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…

Based on theory and research, social aspects like friendship and sense of relatedness are fundamental in the development of children's cultural identity and achievement of outcomes. It is argued that this is a motivational aspect often neglected in research studies focusing on students' motivation and learning. Theory and research on motivation…

Network position ("isolate," "member," "liaison"), peer-group substance use, and their interaction were examined as predictors of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use in a sample of 163 urban sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Two measures of peer substance use were compared: one based on social network analysis…

In a longitudinal study that followed children from fourth through sixth grades, we tested whether problems in children's peer relations preceded psychological maladjustment and whether adjustment difficulties paved the way for poor social relationships. Both close friendships and peer group acceptance were examined. Our findings indicated that…

This study investigates shared and unique associations of early adolescent friendship and peer victimization with self reports of school liking and teacher reports of academic competence. Participants were 398 sixth and seventh grade students and their teachers and peers. Measures of friendship included self reports of friendship support and…

Research Findings: We examined whether "affective social competence," or the ability to effectively send and receive emotional signals and to manage one's own emotional experience, contributes to preschool children's peer relations. Forty-two previously unacquainted preschoolers were observed while participating in a week-long playschool. Greater…

Heterogeneity and individual differences in the developmental course of social withdrawal were examined longitudinally in a community sample (N = 392). General Growth Mixture Modeling (GGMM) was used to identify distinct pathways of social withdrawal, differentiate valid subgroup trajectories, and examine factors that predicted change in…

Concurrent and longitudinal relations between the amount of romantic experience and psychosocial adjustment were examined in a 1-year study of a community based sample of 200 tenth graders. Adolescents, parents, and friends completed measures of psychosocial adjustment. The amount of romantic experience was associated with higher reports of social…

Objective: As a follow-up to an earlier cross-sectional study (Holmbeck et al., 2003), the current multimethod, multi-informant investigation examined individual growth in psychosocial adjustment across the adolescent transition in 2 samples: young adolescents with spina bifida (SB) and typically developing adolescents (N = 68 in both groups at…

While much work has shown that aggressive and disruptive behavior in schools may be reinforced by friends and, for some individuals, enhanced social status in the classroom, few studies have examined these phenomena at school entry. This study sought to examine aggressive behavior patterns in kindergarten children in relation to other individual…

The unique contributions of peer acceptance, friendship, and victimization to adjustment were examined. How these relational systems moderate the influence of one another to influence adjustment was also investigated. Friendship quality, a unique aspect of friendship, was expected to be especially important for adjustment when other relational…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how different forms of peer relationships offer children unique support for loneliness and to examine the direct as well as indirect effects of social behaviours and academic performance through the mediation of peer relationships on the prediction of loneliness in Korean children. Four hundred and…

This longitudinal study examined peer contagion of depressive symptoms over an 18-month interval within a sample of 100 11th-grade adolescents. Three types of peer contagion moderators were examined, including characteristics of adolescents (social anxiety, global self-worth), friends (level of friends' peer-perceived popularity), and the…

Research has shown inclusive education to be extremely beneficial for students with developmental disabilities. One reported benefit is the increased accessibility to typical peers with the implication of increased opportunities to develop meaningful friendships. Many researchers and educators have developed strategies to help facilitate the…

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…