Showing papers on "Peer group published in 1998"

Peer Assessment Between Students in Colleges and Universities

Abstract: A definition and typology of peer assessment between students in higher education is proposed, and the theoretical underpinnings of the method are discussed. A review of the developing literature follows, including both process and outcome studies. This indicates that peer assessment is of adequate reliability and validity in a wide variety of applications. Peer assessment of writing and peer assessment using marks, grades, and tests have shown positive formative effects on student achievement and attitudes. These effects are as good as or better than the effects of teacher assessment. Evidence for such effects from other types of peer assessment (of presentation skills, group work or projects, and professional skills) is, as yet, more limited. Computer-assisted peer assessment is an emerging growth area. Important factors in successful implementation are summarized, and recommendations for future research and practice are made.

Social anxiety among adolescents: linkages with peer relations and friendships.

Abstract: This study examined the utility of modifying the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised (SASC-R) for use with adolescents, and examined associations between adolescents' social anxiety (SA) and their peer relations, friendships, and social functioning. Boys (n = 101) and girls (n = 149) in the 10th through 12th grades completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and measures of social support, perceived competence, and number and quality of their best friendships. Factor analysis of the SAS-A confirmed a three-factor structure: Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Avoidance and Distress in General, and Social Avoidance Specific to New Situations or Unfamiliar Peers. Girls reported more SA than boys, and SA was more strongly linked to girls' social functioning than boys'. Specifically, adolescents with higher levels of SA reported poorer social functioning (less support from classmates, less social acceptance), and girls with higher levels of SA reported fewer friendships, and less intimacy, companionship, and support in their close friendships. These findings extend work on the SASC-R to adolescents, and suggest the importance of SA for understanding the social functioning and close friendships of adolescents, especially girls.

Relational and overt forms of peer victimization: A multiinformant approach.

Abstract: This research addressed 2 limitations of past research on peer victimization: the tendency to study boys only and the tendency to focus on forms of peer maltreatment that are common in boys' peer groups (victimization through overt aggression) but occur much less frequently in girls' peer groups Peer- and self-report instruments were used to assess a relational form of victimization in addition to the overt form that has been the focus of past research Results showed that girls were more relationally victimized, whereas boys were more overtly victimized Both forms of victimization were shown to predict concurrent sociopsychological adjustment problems significantly (eg, peer rejection, loneliness) beyond aggression Victims identified through a combination of self- and peer-reports were particularly maladjusted

Preadolescent friendship and peer rejection as predictors of adult adjustment.

Abstract: Although peer-rejected children appear to be at risk for later difficulties, the contribution of preadolescent friendship to adaptive adjustment lacks an empirical foundation. In this 12 year follow-up investigation, 30 young adults who had a stable, reciprocal best friend in fifth grade and 30 who had been chumless completed measures of adjustment in multiple domains. Friendship and peer rejection were found to have unique implications for adaptive development. Lower levels of preadolescent peer rejection uniquely predicted overall life status adjustment, whereas friended preadolescents had higher levels of general self-worth in adulthood even after controlling for perceived competence in preadolescence. In contrast, peer rejection and the absence of friendship were both associated with psychopathological symptoms in adulthood, although neither was uniquely predictive of symptomatology.

Does low self-regard invite victimization?

Abstract: Two hypotheses were tested. The first was that low self-regard contributes over time to victimization by peers. The second was that behavioral vulnerabilities (e.g., physical weakness, manifest anxiety, poor social skills) are more likely to lead to victimization over time when children have low self-regard than when they are "self-protected" by healthy self-regard. Participants were 189 third-through 7th-grade boys and girls; data were collected in the fall and the spring of the school year. Both hypotheses were supported, especially when self-regard was assessed in terms of self-perceived peer social competence. In addition, the experience of being victimized led to diminished self-regard over time. Poor self-concept may play a central role in a vicious cycle that perpetuates and solidifies a child's status as a victim of peer abuse.

