Despite considerable research demonstrating the adverse consequences of child maltreatment, including a heightened risk for adaptational failures and psychopathology, longitudinal evaluations of processes contributing to negative outcomes have been limited. Problems in peer relations constitute a critical developmental risk for future maladaptation among maltreated children, transferring relationship disturbance from the family to new interpersonal contexts. The linkages of a history of child maltreatment to early deviations in cognitive/affective processes, which subsequently lead to difficulties in peer relations were examined. Specifically, in a sample of 46 maltreated and 43 nonmaltreated low-income children, laboratory assessments of affect understanding and cognitive control functioning were conducted, followed by later peer and teacher assessments of peer relations in the school setting. Maltreated children were shown to evidence early deviations in their understanding of negative affect as well as immaturity in their cognitive controls. Maltreated children also were shown to have lower social effectiveness and higher levels of undercontrolled and aggressive behavior in the school setting. Physically abused children were found to be more rejected by their peers. Cognitive control functioning partially mediated the effect of maltreatment on later social effectiveness. Negative affect understanding mediated both the relation of maltreatment on later dysregulated behavior in the peer setting and the effect of physical abuse on later rejection by peers. The results are discussed in terms of their support for organizational/transactional theory and the implications they have for prevention and intervention.

Two observational studies of verbal, high-functioning children and adolescents with autism; nonautistic, behaviorally disordered youngsters of equivalent verbal skills and chronological age; and verbal age-matched normally developing students during integrated summer day camps are reported. In the first study, observations were made of spontaneous peer interaction and play over the course of 2 weeks of day camp. The eight autistic subjects were consistently more likely to not be interacting and less likely to be engaged in any purposeful activity than the 16 other children. During the 2 weeks, time interacting and purposeful activity increased overall. In the second study, the quality of spontaneous peer-directed initiations was observed during free time in similar day camps the following summer. The 11 autistic children and adolescents produced fewer initiations than did the 20 other children and were less likely to smile or coordinate several behaviors with eye contact during an initiation. Autistic subjects were consistently more likely not to receive a response to their initiation than the other groups, although there was no identifiable relationship between the quality of the initiation and the likelihood of it receiving a response.

Peer relationship difficulties and peer rejection are common in youngsters with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mandating focus on assessment issues, underlying reasons for peer approval and disapproval, links with comorbid aggression, and the mediating role of sociocognitive mechanisms as well as emotion regulation strategies. With previously unfamiliar ADHD and comparison boys who attended naturalistic summer research programs, we found the following: (a) parent and teacher estimates (but not self-reports) showed moderate correspondence with peer-nominated social preference; (b) ADHD boys were more likely than their comparison peers to accept other ADHD agemates; (c) aggression and noncompliance Predominated as self-reported reasons for rejecting agemates in both ADHD and comparison groups, with Perceived similarity the chief mediator of peer acceptance; (d) the high-aggressive subgroup of ADHD boys showed markedly worse peer sociometric status than did ADHD boys without aggression, for whom social isolation was also a predictor of peer reputation; and (e) self-reported social goals of a sensation-seeking nature and observed emotional reactivity characterized high-aggressive boys with ADHD and predicted end-of-program peer disapproval. We discuss implications for normal developmental processes and for intervention efforts.

Sociological theories suggest that association with deviant friends is a necessary step on the path to early onset of delinquent behavior, while personality theories imply that deviant behavior will be stable from childhood to adulthood. These two rival hypotheses were tested with boys (N = 758) recruited from 53 schools in low socioeconomic areas of Montreal. Disruptive behavior in kindergarten was assessed by teachers; aggression and likability at ages 10, 11, and 12 years were rated by classroom peers; delinquent behaviors at ages 11, 12, and 13 years were reported by subjects. Best friend dyads were created by having boys independently identify each other as one of four best friends. Three independent samples were created to replicate findings at different ages (10–11 years, 11–12 years, and 12–13 years). Results of LISREL analyses from the three samples indicated that the main path toward early onset of both overt and covert delinquency was from kindergarten disruptive behavior to aggression between ages 10 to 12 years, and to delinquency from ages 11 to 13 years. Best friends' behavioral characteristics were associated with the subjects' own behavioral characteristics between ages of 10 and 12 years, but did not explain the level of self-reported delinquency the following year, when the subjects' own behavioral characteristics had been taken into account. Because friends tend to share the same behavioral characteristics, they are more likely to foster continuity in behavior than change. We suggest that the influence of significant peers other than best friends be investigated and that a categorical approach be used to try to identify subgroups of boys who may be highly responsive to peers' influence.

A 2-year follow-up was undertaken of boys identified in grade school as aggressive-rejected, aggressive (nonrejected), rejected (nonaggressiye) or nonproblematic comparison. When the social outcomes of boys in each group were compared, aggressive-rejected children exhibited more conduct problems and social rejection at Time 2 than boys in the other aggressive or rejected groups. Behavior observations, teacher ratings, peer ratings, and open-ended peer interviews collected at Time 1 were used to test three predictive models that might account for the greater developmental risk of aggress-rejected boys. Multiple regression analyses suggested that a broad array of conduct problems, low levels of positive interaction skills, and high levels of peer dislike and ostracism each made unique contributions 10 to the stability of social adjustment problems of boys in the sample. Within group analyses of change suggested that prediction models varied for boys in the three risk groups. The implications of findings are discussed for developmental models of social risk and for intervention design.

