Associations between interpersonal behavior and friendship quality in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis examined concurrent associations between aggression, withdrawal, assertion, and prosocial behavior and each of positive and negative friendship quality across studies with 22,657 children and adolescents (Mage  = 11.71 years; 51.7% girls; 67.7% White). Studies were published between 1995 to 2021 and 32.4% were conducted outside of North America. Aggression was linked to more negative, r ¯  = .19, 95% CI [.14, .24], and less positive, r ¯  = -.05 [-.08, -.01], friendships. Withdrawal was associated with less positive friendships, r ¯  = -.13 [-.18, -.08], whereas prosocial behavior was related to more positive, r ¯  = .29 [.22, .37], as well as less negative, r ¯  = -.16 [-.20, -.12], friendships. Assertion was related to more positive friendships, r ¯  = .15 [.01, .28].

Psychophysiological adjustment to formal education varies as a function of peer status and socioeconomic status in children beginning kindergarten.

The transition to kindergarten can be stressful as children adjust to novel separations from their caregivers and become accustomed to their peer group. A 9-month study of 96 children (Mage  = 5.37 years, SD = 0.42) from Barranquilla, Colombia, assessed socioeconomic differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning across the kindergarten year. Children were from four different classrooms in one school. Saliva samples were collected twice a day across 3 consecutive days at the beginning and end of the school year. We examined whether change in HPA axis activation across the year varied as a function of a child's socioeconomic status (SES) and experience in the peer group. We found that rejected children and lower SES children had lower cortisol levels early in the morning. Rejected children had a flatter morning cortisol slope. Lower SES children had higher cortisol than their higher SES peers at the end of the school year and a flatter morning cortisol slope. Taken together, these findings suggest that diurnal cortisol in children beginning kindergarten may be influenced by both peer rejection and SES.

The effect of classroom aggression-related peer group norms on students' short-term trajectories of aggression.

Using a four-wave/seven-month longitudinal design with a sample of 1595 preadolescents (53% boys, 47% girls, Mage = 10.2 years) from 63 fourth-, fifth- and sixth- grade classrooms in nine mixed-sex schools in Bogotá, Colombia, we examined whether growth trajectories of measures of overt and relational aggression varied as a function of classroom norms for aggression. Multilevel growth mixture modeling revealed (a) distinct trajectories of overt and relational aggression for boys and girls and (b) that norm salience (i.e., the process by which a group norm is made salient via the punishments or reinforcements to the behavior within the group) was a better predictor of associations with trajectories of overt and relational aggression than were perceived injunctive norms (i.e., the perceived standards of what is approved or disapproved in a social context). In classrooms where popular or accepted children were perceived by their peers as aggressive, more boys followed an increasing trajectory of overt and relational aggression than a low-stable trajectory, and more girls followed a high-stable trajectory of relational aggression than a low-stable trajectory. These findings are discussed in terms of the practical implications for the design of educational interventions aimed at preventing aggression in classroom settings.

Gender is Key: Girls' and Boys' Cortisol Differs as a Factor of Socioeconomic Status and Social Experiences During Early Adolescence.

The risks associated with negative peer relationships and low socioeconomic status (SES), and how they impact diurnal cortisol and the cortisol response to negative experiences, have never been studied together in early adolescents; this study aims to fill this gap in the literature. Saliva was collected from 95 early adolescents (Mage = 10.80, SD = 0.72) and daily diaries were completed 30 min after awakening, beginning of school, 15 min after first recess, 15 min after lunch, and at the end of the school day across four consecutive days. Hierarchical Linear Modelling was used to estimate the within- and between-person variances of diurnal cortisol and the cortisol response to stress in the context of SES and peer experiences. Cortisol secretion differed by gender and was predicted by SES and social status within the peer group. Low-SES early adolescents had higher morning cortisol. Girls who were from higher SES families had the steepest diurnal cortisol slope. Non-accepted early adolescents had low cortisol in response to both positive and negative social experiences. The findings from this study clarify the impact of both SES and peer relations on early adolescent psychophysiological development.