Primary Socialization Theory: The Etiology of Drug Use and Deviance. I

Abstract: The fundamental theorem of primary socialization theory is that normative and deviant behaviors are learned social behaviors, products of the interaction of social, psychological, and cultural characteristics, and that norms for social behaviors, including drug use, are learned predominantly in the context of interactions with the primary socialization sources. During adolescence, learning of social behaviors is frequently dominated by interactions with peer clusters. There are a number of additional postulates: 1) The strength of the bonds between the youth and the primary socialization sources is a major factor in determining how effectively norms are transmitted. 2) Any socialization link can transmit deviant norms, but healthy family and school systems are more likely to transmit prosocial norms. 3) Peer clusters can transmit either prosocial or deviant norms, but the major source of deviant norms is usually peer clusters. 4) Weak family/child and/ or school/child bonds increase the chances that the youth will bond with a deviant peer cluster and will engage in deviant behaviors. 5) Weak peer bonds can also ultimately increase the changes of bonding with deviant peers. Primary socialization theory is consistent with current research, has strong implications for improving prevention and treatment, and suggests specific hypotheses for further research.

Peer relationships and self-esteem among children who have been maltreated.

Abstract: A prospective longitudinal design was employed to assess risks associated with maltreatment in a representative community sample of 107 maltreated children and an equal number of nonmaltreated comparison children. Heightened difficulties in peer relationships and self-esteem were associated with greater severity and chronicity of maltreatment. For example, children who experienced chronic maltreatment were less well-liked by peers. Type of maltreatment was also related to specific aspects of children's adjustment. For instance, sexual abuse predicted low self-esteem, but not problems in peer relationships. Emotional maltreatment, on the other hand, was related to difficulties in peer relationships, but not to low self-esteem. Thus, the best predictions of specific aspects of children's adjustment were provided by considering timing, type, and severity of maltreatment. For some groups of maltreated children, having a good friend was associated with improvement over time in self-esteem.

Coercion and Punishment in Long-Term Perspectives

Abstract: List of contributors Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: coercion and punishment in the fabric of social relations Joan McCord Part I. Mental Health, Coercion and Punishment: 2. Relationships as context: supportive and coercive interactions in competent, aggressive and anxious mother-child dyads Jean E. Dumas and Peter J. LaFreniere 3. Parental hostility, childhood behaviour and adult social functioning Barbara Maughan, Andrew Pickles and David Quinton 4. Corporal punishment of children and adult depression and suicidal ideation Murray A. Straus Part II. Family Socialization Practices and Antisocial Behaviour: 5. Coercion as a basis for early age of onset for arrest Gerald R. Patterson 6. Disentangling mother-child effects in the development of antisocial behaviour Denise B. Kandel and Ping Wu 7. Family and child factors in stability and change in children's aggressiveness in elementary school John E. Bates, Gregory S. Pettit and Kenneth A. Dodge 8. Kindergarten behavioural patterns, parental practices and early adolescent antisocial behaviour Richard E. Tremblay 9. The reciprocal influence of punishment and child behaviour disorder Patricia Cohen and Judith S. Brook 10. The development of coercive family processes: the interaction between aversive toddler behaviour and parenting factors Kate Keenan and Daniel S. Shaw Part III. Aggression and Coercion in the Schools: 11. The impact of peer relationships on aggression in childhood: inhibition through coercion or promotion through peer support Michel Boivin and Frank Vitaro 12. Classroom seating and juvenile delinquency Pierre Charlebois, Frankie Berneche, Marc Le Blanc, Claude Gagnon and Serge Larivee 13. Social skills training and aggression in the peer group Debra J. Pepler, Wendy Craig and William L. Roberts 14. Early adolescent social influences on delinquent behavior John D. Coie, Robert Terry, Audrey Zakriski and John Lochman Part IV. Deviance, Crime and Discipline: 15. The long-term effect of punitive discipline John H. Laub and Robert J. Sampson 16. Parental monitoring and peer influences on adolescent substance use Anne C. Fletcher, Nancy Darling and Laurence Steinberg 17. The relative importance of internal and external direct constraints in the explanation of late adolescent delinquency and adult criminality Marc Le Blanc 18. Negative social sanctions and deviant behaviour: a conditional relationship Howard B. Kaplan and Kelly R. Damphousse Part V. Measuring and Predicting in Studies of Coercion and Punishment: 19. Corporal punishment in everyday life: an intergenerational perspective Hakan Stattin, Harald Janson, Ingrid Klackenberg-Larsson and David Magnusson 20. Coercive family process and delinquency: some methodological considerations Jacqueline Barnes-McGuire and Felton Earls 21. Sex roles as coercion Alex E. Schwartzman, Pierrette Verlaan, Patricia Peters, and Lisa A. Serbin Name index Subject index.

