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Familial and nonfamilial relations play prominent roles in fostering youths' prosocial tendencies. The present study examined the direct and indirect relations among family conflict, parental and peer acceptance, deviant peer affiliation, and prosocial tendencies. Participants included 306 (53.8% female, Mage = 15.50, SD = .42; range = 14-18) U.S. Latino/a adolescents and their parents (87.9% mothers). The majority of adolescents were born in the United States (N = 206, 68.0%; average time in United States = 10 years) and identified as a Mexican heritage group member (N = 248, 81.0%). Findings differed by nativity as parental acceptance predicted prosocial tendencies for U.S. Latinos/as born outside the United States and peers were significant predictors of prosocial tendencies for U.S.-born Latino/as.

This study investigated the development of relational aggression (RA) in a sample of Chinese youth (N = 2,274, 52% boys) from fourth (Mage = 10.27 years) to ninth grade. Using latent class growth analysis, four trajectories were identified for both peer- and teacher-rated RA: a no aggression trajectory, a low-increasing trajectory, a moderate-decreasing trajectory, and a chronically high trajectory. Chronically high RA showed a chronicity effect on adolescent peer acceptance, rejection, and rule-breaking behaviors. Adolescents showed worse adjustment as RA increased, but they did not necessarily evidence significant improvement in adjustment even if their RA decreased. Findings reveal the maladaptive nature of RA and highlight the importance of considering cultural context in understanding RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal research examined whether children's facial trustworthiness as judged by strangers can predict their real-world trustworthiness and peer acceptance. Adults (Study 1) and children (Study 2) judged the facial trustworthiness of 8- to 12-year-old children (N = 100) solely based on their photographs. The children's classmates were asked to report their real-world trustworthiness and peer acceptance. Children's facial trustworthiness reliably predicted these outcomes both initially when the photographs were taken, as well as 1 year later, and this effect was mediated by the initial ratings of real-world trustworthiness and peer acceptance. These results provide evidence for a long-lasting linkage between children's facial and real-world trustworthiness.

Executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) are related to children’s social interactions, such as aggression and prosocial behavior, as well as their peer acceptance. However, limited research has examined different forms of aggression and the moderating role of gender. This study investigated links between EF, ToM, physical and relational aggression, prosocial behavior and peer acceptance and explored whether these relations are gender specific. Children (N=106) between 46- and 80-months-old completed tasks assessing cool and hot EF and ToM. Teaching staff rated children’s aggression, prosocial behavior, and peer acceptance. EF and ToM predicted physical, but not relational, aggression. Poor inhibition and delay of gratification were uniquely associated with greater physical aggression. EF and ToM did not predict prosocial behavior or peer acceptance. Added to this, gender did not moderate the relation between either EF or ToM and social outcomes. The correlates of aggression may therefore differ across forms of aggression but not between genders in early childhood.

This study evaluated whether positive and anger emotional frequency (the proportion of instances an emotion was observed) and intensity (the strength of an emotion when it was observed) uniquely predicted social relationships among kindergarteners (N = 301). Emotions were observed as naturally occurring at school in the fall term and multiple reporters (peers and teachers) provided information on quality of relationships with children in the spring term. In structural equation models, positive emotion frequency, but not positive emotion intensity, was positively related to peer acceptance and negatively related to peer rejection. In contrast, the frequency of anger provided unique positive prediction of teacher-student conflict and negative prediction of peer acceptance. Furthermore, anger intensity negatively predicted teacher-student closeness and positively predicted teacher-student conflict. Implications for promoting social relationships in school are discussed.

Two different research traditions in the West see popularity defined either sociometrically, as being well-liked, or in a peer-perceived way as being publically visible and having social status and influence. Recent Q studies in Australia and England have supported the public prestige conception of popularity but we do not know how teenagers in Asian cultures view popularity. The current study used Q methodology and individual interviews to investigate the social constructions of popularity among 53 (16- to 19-year old) girls from two schools in Shanghai. Q factor analysis revealed one common perspective—popular girls were considered to be friendly and pro-social, while unpopular girls were characterized by relational aggression and self-centeredness. The interview data indicated that among Shanghai girls, the popularity concept was more related to peer acceptance than to social influence. The differences in the features of popular girls in this Shanghai-based study and teenage girls in Western studies are discussed.

