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The goal of this study was to examine behavioral norm effects in 2 peer contexts (classroom, school) on adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis) and aggressive behaviors (bullying, physical fighting). Participants were 5,642 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 14.29 years, SD = 1.26; 49% boys). There were 3 hypotheses. First, behavioral norms in both contexts affect individual behavior. Second, classroom norms have stronger effects on individual behavior than school norms. Third, classroom and school norms interact and exacerbate each other's influence. Results indicated that classroom norms had stronger effects than school norms on individual tobacco and alcohol use. Furthermore, school norms had equal or stronger effects than classroom norms on the 2 indicators of aggressive behaviors. There was no evidence for an interaction between classroom and school norms for any dependent variable. This study demonstrates that the complexity of multiple (nested) peer contexts should be considered to fully understand peer influence processes.

This study examined adolescent personality and problem behaviours as predictors of two types of social status: social preference and popularity. Academic track (college preparatory and vocational) and gender were expected to moderate these associations. The sample included 693 students (49.0% female; M = 15.46 years) attending classrooms in two academic tracks (vocational and college preparatory). Participants completed self-report measures of personality and problem behaviours and peer-reports of preference and popularity. Results of structural path analyses indicated that academic track and gender moderated several associations. Specifically, externalising problems were associated with more popularity for males and less preference for females in college preparatory classrooms. Internalising problems were associated with popularity and preference for adolescents in vocational classrooms. The findings illustrate the complexities associated with predicting the social status of male and female adolescents attending different academic tracks. The salience of status norms and implications for intervention programmes are discussed.

Although the ability to forgive offending peers may be crucial for maintaining long-term friendships in childhood, little is actually known about forgiveness among peers in childhood. In the present research, we examined whether forgiveness among children is related to enhanced psychological well-being. Importantly, we hypothesized that this association should be most pronounced when friendship is strong rather than weak. In a sample of 275 nine- to 13-year-olds who completed self-reported and behavioral measures of forgiveness and various indicators of psychological well-being, the present study revealed that forgiveness among peers was indeed associated with enhanced psychological well-being. In line with predictions, the association with psychological well-being was stronger when it concerned forgiveness toward friends rather than forgiveness toward nonfriends. Implications for the extant literature on forgiveness among children, and interpersonal relationships more broadly, are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to identify and validate subtypes of peer status by integrating preference and popularity into a single framework. Person-oriented analyses were performed among 3,630 children and adolescents of different cohorts in primary and secondary education. In the young age groups (Grade 3/4 to Grade 7), three clusters were found: popular-liked, average, and unpopular-disliked. In the older age group (Grade 8), four clusters were found: popular, liked, average, and unpopular-disliked. Thus, participants differentiated liked peers from popular peers at the age of 14, but not earlier. Distinct behavioral profiles were found for each subtype. Cohort-sequential analyses demonstrated high stability of cluster membership, especially among the high-status groups. Developmental implications and the importance of school transitions are discussed.

In preschool classes, sociometric peer ratings are used to measure children's peer relationships. The current study examined a computerized version of preschool sociometric ratings. The psychometric properties were compared of computerized sociometric ratings and traditional peer ratings for preschoolers. The distributions, inter-item correlations, and reliabilities of sociometric scores were comparable between the computerized assessment and traditional assessment. The computerized assessment provided additional data for further analysis of the peer evaluation process. Therefore, computerized peer ratings are a promising tool for sociometric measurement with preschool children.

During social interaction, the behavior of interacting partners becomes coordinated. Although interpersonal coordination is well-studied in adults, relatively little is known about its development. In this project we explored how 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children spontaneously coordinated their drumming with a peer. Results showed that all children adapted their drumming to their partner's drumming by starting and stopping their drumming in a coordinated fashion, but only 4-year-olds adapted the rhythmic structure of their drumming to their partner's drumming. In all age groups, children showed similarly stable drumming. Typically, it was 1 of the 2 children who initiated drumming throughout the session. The results of this study offer new insights into the development of interpersonal coordination abilities in early childhood.