Early Sexual Initiation: The Role of Peer Norms

Abstract: Objective. To elucidate which components of peer norms influence the process of sexual initiation for young adolescents. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Fourteen elementary and middle schools in an urban public school district. Participants. The 1389 sixth-grade students who completed the questionnaire at the beginning (time 1) and at the end (time 2) of the school year comprise the study sample. Mean age at time 1 was 11.7 years. Results. Of students entering the sixth grade, 30% (n = 416) reported having already initiated sexual intercourse, 5% (n = 74) reported initiating sexual intercourse during the sixth-grade school year (initiated group), and 63% (n = 873) reported not having initiated sexual intercourse by the end of the sixth-grade school year (never group). Demographic comparisons revealed that students in the initiated group were significantly more likely than students in the never group to be older (11.9 years vs 11.6 years), male (58% vs 37%), African-American (70% vs 51%), attending a poorer school (87% vs 85%), and living in an area with a high proportion of single-parent families (45% vs 41%). Self-reports and reports of peers9 participation in nonsexual risk behaviors were more common for students in the initiated group. Students in the initiated group were more likely than students in the never group to perceive: 1) a high prevalence of sexual initiation among peers; 2) social gains associated with early sexual intercourse; and 3) younger age of peers9 sexual initiation. Students in the never group were more likely to believe that sexually-experienced 12-year-old boys would be negatively stigmatized compared with students in the initiated group. Three predictive models were developed to test the relationship between peer norms and the process of initiation. These models demonstrate that the strongest predictor of sexual initiation in sixth grade is having high intention to do so at the beginning of sixth grade. The strongest predictor of high intention is belief that most friends have already had sexual intercourse. Perceptions of social gain and stigma for sexually-experienced 12-year-old boys act independently of intention to decrease risk of early sexual initiation. Conclusion. Early sexual intercourse is not an unplanned experience for many teens. Decisions about initiation are strongly bound to social context with peers playing an important role in creating a sense of normative behavior. Specific components of peer norms impact the process of sexual initiation in both positive and negative ways. Interventions aimed at delaying the onset of sexual initiation need to focus on cohort norms as well as on an individual9s perceptions and behaviors.

Early Conduct Problems and Later Life Opportunities

Abstract: Associations between the extent of conduct problems at age 8 years and later life opportunity outcomes at age 18 years were examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied prospectively to age 18 years. Conduct problems at age 8 were assessed using a combination of parent and teacher reports of conduct disordered and oppositional behaviours. Two measures of life opportunities were assessed at age 18: (a) whether the young person had left school by age 18 without educational qualifications; (b) whether the young person had experienced a period of unemployment of 3 months or longer following school leaving. The analysis suggested the following conclusions: (1) There were clear and significant (p < .0001) tendencies for increasing levels of conduct problems at age 8 to be associated with increasing risks of leaving school without qualifications and of unemployment by age 18. (2) A substantial component of these associations was explained by a series of confounding social, family, and individual factors (notably child intelligence, early attentional problems, and family sociodemographic disadvantage) that were associated with both early conduct problems and later life opportunities. (3) Further analysis suggested that linkages between early conduct problems and later educational underattainment and unemployment (after adjustment for confounders) were mediated by a series of adolescent behavioural processes including patterns of peer affiliations, substance use, truancy, and problems with school authority.