Preschool children's sleep was examined as a moderator of the association between negative emotionality and both peer acceptance and peer rejection. Participants were 115 children (47 percent girls, M age = 4.29 years, SD = .63). Preschool teachers reported on children's negative emotionality (anger/frustration, sadness, and fear). Sleep was measured objectively using actigraphy in the child's home for seven consecutive nights. Peer acceptance and rejection were assessed using children's choices in sociometric interviews. Controlling for potential confounds, moderation analyses revealed that negative emotionality predicted peer acceptance and rejection only among children with poorer sleep quality (lower sleep efficiency, more frequent wake episodes, longer sleep latency), but not better sleep quality. Findings suggest that sleep is important not only for predicting child functioning but also for moderating the adverse effects of negative emotionality on a salient indicator of interpersonal functioning for preschool age children.

This study examined associations among family-level risks, emotional climate, and child adjustment in families experiencing homelessness. Emotional climate, an indirect aspect of emotion socialization, was indexed by parents’ expressed emotion while describing their children. Sociodemographic risk and parent internalizing distress were hypothesized to predict more negativity and less warmth in the emotional climate. Emotional climate was expected to predict observer-rated child affect and teacher-reported socioemotional adjustment, mediating effects of risk. Participants were 138 homeless parents (64 percent African-American) and their four- to six-year-old children (43.5 percent male). During semi-structured interviews, parents reported demographic risks and internalizing distress and completed a Five Minute Speech Sample about their child, later rated for warmth and negativity. Children's positive and negative affect were coded from videotapes of structured parent-child interaction tasks. Socioemotional adjustment (externalizing behavior, peer acceptance, and prosocial behavior) was reported by teachers a few months later. Hypotheses were partially supported. Parent internalizing distress was associated with higher parent negativity, which was linked to more negative affect in children, and parent warmth was associated with children's positive affect. Neither emotional climate nor child affect predicted teacher-reported externalizing behavior or peer acceptance, but parental negativity and male sex predicted lower prosocial behavior in the classroom. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed.

The current study examined the longitudinal interplay between bullying, victimization, and social status (acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity) over the course of 1 year. Cross-lagged path models were estimated for two cohorts, covering grades 3-6 (N = 3904, M age = 11.2 years) and grades 7-9 (N = 4492, M age = 14.4 years). Comparisons between cohorts and by gender were conducted. The results of this study corroborate the complexity of the longitudinal interplay between bullying, victimization, and social status in showing that direction and strength of associations differ by type of peer status, age, and gender. Conclusions cannot be drawn without taking these differences into account. The findings are discussed according to these differences, and directions for future research are provided.

The current study examined the longitudinal interplay between bullying, victimization, and social status (acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity) over the course of 1 year. Cross-lagged path models were estimated for two cohorts, covering grades 3-6 (N = 3904, M age = 11.2 years) and grades 7-9 (N = 4492, M age = 14.4 years). Comparisons between cohorts and by gender were conducted. The results of this study corroborate the complexity of the longitudinal interplay between bullying, victimization, and social status in showing that direction and strength of associations differ by type of peer status, age, and gender. Conclusions cannot be drawn without taking these differences into account. The findings are discussed according to these differences, and directions for future research are provided.

The study examined the relative importance of the quality of relationships with parents and grandparents, maternal acceptance and control, the structure of the family, the number of siblings, and adolescents’ own attachment style to their perceived peer acceptance. The sample consisted of 300 adolescents (mean age = 15.5) and 300 mothers (mean age = 41.5). Regarding the role of family relationships, the results indicated that only the quality of the mother–child relationship was related to adolescents’ peer acceptance. Maternal acceptance and control, however, were unrelated to youth’s perceptions of acceptance by peers. Adolescents who had more siblings, lived in a single-mother family, and were high in anxious attachment reported lower peer acceptance. During adolescence, serious transformations take place in adolescents’ family and peer relationships with peers and being accepted among them becoming increasingly important (Collins & Laursen, 2004; Steinberg & Silk, 2002). Rubin, Bukowski, and Parker (2006) discussed several outcomes of low peer acceptance: It might lead to academic difficulties and to externalizing (e.g., behavior problems and substance abuse) and internalizing problems (e.g., low self-esteem and depression). The concept of peer acceptance has thus been

Previous studies have found mixed results on the relationship between empathy and peer acceptance. Emotional and cognitive components of empathy were hypothesised to play different roles in peer acceptance, and the relationship between empathy and peer acceptance differed across genders. In this study, 375 Chinese adolescents completed self-report measures of emotional and cognitive empathy. They also provided peer nominations that allowed for the determination of social preference and social impact scores. The results showed that a boy's cognitive empathy positively correlated with the extent to which he was liked by his male classmates, whereas a girl's cognitive empathy positively correlated with her social impact among her female classmates. This study suggests that empathy does not affect peer acceptance among adolescents uniformly; instead, gender plays a determinative role in the dialectics between social acceptance and empathy.

