Many adolescents want to be popular. Popularity goals are associated with adolescents' relational and overt aggression and aggression has been linked to greater risk for victimization. The current study sought to examine if popularity goals may be linked to victimization through associations with aggression and if self-perceived popularity and…

Drawing on a developmental psychopathology perspective and research documenting gender differences in social tasks and structures of friendships, this study uses longitudinal social network analysis (SNA) methods to (a) examine how fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and gender interact to shape friendship dynamics and (b) characterize their…

This study examined associations between perceived popularity trajectories and changes in proactive and reactive aggression in middle adolescence. The sample included 1,374 adolescents from 5 cohorts who were followed from Grade 7 to Grade 9 (49% males, M[subscript age] = 12.67 years, SD = 0.67). Popularity trajectories were identified based on…

Cross-national studies consistently reveal that bullying is a pervasive problem in schools and associated with a multitude of deleterious outcomes. The present dissertation conducted two studies to further provide insight into this complex phenomenon and facilitate the development of effective bullying prevention programs. Youth involved in…

Anger regulation among adolescents is important to investigate given theoretical and empirical support for its critical association with peer relationships. This study examined two aspects of anger regulation (i.e., inhibition, dysregulation) using self-report and peer-nominations and their associations with social acceptance among 163 Black and…

This study addresses the interacting effects of classroom cohesion and hierarchy on the relationships between victimization and aggression with peer acceptance and rejection. Classroom cohesion and hierarchy were constructed from friendship nominations. Multilevel analysis conducted in a sample of seventh- and eighth-grade students from the…

Guided by Beck's cognitive model of depression, this study examined the mediating role of negative self-cognition in the association between harsh parenting and adolescent depression and whether peer acceptance moderated this indirect relationship. Eight hundred and fifty-nine seventh to ninth graders (379 girls and 480 boys, mean age = 13.58…

This study examined the associations between children's co-occurring relational and physical aggression trajectories and their peer relations (i.e., peer rejection, peer acceptance, and reciprocated friendships) from late childhood (Grade 4; M[subscript age] = 10.0) to early adolescence (Grade 8; M[subscript age] = 13.9). Using a sample of 477…

In this study, we sought to create and validate a brief measure to assess students' perceptions of kindness in school. Participants included 1,753 students in Grades 4 to 8 attending public schools in a large school district in southern British Columbia. The School Kindness Scale (SKS) demonstrated a unidimensional factor structure and adequate…

The primary goal of this study was to examine the similarities and distinctions between two types of popularity, sociometric and perceived, in their associations with friendship characteristics and how they in turn are related to depressive affect and self-esteem. Among 245 eighth graders, sociometric popularity was associated with a greater…

We tested 2 hypotheses derived from Moffitt's (1993) taxonomic theory of antisocial behavior, both of which are central to her explanation for the rise in delinquency during adolescence. We tested whether persistently delinquent individuals become more accepted by their peers during adolescence and whether individuals who abstain from delinquent…

This study examined early adolescents' beliefs about which academic self-presentation strategies hypothetical hard-working, high-achieving students should use with popular peers, adolescents' own use of self-presentation strategies, and links between popularity and self-presentation strategies. In response to scenarios in which popular classmates…

This study investigated whether perceived popularity mediates and/or moderates the association between agentic goals and bullying, and whether sociometric popularity mediates and/or moderates the association between communal goals and bullying. Age and gender differences were also examined. Participants were 276 fourth and fifth graders (middle…

Using a multi-informant approach, this study examined emotion regulation within the social context of White and Black adolescent peer groups by assessing two aspects of sadness expression management (i.e., inhibition, disinhibition) and their linkages to peer acceptance and social functioning as a function of gender and ethnicity. Seventh- and…

The present investigation addresses the question of whether certain factors can protect high-achieving students at risk for being labeled a nerd against devaluation. In 2 studies, 125 and 317 students from Grade 8 evaluated vignettes describing average students and students who were called "nerds." Results indicate that being modest…