The current study aims to evaluate and empirically investigate Prinstein's (2007) conclusions regarding "expert nominators," a subsample of individuals in a peer group whose peer nominations might substitute for nominations from the full sample. The current study empirically identified experts based on "comparative accuracy," the extent to which each participant's nominations matched full sample nominations across items. Eighth-graders at two schools (Ns = 273 and 334) completed 16 nomination items. Participants were labeled "experts" if they showed above-average comparative accuracy on at least 75% of items; however, expert nominations were neither highly internally reliable nor valid. Nominations from experts would not have adequately substituted for collecting full-sample nominations. Future research may possibly benefit from identifying more limited, single-item experts.

Children's peer relationships are frequently assessed with peer nominations. An important methodological issue is whether to collect unlimited or limited nominations. Some researchers have argued that the psychometric differences between both methods are negligible, while others have claimed that one is superior over the other. The current study compared both methods directly in a counterbalanced design among 112 8-12-year-old elementary school children. Overall, both methods revealed comparable results, although some significant and noteworthy differences were found. The use of unlimited nominations was recommended for questions related to social status (preference, popularity). Some method differences varied by gender. Implications for future peer relations research were discussed.

Despite its importance in social development, social understanding has hardly been studied in high-ability children. This study explores differences in social understanding between children in high-ability and regular classrooms, specifically theory of mind (ToM) and perception accuracy, as well as associations between individual characteristics (age, gender, peer acceptance, and cognitive ability) and social understanding. Participants were 671 children in Grades 1 to 6 (55% boys; M age 9.20 years). Children in high-ability classrooms had higher ToM scores in Grades 1 to 3 and were more accurate perceivers of acceptance than children in regular classrooms. No group differences were found for ToM in Grades 4 to 6. ToM was associated with several individual characteristics, in particular age and cognitive ability. Perception accuracy was mainly related to peer acceptance. Suggestions for future research and implications for practitioners are discussed.

This study examined the peer relationships and social behaviors of deaf adolescents in the first 2 years of secondary school. Peer nominations and ratings of peer status and behavior were collected longitudinally with 74 deaf and 271 hearing adolescents from Grade 7 to Grade 8. The predictions of deaf adolescents' peer status in Grade 8 from Grade 7 behaviors differed between mainstream education and special education settings. The behaviors of deaf early adolescents in the beginning of secondary school strongly predicted their peer status a year later. For deaf mainstream students, withdrawn behavior was the most important and negative predictor of peer status. For deaf students in special education settings, prosocial behavior was the most important and positive predictor of peer status.

This study examined the behavioral, personality, and communicative predictors of acceptance and popularity in 608 early adolescents. Data were collected with sociometric methods and ratings in 30 sixth-grade classrooms. Hierarchical regressions were run to predict acceptance and popularity from prosocial, antisocial, and withdrawn behavior, agreeableness and extraversion, and pragmatic communicative skills. Low levels of antisocial behavior positively predicted peer acceptance. Popularity depended on a more complex profile of predictors. Prosocial and antisocial behavior contributed positively to popularity, whereas withdrawn behavior contributed negatively. Extraversion and pragmatic skills also played a role in the prediction of popularity. Extraversion moderated the associations of prosocial and antisocial behavior with popularity. Popularity was highest when high levels of prosocial or antisocial behavior were combined with high levels of extraversion. Pragmatic skills moderated the association of prosocial behavior with popularity. Popularity was highest when prosocial behavior and pragmatic skills were high.

Previous research has shown that adolescents' attention for a peer is determined by the peer's status. This study examined how it is also determined by the status of the perceiving adolescent, and the gender of both parties involved (perceiver and perceived). Participants were 122 early adolescents (M age = 11.0 years) who completed sociometric measures and eye-tracking recordings of visual fixations at pictures of high-status (popular) and low-status (unpopular) classmates. Automatic attention (first-gaze preference) and controlled attention (total gaze time) were measured. Target popularity was associated with both measures of attention. These associations were further moderated by perceiver popularity and perceiver and target gender. Popular adolescents attracted attention especially from other popular adolescents. Popular boys attracted attention especially from girls.