This study examined the process of adjustment in shy and nonshy children during the transition to school in a Chinese community. Children (35 shy and 19 nonshy) were assessed three times before and after they entered the first grade. Shy and nonshy children’s interactions with peers and teachers, perceived peer acceptance, and anxious behaviour were measured using multiple methods, including naturalistic observations, self-report, and teacher report. Results indicated that shy and nonshy children showed consistently different behavioural profiles in free play settings and structured classes during the transition. However, teacher ratings of and peer responses to shy and nonshy children were not consistently different. Results are discussed in relation to the cultural context where the study was conducted. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

To understand the difficulties students with disabilities experience in their social participation in general education, this study examined which child, peer, and class variables relate to peer acceptance and friendships. In a cross-sectional study, sociometric data were gathered for students without disabilities (N = 985) and students with disabilities (N = 65), together with personal related variables of students with disabilities, attitudes of peers towards students with disabilities, and classroom information. Using separate social networks for both boys and girls, the findings of the logistic multilevel regression analyses showed different outcomes for peer acceptance of boys and girls with disabilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in the light of possible interventions to improve peer acceptance and friendships of students with disabilities in general primary education.

Peer sociometrics and teachers' friendship reports were compared in 2179 preschool dyads. One hundred twenty of 306 reciprocated friend dyads from peer sociometric data were also identified as good friends by their classroom teachers, and 301 of 600 of non-reciprocated dyads in peer data were named as friends by one or both classroom teachers (overall kappa = .16). Friendship classifications from both peer and teacher data had significant relations with variables relevant to peer interactions, social skills, peer acceptance, and teacher-rated scales (six of seven tests significant for peer data; five of eight significant for teacher data). Multilevel analyses indicated that friendship status effects were not qualified by classroom-level differences. Findings suggest that sociometric tasks can identify preschoolers' peer friendships and that the range of correlates may be broader in peer-choice data than in teachers' friendship evaluations.

Children's peer relationships are important to their socioemotional and cognitive development; thus, understanding the determinants of such relationships is of ongoing interest. It was hypothesized that gender behaviors and affiliations would predict peer acceptance and victimization. Path analyses using data from 192 fourth graders showed that for both genders, engaging in feminine activities predicted less peer-reported acceptance and greater victimization, and engaging in masculine activities predicted greater peer acceptance. Affiliating with male peers was associated with greater peer-reported acceptance for both genders, and greater self-reported peer acceptance for boys. Indirect effects showed that the link between gender behaviors and victimization is mediated by peer acceptance. These findings support the contention that gender behaviors relate to the quality of children's relationships.

This study assessed the genetic and environmental contributions to peer difficulties in the early school years. Twins' peer difficulties were assessed longitudinally in kindergarten (796 twins, Mage = 6.1 years), Grade 1 (948 twins, Mage = 7.1 years), and Grade 4 (868 twins, Mage = 10 years) through multiple informants. The multivariate results revealed that genetic factors accounted for a strong part of both yearly and stable peer difficulties. At the univariate level, the genetic contributions emerged progressively, as did a growing consensus among informants with respect to those who experienced peer difficulties. These results underline the need to intervene early and persistently, and to target the child and the peer context to prevent peer difficulties and their consequences.

This study tested assumptions and conclusions reached in an earlier confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) study of the social competence (SC) construct for preschool children. Two samples (total N = 408; a new Portuguese sample and one from US samples that had participated in the original study) contributed data. Seven SC indicators were tested for mean differences across age, sex, and sample. Significant sex differences were found for peer acceptance (favoring girls) and for initiating affectively neutral interactions (boys had higher rates), and the sex by sample interaction also was significant for initiating interactions (i.e., effect significant only in the Portuguese sample). In CFAs, the hypothesized structure of SC fits the data and was invariant across sample and age within sample in both measurement and structural tests. The model was invariant at the measurement level for sex within sample tests, but not at the structural level. The results replicate and extend understandings of SC reported in the original study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate three domains (Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, and Global Self-Worth) of self-concept in Arab American adolescents in relation to their school experiences, including discrimination, self-perceived teacher social support, and selfperceived classmate social support. Half of the sample either experienced some form of discrimination or knew someone who had. An experience of discrimination was significantly related to students’ Scholastic Competence. Self-perceived classmate support was significantly related to all domains of self-concept; however, self-perceived teacher support was not significantly related to any of the self-concept domains. Implications of these results are discussed, as well as strategies for how to provide positive relationships for Arab American students and their families. C � 2012