Predicting psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood from social behaviors and neighborhood contexts in childhood.

Research showing that risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychosis, and other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood is multidetermined has underscored the necessity of studying the additive and interactive factors in childhood that precede and predict future disorders. In this study, risk for the development of psychosis-spectrum disorders was examined in a 2-generation, 30-year prospective longitudinal study of 3,905 urban families against a sociocultural backdrop of changing economic and social conditions. Peer nominations of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability and national census information on neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood, as well as changes in neighborhood socioeconomic conditions over the lifespan, were examined as predictors of diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychosis-spectrum disorders in adulthood relative to developing only nonpsychotic disorders or no psychiatric disorders. Individuals who were both highly aggressive and highly withdrawn were at greater risk for other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses when they experienced greater neighborhood disadvantage in childhood or worsening neighborhood conditions over maturation. Males who were highly aggressive but low on withdrawal were at greater risk for schizophrenia diagnoses. Childhood neighborhood disadvantage predicted both schizophrenia and bipolar diagnoses, regardless of childhood social behavior. Results provided strong support for multiple-domain models of psychopathology, and suggest that universal preventive interventions and social policies aimed at improving neighborhood conditions may be particularly important for decreasing the prevalence of psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in the future.

Being fun: An overlooked indicator of childhood social status.

OBJECTIVE: The present study concerns an overlooked trait indicator of childhood peer status: Being fun. The study is designed to identify the degree to which being fun is uniquely associated with the peer status variables of likeability and popularity. METHOD: Two studies of children in grades 4 to 6 (ages 9 to 12) are reported. The first involved 306 girls and 305 boys attending school in northern Colombia. The second involved 363 girls and 299 boys attending school in southern Florida. Students completed similar peer nomination inventories, once in the first study and twice (8 weeks apart) in the second. RESULTS: In both studies, being fun was positively correlated with likeability and popularity. In the second study, being fun predicted subsequent changes in likeability and popularity, after controlling for factors known to be related to each. Initial likeability and popularity also predicted subsequent changes in perceptions of being fun. CONCLUSIONS: Anecdotal evidence suggests that children are intensely focused on having fun. The findings indicate that this focus extends beyond the immediate rewards that fun experiences provide; some portion of peer status is uniquely derived from the perception that one is fun to be around.

Evidence Base Update for Measures of Social Skills and Social Competence in Clinical Samples of Youth.

Social skills and social competence are key transdiagnostic processes in developmental psychopathology and are the focus of an array of clinical interventions. In this Evidence Base Update, we evaluated the psychometric properties of measures of social skills and social competence used with clinical samples of children and adolescents. A systematic literature search yielded eight widely used measures of social skills and one measure of social competence. Applying the criteria identified by Youngstrom et al. (2017), we found that, with some exceptions, these measures had adequate to excellent norms, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. There was at least adequate evidence of construct validity and treatment sensitivity in clinical samples for nearly all measures assessed. Many of the scales included items assessing constructs other than social skills and competence (e.g., emotion regulation). Development of updated tools to assess youth's effectiveness in key interpersonal situations, including those occurring online, may yield clinical dividends.

Peer relations and socioeconomic status and inequality.

Although peer relations are recognized as a fundamental developmental context, they have been rarely studied as a means of understanding the effects of socioeconomic status and inequality. In this paper, we show how and why peer relations provide a unique and powerful opportunity to assess the differential risks and resources available in the peer system to children and adolescents from different SES spectra. We argue that research on the intersection between SES and peer relations will enrich both these domains of study.

Manifesto for new directions in developmental science.

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real-world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding "how" we do developmental science and "what for" are outlined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for integrative, inclusive, transdisciplinary, transparent, and actionable developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Dietary fat stimulates pancreatic cancer growth and promotes fibrosis of the tumor microenvironment through the cholecystokinin receptor.

