From social withdrawal to depression: A quasireplication and extension of Boivin, Hymel, and Bukowski (1995).

Tenets of the Boivin et al. (1995) social process model were reexamined with two longitudinal samples using both the original and contemporary analytic strategies. Study goals included reconstructing (e.g., quasireplicating) Boivin et al.'s (1995) original findings and evaluating hypothesized relations across both comparable and longer developmental epochs. Samples included 491 children (245 girls, Mage = 10.0; 80.1% White;19.1% low-, 43.1% middle- or higher-income) followed from grades 4 to 12 and 272 children (148 girls, Mage = 9.61; 84.2% White; 8.2% low-, 17.1% middle-, 74.7% upper middle to higher-income) followed from grades 4 to 5. The assumption that social withdrawal instigates a cascade of within-person changes in the quality of peer relationships, sense of loneliness and social dissatisfaction, and depression was evaluated using Boivin et al.'s (1995) original regression strategy plus two variants of cross-lagged panel models (classical CLPM; Latent Curve Model with Structured Residuals [LCM-SR]). Unlike classical CLPM, LCM-SR allowed for isolating within-person changes and testing hypothesized predictors of within-person increases and decreases. Results differed by type of analysis. Regression and classical CLPM yielded greater substantiation for some of the processes stipulated by Boivin et al. (1995). LCM-SR results, however, called into question the assumption of a cascade effect of early social withdrawal and the reliance on traditional regression and CLPM analyses to test for presumed predictors of within person change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal Changes in Victimized Youth's Social Anxiety and Solitary Behavior.

This investigation's aims were to assess normative trends in social anxiety and preference for solitude by gender from early childhood to late adolescence and examine the associations among the timing and duration of peer victimization and patterns of continuity or change in social anxiety and preference for solitude across this age period. A sample of 383 children (193 girls) was followed from kindergarten (Mage = 5.50) through grade 12 (Mage = 17.89), and measures of peer victimization, social anxiety, and preference for solitude were repeatedly administered across this epoch. Five victimization trajectory subtypes emerged, capturing individual differences in victimization frequency and continuity (i.e., high-chronic, moderate-emerging, early victims, low victims, and non-victims). Results supported the conclusion that chronic victimization, a key stressor in children's peer environments, plays a different role in the development of social anxiety and preference for solitude. Whereas chronic victimization was associated with the maintenance of social anxiety, it accompanied gains in preference for solitude. The findings provide a more complete account of the overall prevalence, stability, and developmental course of victimized youths' social anxiety and preference for solitude than has been reported to date.

To tell or not to tell: what influences children's decisions to report bullying to their teachers?

Teachers are the primary agents for creating and maintaining a positive classroom climate--and promoting healthy interpersonal relations with, and among, their students (including the prevention of school bullying) is key to achieving this goal. For this study it was posited that students' willingness to report bullying to their teachers is an indicator of the degree to which teachers have successfully created such environments. Data were gathered on 278 (135 boys; 152 girls) ethnically diverse (46.4% Hispanic; 43.5% White; 10.2% Black and Other) 8- to-10-year-old students. Results showed that classrooms in which children reported greater willingness to report bullying evidenced lower levels of victimization. Moreover, believing that teachers would take an active role in intervening, such as by separating involved students or involving parents and principals, was associated with greater willingness to report than child-level characteristics, such as grade, personal blame, and individuals' propensity toward aggression.

Relations among chronic peer group rejection, maladaptive behavioral dispositions, and early adolescents' peer perceptions.

Adolescents' perceptions of peers' relational characteristics (e.g., support, trustworthiness) were examined for subtypes of youth who evidenced chronic maladaptive behavior, chronic peer group rejection, or combinations of these risk factors. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify subgroups of participants within a normative sample of youth (N = 477; 50% female) for whom data had been gathered from fifth grade (M(age) = 10.61) through eighth grade (M(age) = 13.93). Results revealed that both enduring individual vulnerability (i.e., chronic withdrawn or chronic aggressive behavioral dispositions) and interpersonal adversity (i.e., chronic peer group rejection) were linked with either differences or changes in adolescents' perceptions of their peers' supportiveness and trustworthiness across the early adolescent age period.