International audience; The aim of this research was to study the impact of risk-taking in gymnastics on the change of cooperative behaviours and acceptance of pupils with learning disabilities within the framework of cooperative learning. One hundred and sixty-eight French 1st year middle school pupils participated in this study. Thirty-six pupils with learning disabilities were mainstreamed in six ordinary classes during seven two-hour gymnastic lessons. Three classes practiced under low risk conditions and three classes performed under high perceived risk conditions. The helping behaviours of the SEGPA pupils were observed and the acceptance of pupils was measured thanks to a sociometric questionnaire during the first and last lessons. The results showed that risk-taking affected the helping behaviours and the acceptance of pupils with learning disabilities. These results lead to think about the factors that could have an impact on the influence of cooperative learning structures when mainstreaming pupils with learning disabilities in physical education.

This study aimed to support the theory of popularity contagion, which posits that popularity spreads among friends spontaneously and regardless of behavioral changes. Peer nominations of status and behavior were collected annually between 6th and 12th grades from a total of 1062 adolescents. Longitudinal hypotheses were mostly supported using path analyses, showing (1) that individual popularity could be predicted by friends’ popularity levels over time, even when controlling for stability of individual popularity; (2) that this prediction was not accounted for by behavioral contagion of aggressive or prosocial behaviors; and (3) that individual social preference generally could not be predicted by friends’ preference levels over time. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among perceived physical competence, body image, and peer acceptance. Body image was considered as a possible mediator of the relationships between perceived physical competence and peer acceptance. Adolescents (N = 838) completed questionnaires. Direct and indirect effects of perceived physical competence and body image on perceived peer acceptance were explored using structural equation modeling. Gender differences were found and the structural mediation model was a reasonable fit to the data; the pattern of relationships in the model was different for adolescent males and females.

The purpose of this study was to test a model of the effects of athletes' eating disorders on coach, sport friend and parent social relationships and peer social acceptance through physical self-perceptions (i.e. perceived physical appearance and perceived physical ability). The sample comprised 199 elite female figure skaters. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Our results showed that the effects of athletes' eating disorders on social relationships were not mediated by physical self-perceptions. Athletes' eating disorders directly negatively influenced the quality of the parent–athlete relationship, thus confirming previous findings in young adults. Contrary to the literature, eating disorders were positively related to perceived physical ability. This paradoxical finding is discussed in relation to achievement theories and the particularity of the sport context. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association

Background Although the influences of parenting on children's development of social competence have been well established, research on the underlying mechanisms of this link is relatively limited. The present study examined children's coping strategies as a mediator of the effects of maternal authoritativeness and maternal inductive responses on their social competence. Method The mothers of 183 Hong Kong Chinese children aged 6 to 8 years (89 girls and 94 boys) reported on their adoption of authoritative parenting and their responses to their children's expressions of emotion, and rated their children's adoption of constructive coping strategies. The children's teachers reported on the children's prosocial behaviour, and rated their level of peer acceptance at school. Results A model of maternal authoritativeness and supportive maternal responses affecting children's social competence is presented. The study results show that the effects of authoritative parenting on children's adoption of constructive coping strategies were mediated by supportive maternal responses to children's expression of emotion, and that the effects of maternal authoritativeness and maternal responses on children's social competence were mediated by children's coping strategies. These results suggest that school personnel should organize training programmes on emotion-coping strategies for both parents and children. Conclusion The findings imply that positive parenting facilitates children's acquisition of constructive emotion-coping strategies. Programmes on emotion-coping strategies should be introduced for both parents and school children.

The goal of this study was to examine whether popularity and likability were related to associating with popular peers in adolescence. Participants were 3,312 adolescents (M age=13.60 years) from 172 classrooms in 32 schools. Four types of peer affiliations of the participants with the popular peers in their classrooms were distinguished: “best friends,”“respected,”“wannabes,” and “unrelated.” Two types of benefits of affiliating with high-status peers were identified: achieving high status or popularity for oneself and becoming liked by others. The results showed that popularity was associated with being closely affiliated with popular peers, whereas likability was more strongly predicted by a more distant relation with popular peers.