Although low participation rates have historically been considered problematic in peer nomination research, some researchers have recently argued that small proportions of participants can, in fact, provide adequate sociometric data. The current study used a classical measurement perspective to investigate the internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of peer nomination measures of acceptance, popularity, friendship, prosocial behavior, and overt aggression. Data from 642 participants attending 10 schools were resampled at different participation rates ranging from 5 percent to 100 percent of the original samples. Results indicated that (1) the association between participation rate and Cronbach's alpha was curvilinear across schools and variables; (2) collecting more data for a given variable (by using unlimited vs. limited nominations, or two vs. one items) was significantly related to higher internal reliability; and (3) certain variables (overt aggression, popularity) were more reliable than others (acceptance, friendship). Implications for future research were discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 4 notes)

This study examined the dynamics of popularity in adolescent friendship networks across 3 years in middle school. Longitudinal social network modeling was used to identify selection and influence in the similarity of popularity among friends. It was argued that lower status adolescents strive to enhance their status through befriending higher status adolescents, whereas higher status adolescents strive to maintain their status by keeping lower status adolescents at a distance. The results largely supported these expectations. Selection partially accounted for similarity in popularity among friends; adolescents preferred to affiliate with similar-status or higher status peers, reinforcing the attractiveness of popular adolescents and explaining stability of popularity at the individual level. Influence processes also accounted for similarity in popularity over time, showing that peers increase in popularity and become more similar to their friends. The results showed how selection and influence processes account for popularity dynamics in adolescent networks over time.

Previous research suggests that the prevalence of aggression is high among low-income urban youth who have to cope with a number of psychological stressors. Less is known about the early development and consequences of aggression and peer victimization prior to adolescence in these contexts. This study examined the correlates, interplay, and consequences of aggression and victimization among children in a low-income urban context. Data were collected in the spring of grades 1, 2, and 3. The final sample included 333 children (59.5% girls, "M" = 6.46 years). Each year, children completed sociometric and peer assessments in their classrooms. A cross-lagged panel model with extended effects showed that aggression was relatively stable over time, whereas victimization was less stable. Aggression and victimization became increasingly less correlated over time. Further, early victimization negatively predicted later aggression for boys, but positively for girls. Growth curve modeling showed that initial aggression and victimization were associated with initial behavioral and relational problems. Early aggression, but not victimization, predicted relative stable or increasing in behavioral and relational problems over time. The results underscore the importance of a developmental perspective on early childhood aggression and victimization in high-risk contexts, in order to understand their implications for adjustment in adolescence.

The present study investigated the joint impact of co-occupants and codefendants criminal behavior on adolescent criminal behavior using official Dutch police records. Co-occupant and co-defendant criminal behavior were used as proxies for family and peer criminal behavior, respectively. Data spanning 8 years (2010–2017) were analyzed from 56,802 adolescents, their co-occupants and co-defendants. Cross-lagged analyses were used to investigate prospective effects of co-occupant and co-defendant delinquency on adolescent delinquency. For males, prospective effects were found of co-defendant on adolescent delinquency violent offences, violent property offences, and nonviolent property offences. For females, prospective effects of co-defendants' delinquency were found for nonviolent property offences. Our findings underscore that having co-defendants with delinquent behavior is an important risk factor for delinquent activities in adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether adolescents' conflict resolution styles mediated between depressive symptoms and relationship longevity. Data were used from a sample of 80 couples aged 13-19 years old (Mage = 15.48, SD = 1.16). At Time 1 adolescents reported their depressive symptoms and conflict resolution styles. Additionally, time until break-up was assessed. Data were analyzed using actor-partner interdependence models. Results showed no support for conflict resolution styles as mediators. Girls' depressive symptoms were directly related to shorter relationships. Additionally, actor effects were found indicating that boys and girls with more depressive symptoms used negative resolution styles and were less likely to employ positive problems solving strategies. Finally, one partner effect was found: girls' depressive symptoms related to more positive problem solving in boys. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

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. (Contains 3 figures and 2 notes.)