Coping with peer victimization: the role of children's attributions.

A social-cognitive framework was used to generate and test hypotheses regarding the role of children's causal attributions for peer victimization in predicting how they cope with such experiences. It was hypothesized that attributions would be differentially associated with coping as a function of the direction (i.e., upward, horizontal, or downward) of the social comparison reflected in children's perceived cause for their peer victimization. Self- and peer-reports were collected on 224 (97 boys, 127 girls) fourth- and sixth-grade ethnically diverse students (M age = 10.6 years, SD = 1.08 years). Only children who had been targeted for peer aggression within the preceding two months were included to ensure they had a basis for answering questions regarding the cause of their victimization and how they coped. Data were gathered in the fall and spring of the academic school year and included reports of causal attributions, victimization, aggression, peer acceptance, and coping with victimization. Multiple regression analyses provided preliminary evidence that children's attributions were differentially predictive of changes in coping responses. For example, attributing victimization to one's race predicted decreases in seeking friend support and increases in nonchalance, whereas attributing it to not being as "cool" as others was associated with increases in seeking teacher and friend support, but decreases in nonchalance. Results suggest that children's attributions may reflect the resources they have available to them to cope with victimization. Such resources may be due to social status, or they may be due to the extent to which children blame themselves for the victimization (e.g., the degree to which they expect sympathy and help). Implications of these differential patterns of attributions and coping strategies for children's adjustment are discussed.

Links between local language competence and peer relations among Swiss and immigrant children: the mediating role of social behavior.

The primary aim of this investigation was to evaluate a model in which children's social behaviors, including prosocial behavior, setting limits, and social withdrawal, were hypothesized to mediate the links between local language competence (LLC) and peer acceptance and victimization. Longitudinal data were collected via teacher and peer reports on 541 (286 boys and 255 girls) immigrant and Swiss native 5-to-6 year-old kindergarteners. Results showed the immigrant children were less fluent in the local language compared to native Swiss classmates. Moreover, results from structural equation models, with bootstrap tests of indirect effects, indicated that social behaviors mediated the link between LLC and the quality of children's peer relationships. Implications of these findings for school professionals are discussed, such as the need to help immigrant children make a smoother transition to their host communities by providing additional language and social supports while children acculturate and acclimate to their new surroundings and peer group.

Associations between fifth graders' gender atypical problem behavior and peer relationships: a short-term longitudinal study.

An accruing body of evidence supports associations between self-perceived gender typicality and peer relationship difficulties; however, researchers have yet to evaluate peers' perceptions of problem behaviors to gain insight into the social correlates of gender typicality. A short-term longitudinal study was conducted to evaluate associations between gender atypical problem behavior and subsequent peer relational difficulties for 2,076 fifth graders (M age= 10.27; 53% female). Peer nomination methodology was used to assess participants' classroom peer relationships, problem behaviors, and social-emotional characteristics. Findings showed that youth characterized by gender atypical, compared to gender typical, problem behavior (withdrawn boys/aggressive girls vs. withdrawn girls/aggressive boys, respectively) evidenced higher levels of subsequent peer difficulties; moreover, participation in a mutual friendship was associated with decreased risk for peer relationship maladjustment, particularly among youth characterized by gender atypical problem behavior. Results further revealed that, compared to friendless youth, friended youth earned higher prosocial and peer liking scores and, for withdrawn youth, lower emotional sensitivity scores. The present research contributes to our understanding of the potential short-term consequences of youth's gender atypical problem behavior. Findings underscore the need for supplemental conceptualizations of gender typicality as well as multifaceted interventions designed to promote the acceptance of gender nonnormativity, support the development of adaptive peer relationships, and reduce the occurrence of problem behaviors.

Characterizing and comparing the friendships of anxious-solitary and unsociable preadolescents.

