This study examined whether having vulnerable friends helps or hurts victimized and depressed (i.e., vulnerable) adolescents and whether this depends on classroom supportive norms. Students (n = 1461, 46.7% girls, 93.4% Han nationality) were surveyed four times from seventh and eighth grade (M[subscript age] = 13 years) in 2015 and 2016 in Central…

This study investigates socially dominant adolescents: students who are actively involved in establishing peer norms, influence their classmates' opinions, and are often the center of attention. Data from 5,468 seventh graders (M age = 13.3; 53% girls) in 266 classrooms were used to examine how social dominance relates to achievement, peer…

This study uses latent class analysis (LCA) to empirically identify victimization groups during middle school. Approximately 2,000 urban, public middle school students (mean age in sixth grade = 11.57) reported on their peer victimization during the Fall and Spring semesters of their sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Independent LCA analyses at…

The high school transition was examined in an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,979 adolescents, followed from 7th to 10th grade (M[subscript age] = 14.6, SD = 0.37 in 7th grade). Twice annually, data were gathered on adolescents' perceptions of school climate, psychological functioning, and academic behaviors. Piecewise growth modeling…

A dynamic cascade model of development of serious adolescent violence was proposed and tested through prospective inquiry with 754 children (50% male; 43% African American) from 27 schools at 4 geographic sites followed annually from kindergarten through Grade 11 (ages 5-18). Self, parent, teacher, peer, observer, and administrative reports…

Unsupervised after-school peer contact was examined as a risk factor in developing externalizing problems among early adolescents. Longitudinal findings showed that unsupervised peer contact, lack of neighborhood safety, and low monitoring incrementally predicted grade seven externalizing problems, after controlling for family background factors…