Preadolescents' Internal Attributions for Negative Peer Experiences: Links to Child and Classroom Peer Victimization and Friendship.

In addition to children's own peer relations, contextual norms for peer relations in classrooms and schools can influence how they perceive their peer interactions, and in some cases, might do so in opposite ways. The current study examined the relations of preadolescents' internal attributions for negative peer experiences with their own peer victimization and reciprocal friendship, as well as their classrooms' norms for peer victimization and reciprocal friendship. A racially diverse sample of 532 boys and girls from 37 fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms completed self-report measures of two internal attributions (characterological and behavioral) and peer nominations for peer victimization and reciprocal friendship. Multilevel multivariate regression was used to test a series of two-level models. Child peer victimization was positively associated with characterological attributions, and classroom peer victimization was negatively related to these attributions. Child reciprocal friendship was negatively associated with characterological and behavioral attributions, and classroom reciprocal friendship was positively related to characterological attributions. Results reveal distinct relations of children's own peer victimization and reciprocal friendship with their internal peer attributions. The findings also highlight the contextualized nature of children's internal peer attributions and provide additional support for the emerging notion of inverse or paradoxical effects of class/school-level variables on children's social cognition. Implications are briefly discussed for both school-based intervention and psychotherapy.

Preadolescents' Daily Peer Victimization and Perceived Social Competence: Moderating Effects of Classroom Aggression.

Few studies have assessed children's daily peer experiences, and even fewer have considered their daily self-perceptions. This daily diary study examined relations between preadolescents' daily reports of peer victimization and perceived social competence, along with moderating effects of classroom aggression. A racially diverse sample of 182 children in 5th grade (105 boys; M age = 10.64 years; 35% White, 31% Black, 17% Hispanic, 17% other or not reported) completed daily measures of peer victimization and perceived social competence, with most children completing measures on 8 school days. Teachers completed measures of aggression for each participating pupil. Four types of peer victimization (verbal victimization, social manipulation, social rebuff, and property attacks) predicted decreased daily perceived social competence. Daily social rebuff predicted decreased daily perceived social competence beyond the effects of the other types of victimization. Classroom aggression moderated the relation of verbal victimization with perceived social competence, such that this relation was significant in classrooms with lower aggression and nonsignificant in classrooms with higher aggression. Results indicate that preadolescents' daily self-perceptions fluctuate with daily victimization by peers, particularly with social rebuff. Findings also suggest that the impact of verbal victimization on children's self-views could be exacerbated in classrooms that better manage peer-to-peer aggression. Accordingly, targeted interventions appear critical for children who continue to experience peer victimization in schools with highly effective aggression prevention programs.