Aggressive children are known to have friends. However, less is known about the impact of aggression on friendship development and how this can differ for overt and relational (i.e., the forms) and instrumental and reactive (i.e., the functions) aggression. This longitudinal study utilized the forms and functions perspective on aggression to assess social selection and influence in adolescents' (N = 337, 12-14 years) friendship networks. Instrumentally and relationally aggressive peers became mutual friends with similar peers. Influence effects were observed in all types of aggression except overt aggression, suggesting that instrumental, reactive, and relational aggression may be the most susceptible to social influence. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and methodological implications for the study of aggression and adolescent friendships.

PURPOSE. This study aims to investigate the association between social support variables and healthy lifestyle for asthma management among early adolescents (ages 9–14 years). DESIGN AND METHODS. Questionnaires were completed by 86 parent–adolescent dyads. RESULTS. Healthy lifestyle was associated with social support variables. The association with peer acceptance was stronger among adolescents who received less asthma-specific support from peers. Age was negatively associated with healthy lifestyle, but the association was attenuated after adjustment for asthma-specific peer support. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. The findings of this study suggest recognizing the developmental change of social support during early adolescence.

The present study investigated possible ethnic contributions to overly positive self-perceptions in middle childhood. The goals of this study were threefold. First, the present study sought to replicate the intriguing findings reported by Zakriski and Coie that African American children overestimate their acceptance, and European American children underestimate acceptance by other-ethnicity peers. Second, this study examined possible explanations for ethnic differences in the pattern of perceptual bias. Finally, this study extended prior research by examining ethnic differences in the accuracy of children's perceived peer acceptance. Archival data consisting of 826 children in third (N = 284), fourth (N = 241), and fifth grades (N = 301) were used in the present investigation; 237 of which were African American children, and 589 were European American children. Results of this study replicated the findings of Zakriski and Coie. Moreover, African Americans' overestimation and European Americans' underestimation of acceptance by other-ethnicity peers was found to be attributable to more positive views of self and others among African American children relative to European American children. Finally, children were found to be more accurate about judging their acceptance by peers of the same ethnicity than those of a different ethnicity. Possible explanations of what causes African American children to have more positive views of self and others than European American children are discussed.

PURPOSE: A secondary analysis of 2000 and 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS) data was conducted to investigate salient environmental and perceptual correlates of adolescents’ current and established smoking while controlling for demographic variables such as gender, grade, and race/ethnicity and to compare the pattern of significant correlates between the years. METHODS: The IYTS was an anonymous school-based survey regarding tobacco use; familiarity with pro- and anti-tobacco media messages; exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); minors’ access to tobacco products; and general knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about tobacco. In 2000, a representative sample of 1416 public high school students in grades 9-12 and 1516 public middle school students in grades 6-8 (71.44% and 72.53% response rates, respectively) were surveyed. In 2004, 3433 public high school students and 1990 public middle school students (63.04% and 65.44 % response rates, respectively) were surveyed. RESULTS: Significant predictors of adolescents’ current and established smoking habits included exposure to ETS either in homes or in cars, exposure to pro-tobacco messages, perceived benefit of smoking, and perceived peer acceptance of smoking. The influence of exposure to pro-tobacco messages greatly outweighed exposure to any anti-tobacco messages. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study warrant that more efforts and resources be placed on preventing youth from being exposed to ETS, and to control pro-tobacco marketing and improve the tobacco counter-marketing messages. The perceived benefits of smoking found here indicate that smoking for relaxation and weight control may be major influencing factors on adolescent smoking.

The principal aim of the present study was to obtain a deeper understanding than hitherto of the concurrent correlates and prospective predictors of loneliness and poor peer acceptance, both fallin ...

Although the construct of solitary-active behavior calls for the aggregation of solitary-functional play and solitary-pretend play, there is little empirical support for combining them into one construct. Furthermore, little work has been done in early childhood to examine these behaviors on the playground. The purpose of this study was to observe children's behavior on the playground to explore whether solitary-functional and solitary-pretend behaviors are related to one another and to other indices of social adjustment/maladjustment. Examining a sample of 361 preschoolers, results revealed that (1) solitary-functional and solitary-pretend play were not related, (2) solitary-functional play was associated with solitary-passive and reticent behaviors, as well as less social play, co-operative rough and tumble play, sociable/friendliness, assertiveness, and lower peer acceptance, and (3) solitary-pretend play was linked to lower peer acceptance and more social maladjustment, including venting, reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression), active exclusion, victimization, and being distractible.

