setting with third-grade boys and girls (n - 268). In the second phase, a subsample of boys participated in a series of play group sessions (n = 66). Direct observations and peer ratings of children's behavior were conducted in those sessions. Results showed in both social contexts a tendency towards similarity among friends, especially with respect to aggressive behavior. Separate analyses for subtypes of aggressive behavior revealed that the similarity hypothesis applied for proactive aggression but not for reactive aggression.     

Friendships of Indonesian Children: Adjustment of Children Who Differ in Friendship Presence and Similarity Between Mutual Friends

Two aspects of the friendships of 960 Indonesian 10‐year‐old children were assessed. First, the characteristics of children with and without mutual friends were compared. Children without friends were more aggressive, withdrawn, and lower in academic achievement and social preference than those with friends. Second, similarities between children and their friends were assessed by comparing 132 target children with their friend and non‐friend classmates. Children were more similar to their friends than to non‐friends in social preference, achievement, peer and teacher rated antisocial behavior, and peer and teacher rated social withdrawal. The similarities of the friendships of Indonesian children to those of Western children with respect to these two features provide evidence of construct equivalence of friendships across cultures.     

Teacher–Child Relationship Quality and Children's Peer Victimization and Aggressive Behavior in Late Childhood

This investigation examines the extent to which characteristics of the teacher–child relationship (closeness, dependency, and conflict) are predictive of changes in children's peer victimization and aggressive behavior over the course of a school year. Relational and physical forms of victimization and aggression were studied, and changes in peer acceptance and number of friendships were tested as possible mediators. Longitudinal data from 410 fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students (193 boys; 217 girls) and their teachers (N = 25) were analyzed. Whereas dependency on the teacher predicted heightened victimization from peers, a close relationship with the teacher forecasted less physical aggression toward peers. Moreover, decreases in number of friendships partially mediated the link between dependency on the teacher and heightened relational victimization for boys. These findings have implications for understanding the continuing influence of teacher–child relationships on children's social development in late childhood and for identifying interpersonal risk factors associated with involvement in peer harassment.     

Maladaptive Peer Relationships and the Development of Relational and Physical Aggression During Middle Childhood

This study examined the unique roles of peer rejection and affiliation with aggressive peers in the development of relational and physical aggression in a sample of 979 2nd through 4th grade children. Information about target children and their best friends’ aggression and peer rejection was gathered via peer‐nominations when the majority of children were in the 3rd grade, and again approximately one year later. Friendships were identified by having target children nominate their three best friends in their classroom. Path analyses conducted with children who had at least one reciprocated friendship revealed that peer rejection and friends’ aggression predicted changes in target children's aggression; however, the patterns of relations varied by gender and form of aggression. Higher initial levels of rejection and friends’ relational aggression predicted increases in relational aggression among girls only, whereas rejection and friends’ physical aggression predicted increases in physical aggression among boys and girls. The significance of these results for the application of peer influence theories to relational aggression, and to females, is discussed.     

Links between friends’ behaviors and the emergence of leadership in childhood: A genetically informed study of twins

Using a genetically informed design, this study examined whether children's leadership behavior varied as a function of their reciprocal friends’ behavioral characteristics. Specifically, we tested (a) whether friends’ use of a dual strategy (specifically, indirect aggression with prosocial behavior) was associated with children's leadership behavior and (b) whether, in line with a gene‐environment interaction (GxE), the predictive association between friends’ behaviors and children's leadership behavior varied depending on the child's genetic likelihood for leadership. The sample comprised 239 Monozygotic and same‐sex Dizygotic twin pairs (50% boys) assessed in grade 4 (mean age = 10.4 years, SD = 0.26). Reciprocal friendship and children's and their friends’ prosocial, indirectly aggressive, and physically aggressive behaviors were measured via peer nominations. Children's and friends’ leadership was measured through teacher ratings. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that children's genetic likelihood for leadership was positively associated with their leadership behavior. Moreover, the higher their genetic likelihood for leadership, the more children displayed increased leadership behavior when friends showed a combination of indirect aggression and prosocial behavior (GxE). These results underline the role of friends’ behaviors in explaining children's leadership. Socializing with bistrategic friends seems to foster leadership skills especially in children with a genetic likelihood for leadership.     

The Social Context of Young Children's Peer Victimization

The goal of this study was to investigate differences in the social context of peer victimization for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Data were collected from 168 children. For preschoolers, neither social acceptance nor friendships were significantly related to peer victimization. Instead, playing with peers and exposure to aggressive peers were associated with higher rates of peer victimization. For kindergarteners, exposure to aggressive peers also contributed to the risk for peer victimization, but being liked by peers and having friends were inversely related to victimization, thereby providing a buffering effect. The developmental implications of these findings are discussed.     