This study investigated whether perceived popularity mediates and/or moderates the association between agentic goals and bullying, and whether sociometric popularity mediates and/or moderates the association between communal goals and bullying. Age and gender differences were also examined. Participants were 276 fourth and fifth graders (middle childhood sample) and 196 seventh and eighth graders (early adolescence sample). Peer status and bullying were assessed with sociometric measures, interpersonal goals with self-reports. The theoretical model included both mediation and moderation effects. An age-related reversal was found in how status mediated the associations between goals and bullying. Sociometric popularity mediated the association of agentic goals with bullying in middle childhood but of communal goals with bullying in early adolescence. Perceived popularity mediated the association of communal goals with bullying in middle childhood but of agentic goals with bullying in early adolescence. In middle childhood, perceived popularity also moderated the effect of agentic goals on bullying. The results were discussed in terms of the role of bullying as a means to enhance status in early adolescence.

The primary goal of this study was to examine the similarities and distinctions between two types of popularity, sociometric and perceived, in their associations with friendship characteristics and how they in turn are related to depressive affect and self-esteem. Among 245 eighth graders, sociometric popularity was associated with a greater number of reciprocated friendships characterized by lower rates of conflict, whereas perceived popularity was related to both more friendship support and conflict. Friendship conflict mediated the association of sociometric popularity with depressive affect for both boys and girls and with self-esteem for boys. Perceived popularity was uniquely related to decreases in depressive affect and increases in self-esteem, adding to the prediction of adolescent friendship characteristics. Results evidence the discriminant validity of sociometric and perceived popularity in their associations with friendship factors and their implications for depressive affect and self-esteem. (Contains 1 note, 2 tables, and 2 figures.)

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an experimental manipulation of distance between classmates on peer affiliations and classroom climate. Participants were 651 10-to-12 year-old children (48% boys) from 27 Grade 5 and Grade 6 classrooms of 23 schools, who were assigned to an experimental or a control condition. Peer affiliations were assessed with peer nominations and likeability ratings before and after the manipulation of distance. In the experimental condition, children who did not like each other were placed closer together for several weeks in order to promote more positive peer relations. The decrease in distance lead to higher likeability ratings for children who were perceived most negatively at the beginning of the school year. In addition, a reduction in peer-reported victimization and social withdrawal nominations was found. The results suggest that the classroom seating arrangement can be used as a tool to improve liking among peers and reduce peer-reported problem behaviors in the classroom.

This study focused on the peer and teacher relationships of deaf children and the effects of these relationships on well-being in school during the transition from elementary school to junior high school. Differences due to gender and educational context were also considered. In Study 1, the predictive effects of peer acceptance, popularity, and teacher support on well-being were examined cross-sectionally for early adolescents in Grade 6 (N = 759, 87 deaf) and Grade 7 (N = 840, 104 deaf). Study 2 examined the effects of the same predictors on well-being in school longitudinally during the transition to secondary school on a subsample of participants from Study 1 (n = 105). Well-being in school was stable during the transition for mainstreamed hearing children, but not for deaf children. In mainstream schools, school well-being increased for deaf boys but decreased for deaf girls. In contrast, in special education schools, school well-being increased for deaf girls but decreased for deaf boys. Peer acceptance, popularity, and relationship with the teacher had different effects on well-being for deaf early adolescents in mainstream schools compared to the effects on those in special education schools. Moderation by gender was also found.