This study examined the links among parents' interaction styles, their children's social information processing, and peer acceptance. Fourth-grade children (N = 159) and their parents were observed during family discussions. One year later peer acceptance and children's information processing choices (goals, strategies, and attributions) in response to social dilemmas involving their parents and peers were assessed. Fathers' interaction styles with their children predicted both girls' and boys' information processing in regard to their fathers and peers, which, in turn, were related to peer acceptance. Mothers' interactive styles with their children predicted children's social information processing in regard to parents and peers and peer acceptance in similar ways, but only for girls. This study provided evidence that parent–child interaction is linked to children's information processing concerning their relationships with parents and peers and in turn with children being liked by peers. The implications of a social information processing approach for understanding family–peer links are emphasized.

This study investigated the entry behavior and temperamental characteristics of aggressive/rejected and nonaggressive/popular kindergarten and first-grade children. An analog entry situation was used to assess children's entry skills. Aggressive/rejected children had more difficulty than nonaggressive/popular children delivering their entry bids in a well-timed manner and engaged in more disruptive entry strategies. They also tended to use more aggressive entry strategies after experiencing entry failure. The children's temperamental characteristics accounted for significant variance in their entry behavior. Temperamental fear made a positive contribution to children's use of socially appropriate entry strategies. The children's status and impulsiveness each explained unique variance in their use of disruptive entry strategies. Aggressive/rejected girls were more impulsive than other groups and tended to be less fearful.

This study investigated gender differences in communication effectiveness between popular and unpopular 5- to 7-year-old children. Because previous research suggests that there may be gender differences in how popular and unpopular children communicate with each other, 24 same-gender pairs (each containing a popular and an unpopular child) were videotaped playing a game. Communication effectiveness was assessed by measuring the incidence of forms of speech associated with successful collaboration (questions, directives, and elaborations). Results revealed a popularity by gender interaction. Popular girls used a greater incidence of these forms of speech compared to unpopular girls. By contrast, there was no difference in the speech of popular and unpopular boys. Findings are interpreted in relation to the nature of the task and the characteristics of popular and unpopular children.

This study compared the peer functioning of a community sample of preschool boys with pervasive hyperactivity (N = 33) and comparison boys (N = 34), and examined the extent to which any differences in peer functioning between these groups could be explained by comorbid child conduct problems and parenting factors. The quality of boys’ peer relations was assessed on the basis of teacher and observer ratings of peerrelated behavior at preschool. The quality of parenting and boys’ behavior at home were assessed using the Parental Account of Children’s Symptoms Interview, the Parenting Scale, and videotaped mother‐son interactions. Boys with hyperactive behavior problems showed higher rates of aggressive, noncompliant, and nonsocial behaviors, and lower rates of prosocial behavior and peer acceptance than boys in the comparison group. These between-group differences in social functioning remained significant following statistical control for the effects of conduct problems, highlighting the wide range of peer difficulties associated with preschool hyperactivity. Results of further analyses suggest that the quality of early mother‐child interactions and the behavioral features of hyperactivity may make unique contributions to the 00development of peer relationship difficulties in preschool children with pervasive hyperactivity.

The aims of the present study were to investigate the role for problematic children of the child's social competence, teacher relations and behaviour with peers for later problem persistence, school performance and peer acceptance, in terms of moderating (protective and exacerbating) and independent effects. Groups of children with externalizing (n=26) and internalizing (n=25) problems and a non-problematic group (n=44) were followed from grade 1–6. Teachers rated behaviour problems and social competence in the first, third and sixth grades, the teacher–child relationship in third grade, and school achievement in sixth grade. Behaviour with peers was assessed in observations in later elementary school. Peer acceptance was assessed through peer nominations in sixth grade. Both problem groups had lower social competence, school achievement and peer acceptance in sixth grade than the non-problematic group. There were moderating and independent effects of social competence, teacher and peer relations on outcomes, but these applied mainly to children with internalizing problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study examined the relations between preschool children's attachment security, temperament, and peer acceptance. Ninety-eight preschool children and their mothers were recruited through childcare centers in the southeast. Mothers and their children participated in two two-hour home observations. Attachment security was assessed using the Waters Attachment Behavior Q-set (AQS) completed by observers, and mothers reported on their children's temperament. Standard picture-sociometric nominations and paired-comparisons were used to measure children's peer acceptance. Results revealed significant associations between security and temperament. In addition, both attachment and temperament made significant and unique contributions to peer acceptance whereas temperament was found to be a stronger predictor of children's peer rejection. These findings underscore the dynamic interplay of inter- and intrapersonal factors that influence preschool children's peer relations. Implications of the findings for theory building and future research are discussed.