Relations between close friendships and adolescent aggression: Structural and behavioral friendship features

Friendships have the potential to perpetuate or mitigate youth's aggressive behavior. We investigated concurrent and longitudinal effects of friendships on aggression by examining both structural (size and interconnectedness of the local friendship network) and behavioral (friends' aggression) friendship features. Participants were 868 sixth to eighth grade middle‐school students (M = 12.10 years; 49.9% girls; 44% Latina/o) who completed questionnaires at two time points. Participants nominated their friends; reciprocal friendship nominations were used to calculate structural friendship group features (size and interconnectedness). Peer nominations were also used to measure youth's and their friends' aggression. Having more reciprocal friends was associated with more aggression concurrently (particularly for youth whose friends were highly aggressive), and having an interconnected friendship group was associated with decreased aggression over time. Given that findings were different for group size and interconnectedness, we discuss the unique importance of each of these structural friendship features. Practical implications regarding the potential to decrease aggressive behavior based on specific friendship features are also discussed.     

Social Competence with Peers in Third Grade: Associations with Earlier Peer Experiences in Childcare1

The early developmental antecedents of individual differences in children's social functioning with peers in third grade were examined using longitudinal data from the large‐scale National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study of early child care. In a sample of 1,364 children, with family and child factors controlled, the frequency of positive and negative peer interactions in childcare between 24 and 54 months and the number of hours spent in childcare peer groups of different sizes (alone, dyad, small, medium, large) predicted third graders' peer competence at three levels of analysis: individual social skills, dyadic friendships, and peer‐group acceptance. Children who had more positive experiences with peers in childcare had better social and communicative skills with peers in third grade, were more sociable and co‐operative and less aggressive, had more close friends, and were more accepted and popular. Children with more frequent negative experiences with peers in childcare were more aggressive in third grade, had lower social and communicative skills, and reported having fewer friends. When children spent more time in small‐sized peer groups in childcare (four or fewer children at 24 months of age up to seven or fewer at 54 months), they were more sociable and co‐operative in third grade, but their teachers rated them as more aggressive, suggesting that such children may be more socially outgoing and active both positively and negatively. Like those who spent more time in small peer groups, children who spent more hours in medium‐sized groups received higher ratings for peer aggression by their third‐grade teachers. Children who spent more time with one other child in childcare or in small peer groups had fewer classroom friends in third grade as reported by the teacher but not according to maternal report or self‐report. There were no significant associations between the amount of time children spent in large childcare‐based peer groups and third‐grade peer social competence.     

With Whom and Where You Play: Preschoolers' Social Context Predicts Peer Victimization

This short‐term longitudinal study assessed the relations between the social context of children's play (playgroup size, playgroup gender composition, and play setting) in the fall and peer victimization in the spring for low‐income, minority, preschool girls and boys. Gender differences in these associations, as well as the moderating effect of children's individual problem behavior, were considered. Using a multiple‐brief observation procedure, preschoolers' (N = 255, 49 percent girls) naturally occurring play in each type of social context was recorded throughout the fall semester. Observers also rated children's victimization and problem behaviors in the fall, and teachers rated children's victimization at the end of the school year. Findings suggested that social context variables predicted spring victimization above and beyond fall victimization and individual levels of problem behavior, and that these associations varied for boys and girls. The findings signify the importance of the social context on changes in peer victimization.     

Group Influences on Individual Aggression and Prosociality: Early Adolescents Who Change Peer Affiliations

The present study addresses the influence that group norms exert on individual aggressive and prosocial behavior. The study hypothesis is that for early adolescents who change their peer group affiliations, the characteristics of the group they are leaving (departing‐group influence) are not as influential as those of the group that they are joining (attracting‐group influence). From a larger sample of fifth and sixth graders who were followed over a one‐year period, 198 early adolescents were identified as those who changed peer group affiliations. Peer nominations on aggression, prosociality, social preference and popularity, and social network information were collected. Results confirmed that there were significant attracting‐ but not departing‐group influences on aggression and prosociality. Expected associations between aggression, prosocial behavior, and social status were confirmed. The discussion is framed around a social‐ecological perspective that emphasizes the short‐term adaptive nature of aggressive behavior in some peer groups and the need for considering social mobility when assessing group influence on individual behavior.     

Young Children's Prosocial and Aggressive Behaviors and Their Experiences of Being Targeted for Similar Behaviors by Peers

Children's target experiences (as recipients of prosocial peer acts and victims of peer aggression) were investigated for their concurrent and longitudinal associations with prosocial and aggressive behavior. Forty‐four children (initially 22–40 months) were observed in naturalistic interactions with peers during a two‐month period for each of three consecutive years. Results revealed no consistency over time in children's experiences as targets for aggressive or prosocial peer acts, although there was some indication that altruistic target experiences may be stable from the end of the preschool period. Early behavior appeared to affect the way children were later treated by peers, but no support was found for the idea that early target experiences influence later behavior. Prosocial behavior was concurrently and longitudinally associated with prosocial target experiences. Aggressive behavior reduced the likelihood of children being targets of prosocial peer behavior and, over time, also of their being targets of peers’ aggression.     