Viewing social rejection from same-age peers as a source of stress for children, the current study sought to determine the most appropriate model of the effects of temporary versus consistent experiences with rejection for both short-term and long-term internalizing problems. Adopting a cross-sectional longitudinal design, the sociometric status of children in the first year of the study (when the children were in the first, second, or third grades), and then again in the next school year (when children were in the second, third, or fourth grades) was assessed to determine which children were rejected by their peers. Internalizing outcome measures were administered in the third and sixth years of follow-up. Results indicated that, for boys, the Threshold Model best represented the stressful effects of rejection. That is, only boys who were exposed to rejection for 2 consecutive years demonstrated both short-term and long-term internalizing problems in subsequent years. For girls, however, there appeared to be few significant differences among those who never experienced rejection, who had only temporary experiences with rejection, and girls who were consistently exposed to rejection. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of a Threshold Model as well as possible explanations for these gender differences.

The significance of childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of adolescent disorder was tested on 1147 children who were followed longitudinally from Grade 3 through Grade 10. Growth curve analyses of parent- and self-reported problems suggested that boys who were both aggressive and rejected in third grade had profiles of increasingly severe internalizing and externalizing problems across three assessment points in adolescence. Other groups showed either decreasing symptom patterns from Grade 6 to 10 or had consistently lower problem profiles. The longitudinal patterns were more complex for the girls. Childhood peer rejection was the only predictor of stable disorder as reported by parents, whereas self-reported externalizing problems were best predicted by childhood aggression.

The concurrent and predictive influence of deviant peers on boys' disruptive and delinquent behavior was examined in a community sample of fourth- and seventh-grade boys, who were followed-up over six data waves. Analyses were conducted separately for three different types of behavior problems: authority conflict, covert, and overt disruptive behavior. Consistent with the existing literature, concurrent relations between peers' and boys' disruptive behavior were expected to be significant. A more informative test, however, was whether exposure to deviant peers resulted in boys' subsequent initiation of disruptive behavior. Although peer influences were expected in the predictive analyses, the relations were hypothesized to differ by type of behavior. The potential moderating effects of hyperactivity and poor parenting practices were also examined to test the hypothesis that boys who are already at risk for behavior problems will be more susceptible to deviant peer influence. Results supported the significant concurrent and predictive relation between exposure to deviant peers and boys' engagement in disruptive and delinquent behavior. There were no significant moderating effects of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or parenting practices on peer influence.

Although developmental theorists such as Sullivan (1953) and Havighurst (1972) have suggested that the formation of romantic relationships in adolescence is an important developmental task, researchers of the adolescent “problem behavior syndrome” have documented that early sexual intercourse is related to problems with conduct, academics, and chemical use. In this study multiple measures of competence and romantic relationship involvement were obtained from a normative community sample of children and adolescents. These were used in path analyses to document the concurrent and longitudinal predictions of romantic involvement and competence to examine the concurrent and longitudinal linkages of romantic interest and involvement to four other domains of adaptive behavior. Results suggest that although success in romantic relationships has roots in general peer competence, there may be both deviant and prosocial pathways of initial romantic involvement. Early romantic involvement in late childhood and early to middle adolescence may have negative consequences for academic, job, and conduct domains of competence. Later in adolescence, romantic relationship involvement loses its negative significance, perhaps as it becomes a normative developmental task. Results highlight the need for developmental research on the origins and meaning of romantic relationships, one of the most neglected aspects of peer relationships.

We examined childhood social withdrawal and aggression as predictive of adolescent maladaption, comparing and contrasting social and emotional outcomes associated with aggression and social withdrawal. We also focused on childhood social competence as a predictor of adolescent adaptation. The sample comprised 60 children for whom a complete data set was available at both ages 7 and 14 years. The predictors were aggregated measures of social withdrawal, aggression, and social competence derived from three sources—behavioral observations, peer assessments, and teacher ratings. The outcomes focused primarily on markers of internalizing and externalizing problems. The results indicated that childhood social withdrawal uniquely and significantly contributed to the prediction of adolescent loneliness, felt insecurity, and negative self-regard. Aggression predicted adolescent delinquent activity; social competence predicted felt security in the peer group and substance use in adolescence.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative contributions of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and victimization by peers in predicting feelings of loneliness and depressed mood over time. According to the proposed model, the feelings of loneliness associated with social withdrawal are mediated by the negative peer experiences (negative peer status and peer victimization) to which withdrawn children are exposed. In predicting depressed mood over time, it was further hypothesized that self-reported loneliness ultimately mediates the subsequent depressed mood associated with withdrawal and negative peer experiences. The study was conducted across 2 consecutive years (Time 1 and Time 2), with children each year nominating peers for peer status, social withdrawal, and victimization measures, and completing self-report measures of loneliness and depressed mood. Fourth- and fifth-grade children participated at Time 1, and children that remained in the same school were again evaluated at Time 2 (N = 567). A series of regression analyses indicated that the postulated sequence of mediations adequately represented the pattern of longitudinal associations between the variables, as well as their pattern of change over time. The contribution of social withdrawal to the prediction of subsequent loneliness was accounted for by the expected pattern of mediations of negative peer experiences. Self-reported loneliness ultimately mediated the subsequent depressed mood associated with withdrawal and negative peer experiences.