The gastrointestinal peptide cholecystokinin (CCK) is released from the duodenum in response to dietary fat to aid in digestion, and plasma CCK levels are elevated with the consumption of high-fat diets. CCK is also a trophic peptide for the pancreas and has also been shown to stimulate growth of pancreatic cancer. In the current investigation, we studied the influence of a diet high in saturated fat on the growth of pancreatic cancer in syngeneic murine models before the mice became obese to exclude the confounding factors associated with obesity. The high-fat diet significantly increased growth and metastasis of pancreatic cancer compared with the control diet, and the stimulatory effect was blocked by the CCK-receptor antagonist proglumide. We then selectively knocked out the CCK receptor on the pancreatic cancer cells using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats technology and showed that without CCK-receptors, dietary fat was unable to stimulate cancer growth. We next demonstrated that dietary fat failed to influence pancreatic cancer xenograft growth in genetically engineered CCK peptide knockout mice. The tumor-associated fibrosis that is so prevalent in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment was significantly decreased with CCK-receptor antagonist therapy because fibroblasts also have CCK receptors. The CCK-receptor antagonist proglumide also altered tumor metalloprotease expression and increased tumor suppressor genes by a PCR array. Our studies confirm that a diet high in saturated fat promotes growth of pancreatic cancer and the action is mediated by the CCK-receptor pathway. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Diets high in long-chain saturated fats promote growth of pancreatic cancer independent of obesity. The mechanism through which dietary fat promotes cancer is mediated through the cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor pathway. Therapy with a CCK-receptor antagonist altered the tumor microenvironment by reducing fibrosis, increasing cluster of differentiation 8+ lymphocytes, increasing tumor suppressor genes, and thus decreasing metastases. Use of CCK-receptor antagonist therapy with standard chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer may improve response by altering the tumor microenvironment.

PROMIS Peer Relationships Short Form: How Well Does Self-Report Correlate With Data From Peers?

Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) peer relationships short form (PR-SF), including association with peer-reported friendships, likeability, and social reputation. Method: 203 children (Mage = 10.12 years, SD = 2.37, range = 6-14) in Grades 1-8 completed the 8-item PR-SF and friendship nominations, like ratings, and social reputation measures about their peers during 2 classroom visits approximately 4 months apart, as part of a larger study. A confirmatory factor analysis, followed by an exploratory factor analysis, was conducted to examine the factor structure of the PR-SF. Spearman correlations between the PR-SF and peer-reported outcomes evaluated construct validity. Results: For the PR-SF, a 2-factor solution demonstrated better fit than a 1-factor solution. The 2 factors appear to assess friendship quality (3 items) and peer acceptance (5 items). Reliability was marginal for the friendship quality factor (.66) but adequate for the acceptance factor (.85); stability was .34 for the PR-SF over 4 months. The PR-SF (8 items) and acceptance factor (5 items) both had modest but significant correlations with measures of friendship (rs = .25-.27), likeability (rs = .21-.22), and social reputation (rs = .29-.44). Conclusions: The PR-SF appears to be measuring two distinct aspects of social functioning. The 5-item peer acceptance scale is modestly associated with peer-reported friendship, likeability, and social reputation. Although not a replacement for peer-reported outcomes, the PR-SF is a promising patient-reported outcome for peer relationships in youth.

Self-Continuity Moderates the Association Between Peer Victimization and Depressed Affect.

Two longitudinal studies conducted with early adolescents (ages 10-13) examined the hypothesis that self-continuity, or the degree to which individuals feel that they remain the same person over time regardless of how their specific characteristics may change, would moderate the association between victimization and depressed affect. Both Study 1 (N = 141) and Study 2 (N = 100) provided evidence of the moderating role of self-continuity as a buffer on the effect of peer victimization. Study 2 confirmed that self-continuity had a moderating effect after controlling for academic performance, number of friends, self-esteem, self-concept clarity, hopelessness, and self-blame. Findings support self-continuity as being protective with regard to negative peer environments.

Friendship Security, But Not Friendship Intimacy, Moderates the Stability of Anxiety During Preadolescence.

