This paper reports on a study of pupils' views about tackling bullying and discusses the findings in the context of related research on "telling" and other coping strategies. The research was undertaken in two related phases. In the first phase, in-depth focus groups were conducted with pupils in Years 5 and 8 in twelve participating…

This study examined ethnic and sex differences in children's depressive symptoms, along with hypothesized mediators of those differences (academic achievement, peer acceptance), in a follow-up of African American (n = 179) and Euro-American (n= 462) children in Grades 3 to 5. African American boys reported more depressive symptoms than African…

Social cliques start around fourth or fifth grade and get worse through middle school and beyond. The cool vs. the uncool. Nerds, jocks, popular kids and outsiders--students are categorized by their peers and excluded by those different from them. Students who are not part of the "cool" crowd feel isolated and lonely and are often subjected to…

Behavioral descriptors were identified as variant or invariant predictors of perceived popularity in a sample of 516 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children located in 26 majority-Black or majority-White classrooms. Athletic ability, prosocial behavior, being "cool", social withdrawal, and "personal privilege" (i.e., having a lot of expensive…

The present study compares the results of three two-dimensional procedures for sociometric status determination: the Asher and Dodge (1986) system, the rating scale method SSrat of Maassen, Akkermans, and Van der Linden (1996), and the nomination procedure of Coie and Dodge (1983). The study followed 170 children from third grade through sixth…

Several studies suggest that children who chronically underachieve are, like children with learning disorders, at risk for negative outcomes and are more likely to experience adjustment problems than are their typically developing peers. This study compares children's self-esteem, perceived competence, negative perfectionism and beliefs of peer…

Are depressive symptoms in middle childhood associated with more or less realistic social self-perceptions? At the beginning and end of the school year, children in grades 3 through 5 (n = 667) rated how much they liked their classmates, predicted the acceptance ratings they would receive from each of their classmates, and completed self-report…

Gender segregation in the classroom is advocated as academically beneficial, particularly for girls. However, the social impact for children has received little attention. The present study compared children's peer relations following the transition from mixed-sex fourth-grade classrooms to same-sex fifth-grade classrooms, and beyond into same-sex…

Although children with learning disabilities are often considered to be a heterogeneous group, they are always situated in specific social surroundings such as schools and families with which they interact dynamically in everyday life. Therefore, peer acceptance and family functioning may be related to the loneliness experienced by children with…

When schoolchildren are harassed by peers, it sometimes is necessary to seek help from a teacher. However, students and teachers may have a different sense of when it is necessary. The authors investigated students' perceptions of harassment and help seeking, examining whether students' perceptions are related to popularity and whether perceptions…

In the current study, 466 children completed a peer nomination survey assessing both perceived and sociometric popularity at the end of the 5th grade. Measures of behavior problems were assessed through a composite of peer-, teacher- and self-reports at the end of the 8th grade. Examination of the unique concurrent associations of each popularity…

This study examined whether children's psychosocial self-evaluations mediated the relationship between general academic self-concept and self-reported depression. Self-evaluations in three psychosocial domains were assessed: General self-worth, intellectual ability, and social acceptance. Results indicated three significant findings. First, a…

The developmental significance of children's academic reputation among peers was examined in a longitudinal study of 400 children in Grades 3, 4, and 5. In the fall of Year 1, teachers rated children's academic skills and behavior, and peers provided nominations describing classmates' academic skills, social acceptance versus rejection, and…

The concurrent and longitudinal risk of enemy relationships, using both nominations- and ratings-based methods of assessing enmity, were examined among elementary school children. After controlling for peer rejection, only ratings-based enemies were found to have negative developmental impact. (Contains 4 tables.)