Childhood competence and behavior problems.

Examined the relationship between objective measures of childhood competence and behavior problems in 474 2nd–6th graders. Daily classwork measured the academic competence, and peer ratings measured social competence. Median splits formed 4 groups, with competent Ss highest and incompetent Ss lowest on the relatively independent dimensions of academic and social competence. Competent Ss excelled on attitudinal measures of a competent lifestyle and on the Harter Competence (HC) Scales. Teacher ratings on the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC) attributed fewest problems to competent Ss. Conversely, incompetent Ss achieved the lowest HC and the highest BPC scores. Ss high on social competence and low on academic competence were distinguished by BPC conduct problems and nervousness. Peer nominations of depression on the Peer Nomination Inventory characterized all Ss low on social competence. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preliminary support for a competency-based model of depression in children.

The relation of child depression to competency feedback was explored in 5 domains: academic, social, physical attractiveness, conduct, and sports. Self-reports of depression and peer nomination of competency were obtained from 1,422 elementary school children. Findings supported 4 hypotheses from a competency-based model of child depression. Peer nominations of competency in various domains were negatively related to depression. Being nominated as relatively incompetent in multiple domains corresponded with higher levels of self-reported depression. Being nominated as competent in one or more domains corresponded with lower levels of depression. Individual differences in incompetency were more strongly related to depression than were those in competency, especially for girls. Early intervention in child depression is discussed. Longitudinal and experimental designs are recommended for testing further the competency-based model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer social status of children with anxiety disorders.

The peer social status of 6–13-year-old children with anxiety disorders was investigated. Sixteen children who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) criteria for anxiety disorders were compared with 26 children with conduct disorders and 45 nonreferred children. Anxiety-disorder children were liked significantly less than normal children, but anxious and conduct-disorder children did not differ from one another. The conduct-disorder group received more "like-least"" and "fight-most"" nominations than the anxious and nonreferred groups, which did not differ. Furthermore, the anxious group received the lowest social-impact scores (total like-most and like-least nominations) of any group and were most likely to fall in the socially neglected category of peer status. The lack of popularity of children with anxiety disorders may be limited to those with concurrent depression. Overall, these findings indicate that childhood anxiety disorders, at least when they coexist with depression, are associated with diminished peer popularity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood depression: A 6-month follow-up study.

Examined the stability of depressive symptoms in 436 4th and 5th graders as measured by peer, self, and teacher ratings over a 6-mo period. The stability of the contemporaneous relationships between depression and certain variables (e.g., self-esteem, locus of control, and popularity) shown to be concomitants of depression were also examined. Tests administered included a modification of the Children's Depression Inventory, the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale, and the Self-Esteem Inventory. The three measures of depression were significantly correlated over 6 mo, and the pattern of contemporaneous relationships was stable over time. Depressive symptoms, as measured by peer nominations, were shown to be quite stable over time. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Initial sociometric impressions of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and comparison boys: Predictions from social behaviors and from nonbehavioral variables.

Compared the influence of naturalistic social behaviors and nonbehavioral variables on the development of peer status in 49 previously unfamiliar boys, aged 6–12 yrs. 25 boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 24 comparison boys participated. Physical attractiveness, motor competence, intelligence, and academic achievement constituted the nonbehavioral variables; social behaviors included noncompliance, aggression, prosocial actions, and isolation, measured by live observations of classroom and playground interactions. As early as the first day of interaction, ADHD and comparison Ss displayed differences in social behaviors, and the ADHD Ss were overwhelmingly rejected. Whereas prosocial behavior independently predicted friendship ratings during the 1st wk, the magnitude of prediction was small. In contrast, the Ss' aggression (or noncompliance) strongly predicted negative nominations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication of individual emotions by spontaneous facial expressions.