Although children with learning disabilities are often considered to be a heterogeneous group, they are always situated in specific social surroundings such as schools and families with which they interact dynamically in everyday life. Therefore, peer acceptance and family functioning may be related to the loneliness experienced by children with learning disabilities. This study explores the characteristics of loneliness and peer acceptance among children with learning disabilities and discusses the relationships among loneliness, peer acceptance, and family functioning. The results indicate that children with learning disabilities reported higher degrees of loneliness, but lower levels of peer acceptance; significant correlations existed between peer acceptance and loneliness, and between peer acceptance and family functioning; however, no significant correlations were found between loneliness and family functioning.

Despite the increasing societal inclusion of young people with a disability in Ireland, there is very little evidence of any substantive improvement with regard to inclusion for young people with severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities (usually referred to, in educational settings in the UK, as pupils or students with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties). As a result, these young people often remain isolated within their local communities and have minimal contact, if any, with their mainstream counterparts. One innovative schools link programme in Ireland offers structured curricular activities that include mainstream pupils and their peers who have severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities. A video programme was used in the pre-contact phase of the programme and this paper explores the effectiveness of the video programme in preparing the mainstream pupils to meet their counterparts who have severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities. Michael Shevlin, who teaches in the Education Department of Trinity College Dublin and has research interests in inclusion, argues that it was evident that the mainstream pupils reacted positively to the video programme and found it useful in overcoming their anxieties at the prospect of contact. He discusses the implications of these findings in relation to the further development of structured contact sessions in integrated classrooms and to the wider issue of societal inclusion for young people with severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities.

This study assessed features of young children's friendships and determined whether the features reported were associated with prosocial and aggressive behavior. Teachers completed the friendship features questionnaires (FFQ) on the mutual friendships in their class identified by the 98 children who were interviewed (M age =3.91 years). Four subscales (support, conflict, exclusivity/intimacy, and asymmetry) were differentiated from the 36-item questionnaire. Teacher reports of friendship features showed moderate inter-rater reliability and were associated with teacher reports of aggression and prosocial behavior and peer reports of acceptance and rejection. Friendship support was positively correlated with prosocial behavior, friendship conflict was positively correlated with overt aggression and peer rejection, and friendship exclusivity/intimacy was positively associated with relational aggression and negatively with peer acceptance. Findings are consistent with research on school age children's friendship features and their behavioral correlates.