Friendships matter for withdrawn youth because the consequences of peer isolation are severe. From a normative sample of 2,437 fifth graders (1,245 females; M age = 10.25), a subset (n = 1,364; 638 female) was classified into 3 groups (anxious-solitary, unsociable, comparison) and followed across a school year. Findings indicated that it was more common for unsociable than anxious-solitary children to have friends, be stably friended, and participate in multiple friendships. For withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn children, peer rejection predicted friendlessness, but this relation was strongest for anxious-solitary children. The friends of unsociable youth were more accepted by peers than those of anxious-solitary youth. The premise that friendship inhibits peer victimization was substantiated for withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn youth.

Peer Victimization and Effortful Control: Relations to School Engagement and Academic Achievement.

The relations among peer victimization, effortful control, school engagement, and academic achievement were examined in a group of 390 (212 boys and 178 girls) racially diverse (38.20% Latino and 46.70% White) 6- to 10-year-old children. Specifically, a multimethod, multi-informant approach was used in which data were gathered using self-report, peer-report, and teacher-report questionnaires at three points in time: twice during the initial year of the study when children were in first and third grades and once in the fall of their second-grade and fourth-grade years, respectively. Findings showed that peer victimization was negatively correlated with effortful control; however, longitudinal analyses conducted to examine causal priority were inconclusive. Results from structural equation modeling were consistent with the hypotheses that school engagement mediated the relations between peer victimization and academic achievement, as well as between effortful control and academic achievement.

Teachers' views and beliefs about bullying: influences on classroom management strategies and students' coping with peer victimization.

A multilevel design was used to test a model in which teachers' attitudes (beliefs) about bullying (e.g., it is normative; assertive children do not get bullied; children wouldn't be bullied if they avoided mean kids) were hypothesized to influence if and how they intervene in bullying interactions. In turn, it was hypothesized that teachers' strategies would influence how their students cope with victimization and the frequency of victimization reported by their students. Data were gathered on 34 2nd and 4th grade teachers and 363 ethnically-diverse students (188 boys; 175 girls; M age=9 years 2 months). Results indicated that teachers were not likely to intervene if they viewed bullying as normative behavior, but were more likely to intervene if they held either assertion or avoidant beliefs. Moreover, avoidant beliefs were predictive of separating students which was then associated both directly and indirectly (via reduced revenge seeking) with lower levels of peer victimization. No grade differences emerged for teachers' views or management strategies; however, minor sex differences were detected which will be discussed.

Identifying victims of peer aggression from early to middle childhood: analysis of cross-informant data for concordance, estimation of relational adjustment, prevalence of victimization, and characteristics of identified victims.

Two studies were conducted to investigate cross-informant measures of children's peer victimization. In Study 1, self- and peer reports of victimization were compared for 197 children from Kindergarten (M age = 5.73) to Grade 4. Before Grade 2, peer reports were less reliable than self-reports and were poor estimators of relational adjustment. In Study 2, single- versus multiple-informant (self, peer, teacher, parent) victimization measures were compared for 392 children across grades 2 (M age = 8.73) to 4. Results indicated that (a) data from the four informants were reliable and increasingly concordant over time, (b) no single-informant measure proved to be the best predictor of relational adjustment, and (c) a multi-informant composite measure yielded better estimates of relational adjustment than any single-informant measure.

Children's coping strategies: moderators of the effects of peer victimization?

Coping strategies were examined as potential moderators of the effects of peer victimization on children's adjustment. Self-report data on victimization experiences, coping strategies, and loneliness were collected on ethnically diverse 9-10-year-old children (177 girls, 179 boys). Teacher ratings of children's anxious-depressed and social problems and peer nominations of social preference were also obtained. Findings revealed that strategies such as problem solving that were beneficial for nonvictimized children exacerbated difficulties for victimized children. The effects of specific forms of coping were dependent on gender: social support seeking buffered victimized girls from social problems but was associated with lower peer preference for victimized boys. Data also revealed the need to examine the effects of coping on multiple adjustment outcomes.