A minimal group study examined the effect of peer group norms on children's direct and indirect bullying intentions. Prior to an inter-group drawing competition, children (N = 85) aged seven and nine years were assigned to a group that had a norm of out-group dislike or out-group liking. Results indicated that, regardless of group norms, the…

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…

Social relations of second grade students (247 boys, 290 girls) were examined in rural elementary classrooms. Cluster analysis of teacher ratings was used to identify interpersonal competence configurations including perceived unpopular-aggressive (i.e., "Troubled") and perceived popular-aggressive (i.e., "Tough") subtypes for…

This review critically evaluates the existing research literature on the peer relationship problems of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Empirical evidence suggests that children with the disorder are severely impaired in the social area and strongly rejected by peers. The purposes of this article are to provide a review of…

The goal of the current study was to investigate whether peer rejection and peer victimization mediated the relation between children's aggressive behaviors and depressive symptoms. Participants were 533 fourth- and fifth-grade children (289 girls and 244 boys). Data on aggression and peer victimization were collected through teacher and peer…

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…

Peer rejection is a common experience for youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities and it is associated with increased risk of negative short- and long-term outcomes. There is a high premium on interventions that can improve the social status and functioning of these youth. Positive Peer Reporting (PPR) is a behavior analytic intervention…

Relational aggression was studied within classroom environments by examining individual and classroom correlates among 2731 children (3rd-5th graders) during two successive measurement years. Multilevel analyses yielded small gender differences for relational aggression, indicating that such aggressive behavior was more associated with girls as…

Evidence supports the hypothesis that adolescent peer groups play a significant role in the genesis of youth antisocial behavior. A longstanding interest in research focused on individual differences in teen exposure to deviant peer groups is the notion that high-risk youth aggregate because of their common rejection within social contexts, such…

The goal of the present study was to consider the associations between family functioning (parenting and family loneliness) and peer functioning in a sample of boys with ADHD (N = 110) and their mothers (N = 108) and fathers (N = 53). Results indicated that higher paternal warmth was associated with more peer acceptance, less peer rejection, and…

The relation between bullying and helping and same-gender and cross-gender peer acceptance and peer rejection was examined in a sample of preadolescents aged 11 and 12 years (N=1,065). The authors tested predictions from a gender-homophily approach vs. predictions from a goal-framing approach in which acceptance and rejection are seen as being…

Recent studies have found distinct subtypes of aggressive youth, marked by either high social status or social marginalization, and that various measures of status differentially associate with aggression. The majority of these studies, however, focused on boys, adolescents, and/or relational aggression in girls. The current research examined how…

The literature suggests that ostracism coerces conformity to group norms: It maintains the stability, cohesion and safety of the group, and therefore helps maintain the smooth functioning of a group. To this end, a wide range of punishing behaviours may first be employed but if these are not successful, the individual may be permanently excluded.…

Adolescents' perceptions of their friends' behavior strongly predict adolescents' own behavior, however, these perceptions often are erroneous. This study examined correlates of discrepancies between adolescents' perceptions and friends' reports of behavior. A total of 120 11th-grade adolescents provided data regarding their engagement in deviant…

This article explores the ways in which high school girl popularity is constructed as heterosexual and normatively gendered, leaving lesbian adolescents on the periphery of the high school social scene. Based upon data from a larger critical life history study with adolescent lesbians, this article explores their experiences of school, friendship,…