Examined whether spontaneous facial expressions provide observers with sufficient information to distinguish accurately which of 7 affective states (6 emotional and 1 neutral) is being experienced by another person. Six undergraduate senders' facial expressions were covertly videotaped as they watched emotionally loaded slides. After each slide, senders nominated the emotions term that best described their affective reaction and also rated the pleasantness and strength of that reaction. Similar nominations of emotion terms and ratings were later made by 53 undergraduate receivers who viewed the senders' videotaped facial expression. The central measure of communication accuracy was the match between senders' and receivers' emotion nominations. Overall accuracy was significantly greater than chance, although it was not impressive in absolute terms. Only happy, angry, and disgusted expressions were recognized at above-chance rates, whereas surprised expressions were recognized at rates that were significantly worse than chance. Female Ss were significantly better senders than were male Ss. Although neither sex was found to be better at receiving facial expressions, female Ss were better receivers of female senders' expressions than of male senders' expressions. Female senders' neutral and surprised expressions were more accurately recognized than were those of male senders. The only sex difference found for decoding emotions was a tendency for male Ss to be more accurate at recognizing anger. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher ratings predict peer ratings of aggression at 3-year follow-up in boys with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Compared initial and 3-yr follow-up peer ratings of 19 boys, who were in Grades 1–3 at the beginning of the study, who had attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH). When the entire group was considered, nominations on the Aggression and Likability factors of a pupil evaluation inventory improved. Subgroups were created using teacher ratings on an aggression scale. Peer ratings of Aggression improved for Ss whom teachers rated below the median on the aggression scale but not for Ss rated above the median. Subgroups reflecting other teacher and peer ratings were less effective in predicting differential change in peer ratings of ADDH Ss. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victims of peer aggression.

Developed a peer nomination scale to assess the degree to which children are subjected to direct physical and verbal abuse by peers. Ss were 165 boys and girls in the third through sixth grades. About 10% of the children could be classified as extremely victimized. Age and sex differences in victimization were nonsignificant. Children's victimization scores were uncorrelated with their aggression scores (also assessed by peer nominations), were negatively correlated with peer acceptance, and were positively correlated with peer rejection. When children's victimization and aggression scores were treated as dual predictors of peer rejection, over half of the variance in peer rejection could be accounted for. Implications of the fact that a small group of children consistently serve as targets of peer aggression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rejection and depression: Prospective and contemporaneous analyses.

Explored the relationship of parental rejection during childhood and manifestations of depression both then and in young adulthood in 3 studies. In Study 1, 427 Ss were seen in 2 waves at the ages of 8 and 19 yrs. In the 1st wave, the parents of these Ss were also interviewed with a childrearing questionnaire that included a measure of rejection. In the 2nd wave, the Ss, then 19 yrs old, were administered the MMPI—D subscale. In the 2nd study, the contemporaneous relationship between maternal rejection and childhood depression was investigated. The identical measure of rejection used in the prospective study was administered to 245 mothers, and 4 measures of depression—peer ratings, self-ratings, teacher's ratings, and mother's ratings—were obtained for their children (mean age 10.11 yrs). The 3rd study, conducted with 508 mothers and their children (mean age 9.78 yrs) replicated the significant findings of the contemporaneous study. Findings support the hypothesis that deprivation in the generic sense ranging from the death of 1 or both parents to rejection or even parental disharmony is an etiological factor in adult depression. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and consequences of verbal disagreements during small-group learning.

Investigated controversy in 40 2nd- and 3rd-grade mathematics students in 2 mixed-grade mathematics classes through analysis of dissension episodes. A dissension episode was defined as the interaction that followed a verbal assertion of disagreement about a mathematics answer. Episodes were identified from 32 videotapes of small-group seatwork during a 2-wk unit on time and money. Preserving the group as the unit of analysis, the relation of ability and sex with 4 dissension variables (initiation, participation, demonstrations, and prevailing answers) was examined. The 4 process variables were then related to 2 outcome measures: adjusted achievement and peer nominations of competence. Results show that boys and higher ability students had significantly more prevailing answers and demonstrations. Participation, demonstration, and prevailing answers were positively related to peer competence nominations. Prevailing answer was also positively related to adjusted achievement. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-related changes in children's perceptions of aggression and withdrawal in their peers.