This study investigated the interactions of 16 first-grade children during one academic year as they participated in literacy events with their peers. Of particular interest was how children with different levels of acceptance from their peers and different levels of reading achievement experienced collaborative peer-only literacy events. A sociocultural perspective guided the investigation. Constructs related to the individual psychology of the children were also considered to gain insights into experiences of individual children. Data included 138 hours of classroom observations, video and/or audiotapes of the children as they participated in collaborative literacy events, assessments of the children's reading ability, and assessments of the children's acceptance by their peers. A constant comparative method guided the data analysis. The analysis suggests that issues related to peer acceptance and reading competence complicate children's interactions during collaborative literacy events. While interactions during these events are a source of support for some, they may be a source of stress for others. Concepts critical to understanding how children with different levels of acceptance from peers and different levels of reading achievement experience these events are presented. Implications for classroom teachers and for researchers are presented. Este estudio investigo las interacciones de 16 ninos de primer grado durante un ano academico, mientras participaban en eventos de alfabetizacion con sus pares. Resulto particularmente interesante la forma en la que ninos con diferentes grados de aceptacion por parte de sus pares y diferentes niveles de lectura experimentaron los eventos colaborativos de alfabetizacion. Una perspectiva sociocultural guio la investigacion. Asimismo, con el fin de obtener conocimientos sobre las experiencias de cada nino, se consideraron conceptualizaciones relacionadas con las caracteristicas psicologicas de los ninos. Los datos incluyeron 138 horas de observaciones en el aula, registros de audio y/o video de los ninos mientras participaban en eventos colaborativos de alfabetizacion, evaluaciones de la habilidad de lectura de los ninos y de la aceptacion de los ninos por parte de sus pares. El metodo comparativo constante guio el analisis de los datos. El analisis sugiere que las cuestiones relacionadas con la aceptacion de los pares y la competencia en lectura complican las interacciones de los ninos durante los eventos colaborativos de alfabetizacion. En tanto que las interacciones durante estos eventos son una fuente de apoyo para algunos, pueden ser una fuente de ansiedad para otros. Se presentan conceptos criticos para comprender como ninos con diferente nivel de aceptacion por parte de sus pares y diferentes niveles de lectura experimentan estos eventos. Se presentan tambien implicancias para los docentes e investigadores. Diese Abhandlung untersuchte die gegenseitige Beeinflussung von 16 Kindern der ersten Klasse im Laufe eines Schuljahres, wie sie sich in Schreib-/Leseauseinandersetzungen mit ihren Mitschulern beteiligten. Von besonderem Interesse war es, wie Kinder mit unterschiedlichen Einstufungen in der Akzeptanz seitens ihrer Mitschuler und unterschiedlichen Stufen an Leseleistung kollaborative, nur aus Mitschulern bestehende Unterrichtsablaufe erlebten. Die Untersuchung orientierte sich an einer sozio-kulturellen Ausrichtung. Die Richtlinien bezogen auf die individuelle Psychologie der Kinder, wurden ebenfalls herangezogen, um so Einsichtnahme in die gemachten Erfahrungen der einzelnen Kinder zu erlangen. Die Daten erfasten 138 Stunden an Beobachtungen im Klassenraum, Video- und Audiobandaufnahmen von den Kindern wahrend sie an gemeinsamen Schreib/Leseablaufen teilnahmen, Beurteilungen der Lesefahigkeit der Kinder und Beurteilungen der Akzeptanz der Kinder seitens ihrer Mitschuler. Eine konstante, komparative Methode diente als Leitfaden fur die Datenanalyse. Die Analyse ergibt, das auf die Mitschulerakzeptanz und Lesekompetenz bezogene Sachverhalte das Zusammenwirken der Kinder wahrend der kollaborativen Schreib-/Leseablaufe eher komplizieren. Wahrend Wechselwirkungen im Verlauf dieser Auseinandersetzungen fur einige Schopfungsquellen der Ermunterung sind, konnen sie eine Quelle von Stress fur andere sein. Kritische Konzepte uber das Verstehen, wie Kinder unterschiedlicher Stufen der Akzeptanz gegenuber ihren Mitschulern - und unterschiedlicher Stufen in der Leseleistung - diese Auseinandersetzungen erfahren, werden dargestellt. Implikationen fur die Klassenlehrer und fur Forscher sind angefuhrt.

How dominance in the competitive MovieViewer (MV) task relates to peer preference and assertive behavior, and whether these relations differ for boys and girls were explored. Ninety-one preschool children in same-sex quartets were videotaped interacting in the MV task and dominance ranks were assigned according to viewing time. Peer preference was explored by looking separately at the number of likes and dislikes a child received in sociometric interviews. Multivariate analyses revealed that sex interacted with rank to explain peer acceptance but not peer rejection. High ranked boys were accepted more by peers than low ranked boys, while low ranked girls were accepted more than high ranked girls. Further analyses revealed that girls, but not boys, accepted the low ranked girls. The difference in girls’ and boys’ acceptance of same-sex peers who act assertively in the MV task is consistent with the notion that gendered cultures develop in the preschool years.

In this paper, Professor Ann Lewis, of the School of Education, University of Birmingham, reviews the literature and current research on pupils’ perceptions of others’ difficulties in learning. She focuses, in particular, on three strands: children’s perceptions about other people and their traits; children as ‘naive’ biologists, attempting to explain growth and development in others; and children’s responses to and use of cues based on achievement and ideas about ability. In a wide-ranging discussion, this article explores work on theory of mind and notes the different ways in which children explain learning difficulties in others at various ages. In her conclusion, Professor Lewis makes three key points: there is a need to supplement experimental work in this area with good quality, classroom-based studies; more effort should be devoted to finding ways of accessing children’s views and perceptions in authentic and reliable ways; and staff working in inclusive classrooms are ideally placed to contribute to the development of research in this area.