A two-wave longitudinal study of 380 preadolescents (M age = 10.87) from largely middle-class schools in Montréal, Québec, Canada, assessed the hypothesis that friendship security, but not friendship intimacy, moderates the stability of anxiety during adolescence. This central but largely overlooked question about peer relations concerns which aspects of friendship account for the effects of friendship on emotional adjustment. Anxiety and friendship quality were measured via self-report questionnaires, employing the Network of Relationships Inventory for security and intimacy items. An index of friendship durability, which combined reciprocity and stability within first- and second-best friendship choices, was derived from sociometric measures. A latent variable path analysis examined with structural equation modeling showed that anxiety was less stable for children who perceived their friendships as secure. The moderating effect of intimacy was statistically nonsignificant. A follow-up analysis showed that the effects of security did not result from friendship durability. These findings provide support for the long-standing but previously unaddressed hypothesis that security, rather than intimacy, accounts for friendship's effect on anxiety reduction during early adolescence.

The Current Status of Peer Assessment Techniques and Sociometric Methods.

Current issues in the use of peer assessment techniques and sociometric methods are discussed. Attention is paid to the contributions of the four articles in this volume. Together these contributions point to the continual level of change and progress in these techniques. They also show that the paradigm underlying these methods has been unchanged for decades. It is argued that this domain is ripe for a paradigm change that takes advantage of recent developments in statistical techniques and technology.

Attribution of human characteristics and bullying involvement in childhood: Distinguishing between targets.

This investigation researched the association between the attribution of human characteristics and bullying involvement in children by distinguishing between targets. Study 1 focused on the attribution of human characteristics by bullies, victims, bully/victims, and non-involved children toward friends and non-friends. The data from 405 children (M = 10.7 years old) showed that they attributed fewer prosocial and more antisocial human characteristics to non-friends than to friends. Moreover, boy victims attributed fewer prosocial human characteristics to non-friends than boy bullies and non-involved boys did. In addition, victims attributed more antisocial human characteristics to non-friends than non-involved children did. Study 2 addressed bullies', victims', bully/victims', and non-involved children's attribution of human characteristics to each other. The data of 264 children (M = 10.0 years old) showed that bullies, victims, and bully/victims attributed fewer prosocial and more antisocial human characteristics to each other than to non-involved children. Non-involved children attributed fewer prosocial human characteristics to bully/victims than to bullies and victims, and more antisocial human characteristics to bully/victims than to victims. In addition, girls attributed more prosocial and fewer antisocial human characteristics to girls than to boys, whereas boys did not distinguish between girls and boys. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research are provided and implications for bullying prevention and intervention are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 42:394-403, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Empathy and involvement in bullying in children and adolescents: a systematic review.

Based on the premise that bullies are deficient in empathy or even lack it completely, bullying prevention and intervention programs often include empathy training. These programs are not always as effective as they aim to be, which may be caused by a failure to acknowledge the multidimensional nature of empathy as well as its complex association with involvement in bullying. To provide a clear overview of the research on the association between empathy and involvement in bullying, this article systematically reviews 40 studies on the association of cognitive empathy (24 studies) and affective empathy (38 studies) with four categories of involvement in bullying: bullying, victimization, defending, and bystanding. The results showed that bullying was negatively associated with cognitive and-in particular-affective empathy. Victimization was negatively associated with cognitive empathy but not with affective empathy. Defending was consistently positively associated with both types of empathy. Contradictory findings were observed in bystanding, with studies reporting both negative and positive associations with cognitive empathy, and studies reporting negative and no associations with affective empathy. Together, the findings stress the importance of the distinction between cognitive and affective empathy in involvement in bullying and suggest different intervention strategies for the four types of involvement in bullying.

Dehumanization in children: the link with moral disengagement in bullying and victimization.