Collected peer ratings of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability using the Pupil Evaluation Inventory (PEI) with 326 1st graders, 356 4th graders, and 298 7th graders. Measures of the perceived similarity of all possible pairs of PEI items were derived by computing the frequency with which Ss at each grade level were concurrently nominated by their peers for both items comprising each pair of items. Multidimensional scaling was then employed to elucidate the structure underlying these indices of interitem similarity. Structure ratios denoting the cohesiveness of the clusters of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability items were computed from the results of these analyses. Data show that for Ss of all ages, aggression items and likeability items comprised highly cohesive categories of behaviors that were distinct from each other. Withdrawal items, in contrast, clustered poorly at Grade 1 but became an increasingly cohesive category of behaviors and increasingly distinct from aggression as grade level increased. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of sociometric peer nominations in medical education research.

A peer nomination scale involving 11 variables, developed to evaluate medical student effectiveness was administered to 87 senior-class students. Overall nomination reliability was .89, correlation between peer nominations and instructor evaluations was .44, and correlations between nominations and course grades were all positive and, in most instances, significantly different from zero. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variability in peer group perceptions: Support for the "controversial" sociometric classification group.

Examined whether there would be greater variability in children's perceptions of Ss in a controversial group than in their perceptions of peers in other sociometric classification groups. 480 3rd–5th graders nominated 3 same-sex children as best friends and 3 same-sex children as least-liked peers and rated each of their same-sex peers on 8 social roles and a liking scale. On the basis of the sociometric nominations, Ss were identified as being of popular, average, neglected, rejected, or controversial sociometric status. The 8 social roles were grouped to form 3 clusters labeled aggression, prosociability, and withdrawal. Ss were assigned variability scores that were the standard deviation of the ratings they received from their peers. Consistent with their sociometric classification, controversial sociometric group Ss evidenced higher variability scores on the liking ratings and on the withdrawal and prosociability clusters. In addition to providing support for the controversial sociometric classification, these results suggest the possible value of considering variability measures in conjunction with traditional cumulative or central tendency measures of sociometric status. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social status and the comorbidity of child depression and conduct disorder.

This study examined the overlap between child depression (DEP) and conduct disorder (CD) as a function of peer social status (i.e., popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, average) in a sample of 1,464 nonreferred 4th graders. Both DEP and CD were measured by self-report, peer nomination, and teacher ratings. Social status was assessed by peer nomination. A strong correlation (.73) was found between DEP and CD, even after accounting for shared method variance by confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, the number of Ss who scored high on both DEP and CD was greater than would be expected by chance alone. Multivariate tests revealed that rejected Ss scored higher than average Ss on measures of DEP and CD. Controversial boys also scored higher on measures of CD. However, analyses also revealed that the association between depression and rejected social status might be due to a subgroup of depressed children who also manifested symptoms of CD. Implications for assessment and treatment of child disorders are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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

Coping strategies were examined as potential moderators of the effects of peer victimization on children's adjustment. Self-report data on victimization experiences, coping strategies, and loneliness were collected on ethnically diverse 9-10-year-old children (177 girls, 179 boys). Teacher ratings of children's anxious-depressed and social problems and peer nominations of social preference were also obtained. Findings revealed that strategies such as problem solving that were beneficial for nonvictimized children exacerbated difficulties for victimized children. The effects of specific forms of coping were dependent on gender: Social support seeking buffered victimized girls from social problems but was associated with lower peer preference for victimized boys. Data also revealed the need to examine the effects of coping on multiple adjustment outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social functioning and adjustment in Canadian-born children with Chinese and European backgrounds.

