This article examines social integration of deaf children in inclusive settings in The Netherlands. Eighteen Grade 1-5 deaf children and their 344 hearing classmates completed 2 sociometric tasks, peer ratings and peer nomination, to measure peer acceptance, social competence, and friendship relations. Deaf and hearing children were found to be…

The influence of social status on child development has been the subject of research for several decades, with children who are not accepted by their peers being shown to be at risk of a range of difficulties both at the time and in later life. Strong links have also been established between behaviour and social status. A small-scale action…

In this study, the authors investigated the characteristics that predict best friend status in young children. One hundred and twenty-four preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children identified their "best friend" and up to four "other friends" in their class. Teachers completed a questionnaire about each friendship to determine positive and…

This study used hierarchical linear modeling to predict first grade students' peer acceptance, classroom engagement, and sense of school belonging from measures of normative classroom teacher-student support and individual teacher-student support. Participants were 509 (54.4% male) ethnically diverse, first grade children attending one of three…

The principal aim of the present study was to obtain a deeper understanding than hitherto of the concurrent correlates and prospective predictors of loneliness and poor peer acceptance, both falling under the umbrella term low social inclusion. Problematic and socially competent behaviours were investigated as possible predictors of low social…

We tested the structure of the Pictorial Scale of Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA) across groups of first and second grade children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. We used confirmatory factor analysis, including latent mean structures analysis, to test the fit of competing PSPCSA factor models and examined invariance across…

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that grade retention has a positive effect on children's teacher- and peer-rated academic competencies and on sociometric measures of peer acceptance. We also expected that the positive effect of grade retention on peer acceptance would be mediated by…

This study examined the effects of classroom in degree for ability (the degree to which peer nominations as academically capable show high consensus and focus on a relatively few number of children in a classroom) on first grade children's peer acceptance, teacher-rated classroom engagement, and self-perceived cognitive competence. Participants…

This study examined the effects on 6- and 8-year old children (n = 160) of rejection versus acceptance by an initial group, the reason for the rejection or acceptance (personal versus category-based), and the norms (inclusion versus exclusion) of a new group to which the children were assigned, on their negative affect and attitudes towards the…

Participants were 360 (52.2% male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk first-grade children attending one of three school districts in southeast and central Texas. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that the quality of the teacher-student relationship in first grade predicts…

This study investigated the entry behavior and temperamental characteristics of aggressive/rejected and nonaggressive/popular kindergarten and first-grade children. An analog entry situation was used to assess children's entry skills. Aggressive/rejected children had more difficulty than nonaggressive/popular children delivering their entry bids…

In this article, inclusion and exclusion are interpreted not as functions of individual developmental deficit but rather as socially constructed phenomena within the peer group, highlighting the need for teachers to intervene with the entire class rather than focusing on perceived social skills deficits of particular children. The three sections…

Open-ended questions were used to obtain narrative accounts of what makes a girl (or a boy) popular (or unpopular) at school. The participants were 489 African American students in Grades 1, 4, and 7 recruited from high-risk inner-city neighborhoods. Appearance and self-presentation were mentioned the most in Grades 4 and 7. Prosocial…

This longitudinal study assessed the role of afterschool program (ASP) participation in the development of child obesity and peer acceptance in a sample of 439 children. Most participants lived in poverty and were Hispanic or African American. Measurements of height and weight determined obesity status and peer acceptance was assessed through…