This study examined 241 early adolescents' implicit and explicit associations with popularity. The peer status and gender of both the targets and the perceivers were considered. Explicit associations with popularity were assessed with sociometric methods. Implicit associations with popularity were assessed with an approach-avoidance task (AAT). Explicit evaluations of popularity were positive, but implicit associations were negative: Avoidance reactions to popular peers were faster than approach reactions. Interactions with the status of the perceiver indicated that unpopular participants had stronger negative implicit reactions to popular girls than did popular participants. This study demonstrated a negative reaction to popularity that cannot be revealed with explicit methods. The study of implicit processes with methods such as the AAT is a new and important direction for peer relations research. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Although peer status has been studied extensively in childhood and adolescence, little is known about social status in peer groups of emerging adults. The current study filled this gap by testing whether preference and popularity are distinct dimensions of peer status and uniquely associated with social behavior in emerging adulthood. Participants were 235 18- to 25-year-old emerging adults in a professional college who completed a sociometric instrument. Popularity and preference were moderately correlated. Both types of status were positively related to prosocial leadership and negatively to social exclusion. Popularity was positively related to dominant leadership and relational aggression, whereas preference was negatively related to relational aggression. The results were compared with findings in adolescence and their generalizability to emerging adults in other social contexts was discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

Adolescents' friendships with other-sex peers serve important developmental functions, but they may also facilitate engagement in problem behavior. This study examines the unique contributions of other-sex friendships and friends' behavior to alcohol use, smoking, and initiation of sexual intercourse among late adolescent girls and boys. A total of 320 adolescents (53% girls; 33% racial/ethnic minorities) provided sociometric nominations of friendships annually in grades 10-12. Friendship networks were derived using social network analysis in each grade. Adolescents and their friends also reported on their alcohol use, smoking, and sexual debut at each assessment. After controlling for demographics, previous problem behavior, and friends' behavior, other-sex friendships in 10th grade were associated with initiation of smoking among girls over the following year, and other-sex friendships in 11th grade were linked with lower levels of subsequent alcohol use among boys. Additionally, friends' smoking and sexual experience in 10th grade predicted the same behaviors for all adolescents over the following year. Other-sex friendships thus appear to serve as a risk context for adolescent girls' smoking and a protective context for adolescent boys' drinking. Promoting mixed-gender activities and friendships among older high school students may be helpful in reducing males' alcohol use, but may need to incorporate additional components to prevent increases in females' smoking. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

This study examines the effects of physical attractiveness and aggression on popularity among high school students. Previous work has found positive relationships between aggression and popularity and physical attractiveness and popularity. The current study goes beyond this work by examining the interactive effects of physical attractiveness and aggression on popularity. Controlling for race and gender, the results indicate that attractive students are seen as more physically and relationally aggressive than those who are less attractive. We also found that those who are both physically attractive and aggressive are perceived to be more popular than those without such characteristics. However, the same interaction showed the opposite effect when predicting sociometric popularity instead of perceived popularity. These results contribute to the understanding of the differences between those who are well-liked (sociometric popularity) and those who are socially visible (perceived popularity), and the unique predictors of these two dimensions of status in the peer group.

Exclusion and victimization by classmates were related to levels and diurnal change in cortisol in 97 fourth graders (53% boys, M = 9.3 years). Number and quality of friendships were considered as moderators. Salivary cortisol was collected 5 times daily on 2 school days. Excluded children had elevated cortisol levels at school and a flattened diurnal cortisol curve, suggesting hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis dysregulation. This effect was weaker for children with more friends or better friendships. Victimization was not associated with cortisol level or change. The results demonstrate the role of HPA activity in peer group processes and indicate that group and dyadic factors interact in predicting stress in the peer group.

This study examined associations of communicative skills, social behavior, and personality with acceptance and popularity as a function of hearing status, gender, and educational setting. Participants were 87 deaf and 672 hearing early adolescents of 52 6th grade classrooms in mainstream and special education. Acceptance varied as a function of hearing status by gender; popularity varied as a function of hearing status and educational setting. Deaf boys in mainstream education were less accepted and popular than their hearing classmates and than deaf peers in special education. Deaf girls in mainstream education were also less popular but not less accepted. Communicative skills varied as a function of hearing status, whereas social behavior varied as a function of educational setting. Deaf mainstreamed children showed less developed pragmatic and strategic communicative skills (monitoring, improvisation, initiating/maintaining) than their hearing classmates, but more social adjustment than deaf peers in special education (more prosocial behavior, less antisocial or withdrawn behavior, and more agreeableness). For acceptance, deaf girls in mainstream education compensated the lack of improvisation with higher levels of prosocial behavior, agreeableness, monitoring, and pragmatic skills, and lower levels of antisocial behavior than deaf boys. Monitoring and pragmatic skills negatively affected a deaf mainstream boy's acceptance. In special education, gender differences in prosocial behavior explained deaf boys' lower acceptance. Popularity was explained by pragmatic skills and improvisation as a function of hearing status. Voter population difference and different social behavior norms are considered as an explanation for popularity differences as a function of educational setting. (Contains 4 tables.)