The current study explored subtle dehumanization-the denial of full humanness-in children, using distinctions of forms (i.e., animalistic vs. mechanistic) and social targets (i.e., friends vs. non-friends). In addition, the link between dehumanization and moral disengagement in bullying and victimization was investigated. Participants were 800 children (7-12 years old) from third to fifth grade classrooms. Subtle animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization toward friends and non-friends were measured with the new Juvenile Dehumanization Measure. Results showed that animalistic dehumanization was more common than mechanistic dehumanization and that non-friends were dehumanized more than friends. The highest levels of dehumanization were found in animalistic form toward non-friends and the lowest levels in mechanistic form toward friends. Both moral disengagement and animalistic dehumanization toward friends were positively associated with bullying. However, moral disengagement was negatively associated with victimization, whereas both animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization toward non-friends were positively associated with victimization. The current findings indicate that children are able to distinguish different forms and targets of dehumanization and that dehumanization plays a distinct role from moral disengagement in bullying and victimization.

Patterns of Smoking Cessation Strategies and Perception of E-cigarette Harm Among Bladder Cancer Survivors.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of bladder cancer (BC). Some proponents of e-cigarettes describe their use as a risk mitigation strategy despite potential carcinogen exposure and uncertain long-term risks. OBJECTIVE: We assessed smoking cessation strategies, including e-cigarette use, and harm perception among patients with BC. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study on a convenience sample of patients with BC at a single institution from August 2021 - October 2022. The survey instrument was sourced from the Cancer Patient Tobacco Use Questionnaire (C-TUQ) from the American Association for Cancer Research with standardized questions on tobacco use, cessation questions, and e-cigarette harm perceptions. RESULTS: Of the 104 surveyed BC patients (mean age: 72 years; 27% female; 55% with muscle-invasive disease), 20% were current smokers (median pack years: 40) and 51% were former smokers (median pack years: 20). A minority (9%) had quit smoking at the time of diagnosis. Pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation included nicotine patches (25%), gum (21%), lozenges (8%), e-cigarettes (8%), and Varenicline/Bupropion (4%). Notably, 43% of patients who continued to smoke expressed willingness to switch to e-cigarettes as a cessation aid. E-cigarette users (11%) more commonly perceived e-cigarettes as non-harmful compared to former (4%) and non-smokers (4%) (P = .048), though all groups regarded e-cigarettes as equally addictive as traditional cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the prevalence of BC survivors who continue to smoke, a significant proportion perceive e-cigarettes as a viable and less harmful cessation aid. The infrequent use of FDA-approved pharmacotherapies underscores potential implementation gaps. These findings highlight the need for further research and targeted interventions in addressing smoking cessation among BC survivors.

Can friends protect genetically vulnerable children from depression?

The study examined whether reciprocal friendship quantity or quality can mitigate genetic vulnerability for depression symptoms in children. The sample comprised 168 monozygotic twin pairs and 126 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs assessed in Grade 4 (mean age = 10.04 years). Friendship participation was measured via reciprocal nominations of close friendships within the classroom. Friendship quality was measured through self-reports. Depression symptoms were measured through teacher and peer reports. Genetic vulnerability for depression symptoms was unrelated to friendship participation or the number of reciprocal friends, but it was negatively related to positive friendship quality. In line with gene-environment interaction, genetic risk effects on depression symptoms were mitigated in girls who had at least one close reciprocal friend. In boys, only moderate main effects of genetic vulnerability and friendship participation were found but no interaction between them. However, among boys with at least one reciprocal friend, a greater number of friends was related to fewer depression symptoms whereas no cumulative effect of friendship was found for girls. Finally, positive friendship quality was related to fewer depression symptoms in girls and boys even when controlling for genetic risk. The findings emphasize the importance of teaching social interactional skills that promote high-quality friendship relations to help prevent the development of depression symptoms in children.

Change over time in interactions between unfamiliar toddlers.

The frequency and length of games, conflicts, and contingency sequences that took place between toddlers as they got to know one another were studied using archival data. The sample consisted of 28 unfamiliar 20- and 30-month-old toddlers (predominantly White, 16 males) who met separately with each of two other toddlers for 18 play dates. The frequency of games increased over time, while the frequency of conflict and contingency sequences decreased. The length of games increased over time while the length of conflicts and contingency sequences were stable. Age and language ability predicted changes in frequency and length of the different types of sequences. Thus, toddlers engage in less structured interactions when they first meet; their interactions become increasingly more organized and positive as the relationship evolves.