This study examined the relation between children's peer relationships and teacher-rated psychological adjustment. A number of shortcomings in the peer literature were addressed by: (a) employing carefully delineated peer variables (passive isolation, rejected isolation, aggressive-disruptive, peer preference, mutual friendship); (b) employing a data analytic strategy that permitted simultaneous examination of main effects of and interactions among peer variables; (c) using an outcome measure that is well-normed for children and widely used in studies of adjustment; and (d) controlling for outcome measures' autocorrelations across time points. For 236 school children in the third, fourth, and fifth grades, concurrent associations were examined between these peer variables and internalizing and externalizing problems. Longitudinal associations were examined over a period of 2 years. In so doing, we found that passive isolation was a risk factor for internalizing problems, and rejected isolation was marginally predictive of externalizing problems. Furthermore, we found complex moderating effects of mutual friendship, such that children who were not isolated may derive benefits from having a close mutual friend, but the results were not clear for children with poor peer-group relationships. Much additional research is needed to further clarify these findings.

This report represents the perspective that adolescent substance use is best understood as an adaptation to an ecology defined jointly by families and peers. Hypotheses were tested on a sample of 206 boys in the Oregon Youth Study. The analyses proceeded in four steps. First, it was found that the transition from middle to high school was a period of rapid growth in smoking for boys with a prior history of low sociometric status. Second, a structural equation model was tested showing that deviant peer association in early adolescence mediated the relation between peer and family experiences in middle childhood and later substance use. Third, an observational study of the boys with their best friends revealed that active support for rule breaking and substance use was associated with immediate escalation in substance use during the transition to high school. Finally, it was found that ineffective parental monitoring practices were highly associated with the boy's involvement in a deviant peer network. In fact, a high degree of similarity was found between boys and their best friends for substance use when parental monitoring was low. These analyses show that substance use in adolescence is embedded within the proximal peer environment, which in turn, emerges and is amplified within a context of low adult involvement and monitoring.

Developmental patterns of childhood peer relations were examined in the prediction of externalizing behavior problems in a 4-year multiple cohort longitudinal study. The participants consisted of 880 third- (M = 9.3 years) through seventh- (M = 13.4 years) grade students. Approximately half of the participants were female, one third were Black, and one third were from low-income homes. Developmental patterns of six indices of peer relations (including group acceptance, group rejection, having a reciprocated best friend, social support from best friend, conflict with best friend, and the aggressiveness of the best friend) were examined as predictors of aggression and delinquency using logistic regression analyses. Results suggest that both group and dyadic peer relations problems are risk factors for aggression and delinquency. Support was found for the cumulative risk model in the prediction of externalizing outcomes from multiple social risk factors that were additively associated with each negative outcome.

This short-term prospective study examined the contribution of aggression and depression, stressful life events, and their interactions to the prediction of peer rejection. Subjects were 497 fifth- and sixth-grade children who completed questionnaires at two time points separated by approximately 3 months. Levels of peer rejection and aggression were assessed by peer nominations; level of depressive symptoms and number of stressful life events were measured by self-report questionnaires. Controlling for sex and baseline level of peer rejection, aggression directly predicted peer rejection. In contrast, depressive symptoms interacted with life stress to predict peer rejection. Examination of the Depression × Stress interaction revealed that depressive symptoms in children who had experienced high levels of life stress were not associated with increased levels of peer rejection, whereas depressive symptoms in children with low levels of stress were predictive of subsequent peer rejection. Several interpretations of these findings and directions for future research are suggested.

This study was designed to expand the investigation of peer-rejected subgroup differences to adolescence. A sample of 501 eighth-grade adolescents (age 13–14 years) were assessed. These students and their classmates (1,082 15–16-year-olds) were assessed at 10th grade. Rejected-antisocial and rejected-nonantisocial subgroups were identified at both time periods using peer ratings of social status and antisocial behavior. They were compared with accepted, accepted-antisocial, and accepted-nonantisocial subgroups. Results are consistent with past research indicating significant heterogeneity within the rejected population. Rejected-antisocial adolescents exhibited elevated problem behavior (substance use and deviant peer involvement), depression, and school adjustment difficulties (low attendance, low achievement, and school discipline problems). Rejected-nonantisocial students in contrast exhibited little problem behavior, but were characterized by low physical attractiveness and lower involvement in athletics. Discussions of psychopathological risk associated with peer rejection must account for the heterogeneity and extreme differences between antisocial and nonantisocial-rejected adolescents. Comparison of antisocial and nonantisocial-rejected children with their respective antisocial and nonantisocial-accepted comparison groups revealed few differences. This calls into question the unique contribution of rejection in the development of psychopathology.