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.

This study examined the associations of popularity, substance use, athletic abilities, physical attractiveness, and physical and relational aggression with likeability by same-gender and cross-gender peers among early adolescents (N = 3,312; M age = 13.60, with 92.7% of the participants in the 12-14 age range). Data collection consisted of peer nominations in 172 classrooms of 34 secondary schools. Taking a goal-framing perspective, it was argued that key to understanding the association between popularity and likeability is the distinction between features that help to "achieve" popularity and features that help to "maintain" popularity. In support of our hypotheses, popularity and substance use, athletic abilities, and physical attractiveness (characteristics that help to become popular) contributed significantly to likeability, whereas physical and relational aggression (characteristics that help to maintain popularity) negatively predicted likeability. These specific nature of these effects depended on the reference group (same-gender vs. other-gender peers) and were further moderated by popularity. (Contains 5 tables.)

This study examined the heterogeneity of bullying among adolescents. It was hypothesized that bullying behavior serves different social functions and, depending on these functions, bullies will differ in their skills, status and social behavior. In a total sample of 806 8th graders, 120 adolescents (52 boys, 68 girls) were identified as bullies based on peer nominations. An additional group of 50 adolescents (25 boys, 25 girls) served as the non-bully comparison group. Cluster analysis revealed three corresponding bully subtypes for boys and girls: a popular-socially intelligent group, a popular moderate group, and an unpopular-less socially intelligent group. Follow-up analyses showed that the clusters differed significantly from each other in physical and verbal aggression, leadership, network centrality, peer rejection, and self-perceptions of bullying. The results confirm the heterogeneous nature of bullies and the complex nature of bullying in the adolescent peer group.

This study examined how children's aggression and prosocial behavior are related to the preference and popularity of their best friends. Participants were 1,953 fourth-graders (52.2% boys). Measures included peer nominations of friendship, peer status, overt and relational aggression, and prosocial behavior. A total of 334 reciprocal same-sex best friend dyads were identified. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kashy & Kenny, 1999) showed that best friends' peer status significantly predicted children's behavior. For boys, best friends' preference was negatively associated with overt aggression, while best friends' popularity was positively associated with overt aggression. For girls, best friends' popularity was positively related to both relational aggression and prosocial behavior. The model also revealed high similarity between friends in both preference and popularity. This study highlighted the distinction between two dimensions of peer status in the study of friendship and peer influence in middle childhood. It also demonstrated how individual, dyad, and group characteristics can be integrated in the study of children's social relationships. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This study examined the role of peer acceptance and perceived popularity in bullying and victimization in early adolescent peer groups. Peer acceptance is the degree to which adolescents are well liked by their peers; perceived popularity indicates visibility, dominance, and prestige. It was hypothesized that acceptance negatively predicts bullying, whereas popularity positively predicts bullying, and that both acceptance and popularity negatively predict victimization. Interactions between acceptance and popularity were tested as well. Participants were 1,207 13- to 14-year-old adolescents who completed sociometric assessments in their classrooms. Both bullying and victimization were predicted by the interaction between acceptance and perceived popularity. Bullying was positively associated with popularity, and this association was stronger for adolescents with lower levels of acceptance. Victimization was negatively associated with popularity, and this association was also stronger for adolescents with lower levels of acceptance. Linear and curvilinear main effects and interactions were found; some were further moderated by gender. The discussion focused on the role of individual status and group dynamic factors in the occurrence of aggression among early adolescents. (Contains 4 tables and 5 figures.)