The Relationship Between Psychological Understanding and Positive Social Behaviors

This research investigates the relationship between psychological understanding and positive social behavior in preschool children. A sample of 67 children were given measures of mental state understanding and emotion understanding. Positive social behavior was measured by classroom observation, teacher report and peer ratings. Both mental state understanding and emotion understanding were positively related to teacher ratings of social skills, behavioral observers’ global ratings of social skills and peer popularity. When language ability was partialled out of these relationships, many of the significant correlations disappeared; however, for variables related to peers’ perceptions, psychological understanding continued to predict unique variance. The results are discussed in terms of the multiple determinacy of positive social behaviors and the potential role of language in these processes.     

Linkages between Children's Beliefs about the Legitimacy of Aggression and Their Behavior

The purposes of this study were to learn whether children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression can be reliably assessed and whether these beliefs relate to children's everyday social behavior with peers, as well as their responses to hypothetical ambiguous provocation situations. Fourth- and fifth-grade students ( n = 781) responded to a 16-item questionnaire designed to measure children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression. Children's behavioral orientation was assessed using two methods: (1) children's responses to ten hypothetical situations involving ambiguous provocation, and (2) peer evaluations of children's aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behavior. Results indicated that children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression were reliably measured. Furthermore, results from both measures of behavioral style showed that children who believed strongly in the legitimacy of aggression were more aggressive, less withdrawn, and less prosocial. The findings suggest that one focus of efforts to decrease children's aggression should be the modification of their beliefs about the legitimacy of aggressive actions.     

Teacher Reports of Children's Friendships and Social Groups: Agreement with Peer Reports and Implications for Studying Peer Similarity

Teacher–peer agreement about children’s friendships and social group affiliations was examined in a sample of 219 children in grades 1, 3, and 5. Peer reports were used to identify reciprocated friendships and informal social groups. Teachers listed each child’s closest friends and described the informal social groups existing in their classrooms. Teachers also rated children’s externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation and provided direct ratings of the externalizing behavior problems and academic orientation of children’s friends. Teacher–peer agreement was reliable for friendships and social groups and was stronger in the upper elementary grades. Estimates of peer similarity were highest when teachers provided global ratings of the behaviors of the children’s friends. Results suggest that teacher reports of children’s peer affiliations have some validity but result in inflated estimates of peer similarity.     

Transactional links between adolescents’ and friends’ victimization during the first two years of secondary school: The mediating role of likeability and friendship involvement

The goals of this study were to examine to what extent lower likeability at the group level and lower friendship involvement can explain the bidirectional links between adolescents’ own and their friends’ victimization over time. We tested these processes by applying a cross‐lagged path model to a sample of 621 adolescents. Data were collected at four time points over the two first years of secondary school. Participants were asked to identify same grade friends within their school; classroom peer nominations were used to assess participants’ likeability as well as participants’ and friends’ level of peer victimization. Results showed bidirectional associations between adolescents’ own and their friends’ victimization by peers within the first year of secondary school. Moreover, the relation between adolescents’ own victimization at the end of the first year and their friends’ victimization next year was mediated by decreased adolescents’ likeability at the group level. Inversely, their friends’ victimization at the end of the first year predicted lower levels of adolescents’ own likeability over time, which in turn predicted adolescents’ own subsequent levels of victimization. Friends’ victimization also predicted adolescents’ lower friendship involvement during the first year, which in turn predicted decreased likeability, and ultimately higher levels of victimization.     

Interpersonal Behavior, Peer Popularity, and Self-esteem in Early Adolescence

The present study compared the behavioral correlates of sociometric popularity status and consensual popularity status among a large group of children (N = 778) in their first year of secondary school. By means of self‐report and classmates’ nomination procedures, the relative contribution of the two types of popularity to peer role strain and self‐esteem were investigated. Results indicated large differences in the behavioral correlates of both types of popularity: Sociometric popularity is largely related to cooperative behavior and being perceived as popular. Consensual popularity is highly related to fashion style and being perceived as not boring. The two types of popu‐larity were uniquely related to self‐esteem levels. Consensual popularity was directly linked to social self‐esteem; sociometric popularity appeared to be linked to self‐esteem through the reduction of peer role strain levels. The results are discussed in the light of social psychological theories of dominance and prestige among children.     

Popularity Contagion Among Adolescents

This study aimed to support the theory of popularity contagion, which posits that popularity spreads among friends spontaneously and regardless of behavioral changes. Peer nominations of status and behavior were collected annually between 6th and 12th grades from a total of 1062 adolescents. Longitudinal hypotheses were mostly supported using path analyses, showing (1) that individual popularity could be predicted by friends’ popularity levels over time, even when controlling for stability of individual popularity; (2) that this prediction was not accounted for by behavioral contagion of aggressive or prosocial behaviors; and (3) that individual social preference generally could not be predicted by friends’ preference levels over time. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.