The purpose of the study was to examine social functioning and adjustment in peer context in Chinese Canadian and European Canadian children. A sample of elementary school children participated in the study. Data on social functioning, peer acceptance and rejection, and victimization were collected from peer assessments and sociometric nominations. The results indicated that Chinese Canadian children were viewed by peers as less aggressive-disruptive than European Canadian children. Chinese Canadian girls, but not boys, were more shy-sensitive than their European Canadian counterparts. Sociability was associated with peer acceptance, whereas aggression was associated with peer rejection and victimization. Shyness was associated with peer relationship difficulties more evidently in European Canadian children than in Chinese Canadian children. These results indicate the relevance of ethnic background to children's peer social experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent Girls' Interpersonal Vulnerability to Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Examination of Reassurance-Seeking and Peer Relationships.

A transactional, interpersonal framework involving adolescents' reassurance-seeking and peer experiences may be useful for understanding the emergence of gender differences in depression prevalence during the adolescent transition. Sociometric nominations of peer acceptance/rejection and ratings of friendship quality provided by adolescents and their friends were used to measure peer experiences among 6th-8th-grade adolescents (N = 520) over 3 annual time points. After controlling for age and pubertal development, significant but small prospective effects offered mixed support for hypotheses: (a) depressive symptoms and negative peer relations predicted increasing levels of girls' reassurance-seeking; (b) initial levels of reassurance-seeking and depressive symptoms predicted deteriorating friendship quality among girls and low friendship stability, respectively; and (c) reassurance-seeking combined with poor peer experiences predicted increases in girls' depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latchkey children and susceptibility to peer pressure: An ecological analysis.

Data on adolescents' after-school experiences and their susceptibility to peer pressure were derived from surveys administered to a heterogeneous sample of 865 adolescents in Grades 5–9. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, the results show that Ss who reported home after school were not significantly different from those who were supervised by their parents at home during after-school hours. However, when a 2nd sample of latchkey children (n?=?594) was studied to include greater variation in after-school experiences, Ss who were more removed from adult supervision were found to be more susceptible to peer pressure to engage in antisocial activity. Ss who were home alone were less susceptible to peer pressure than are those who were at a friend's house after school, and those who were at a friend's house, in turn, were less susceptible than were those who describe themselves as "hanging out." Moreover, latchkey Ss whose parents knew their whereabouts and those who had been raised authoritatively were less susceptible to peer influence than were their peers, even if their afternoons were spent in contexts in which adult supervision was lax and susceptibility to peer pressure was generally high. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood depression, locus of control, and school achievement

Childhood depression and locus of control (as assessed by a 20-item peer nomination inventory and the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale, respectively) were studied as they relate to each other and to measures of school achievement and intellectual functioning. Ss were 452 male and 492 female 4th and 5th grade public school children. Measures of achievement included standardized reading and math scores and teacher ratings of work/study habits and school achievement. The Draw-A-Person Test was used as an index of intellectual functioning. Locus of control and depression were positively related. All measures of achievement were negatively related to both external locus of control and depression. The negative relationship also held for IQ, although it was not as strong. The joint association of depression and locus of control with achievement and IQ was evidenced by a significant correlation between canonical variates representing these 2 sets of variables. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' judgment of students' potential as a function of teachers' susceptibility to biasing information.

26 physical education student teachers were asked to nominate 3 students of high potential in physical education (high expectancy) and 3 of low potential (low expectancy). Ss were divided into a high-bias and a no-bias group, reflecting extreme levels of susceptibility to stereotypically biasing information in scoring drawings allegedly made by high- and low-status children. Six characteristics of students nominated into the high- and low-expectancy groups were investigated: ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, physical attractiveness, quality of clothing, grade in physical education, and overall academic achievement. Nominations of physical education potential by no-bias Ss were related only to grade in physical education (interpreted to be a nonbiased nomination), whereas nominations of high-bias Ss were significantly related to all student characteristics except ethnic origin. The advantages of a differential approach to social cognition are discussed. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)