Outreach in natural settings: the use of peer leaders for HIV prevention among injecting drug users' networks.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Guided by a social influence and empowerment framework, peer leaders in the injecting drug user (IDU) community were trained to promote human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention among their contacts within and beyond their sex and drug networks. METHODS: From 1994 to 1995 in Baltimore, Maryland, 36 peer leaders who participated in the 10-session training program were administered pretest and posttest surveys. Evaluation included leaders' self-reported HIV-related behaviors and outreach activities. Survey data also were collected from 78 of the leaders' risk network members. RESULTS: Peer leaders reported a significant increase in condom use and in cleaning used needles with bleach. The leaders' risk network members, compared with controls, were significantly more likely to report greater needle hygiene. In an assessment of diffusion of information, the majority of risk network members who were current injectors reported receiving needle-cleaning materials from the leaders, and the majority of risk network members were able to correctly identify the HIV prevention slogans that had been taught to the leaders. The leaders documented 2165 HIV prevention interactions, of which 84% were with active drug users. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study suggest that, in the IDU community, training peer leaders as HIV educators may promote HIV prevention among the leaders' risk network members and others at risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV. This training also may provide the leaders with effective prosocial roles.

Race and the Reproduction of Educational Disadvantage

Abstract: Research has uncovered many mechanisms that exacerbate racial inequalities in achievement. Due to specialization within thefield, however, littlefocus has been devoted to the multitiered and often interconnected institutional nature of these processes. Matching datafrom the restricted-use National Educational Longitudinal Survey and the Common Core of Data, I hierarchically model the influence offamily/peer and educational institutionalprocesses simultaneously on the black-white gap in achievement. The modeling strategy used offers a more comprehensive understanding of the reproductive interinstitutional dynamics at work, suggesting strong linkages between family/peer group attributes and access to educational resources. I conclude by suggesting the need to extend this line of inquiry a step further still developing a theoretically driven contextual and spatial understanding of educational opportunity and achievement. The fortieth anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision was witness to enduring inequalities in educational opportunity and, consequently, educational outcomes. Substantial gains have indeed been made, and racial gaps have declined, yet disparities persist. The high school dropout rate for African Americans remains

Resolving conflict creatively: evaluating the developmental effects of a school-based violence prevention program in neighborhood and classroom context.

Abstract: This study evaluated the short-term impact of a school-based violence prevention initiative on developmental processes thought to place children at risk for future aggression and violence and examined the influence of classroom and neighborhood contexts on the effectiveness of the violence prevention initiative. Two waves of developmental data (fall and spring) were analyzed from the 1st year of the evaluation of the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), which includes 5053 children from grades two to six from 11 elementary schools in New York City. Three distinct profiles of exposure to the intervention were derived from Management Information System (MIS) data on between classroom differences in teacher Training and Coaching in RCCP, Classroom Instruction in RCCP, and percentages of students who are Peer Mediators. Developmental processes that place children at risk were found to increase over the course of the school year. Children whose teachers had a moderate amount of training and coaching from RCCP and who taught many lessons showed significantly slower growth in aggression-related processes, and less of a decrease in competence-related processes, compared to children whose teachers taught few or no lessons. Contrary to expectation, children whose teachers had a higher level of training and coaching in the RCCP but taught few lessons showed significantly faster growth over time in aggressive cognitions and behaviors. The impact of the intervention on children's social cognitions (but not on their interpersonal behaviors) varied by context. Specifically the positive effect of High Lessons was dampened for children in high-risk classrooms and neighborhoods. Implications for future research on developmental psychopathology in context and for the design of preventive interventions are discussed.

Sexual activity and contraceptive use: the components of the decisionmaking process.

Abstract: In light of the social consequences of early childbearing, unplanned pregnancy, and the transmission of AIDS, a great need exists to understand how adolescents make sexual and reproductive decisions. Drawing primarily on literature from sub-Saharan Africa, this article focuses on three behavioral outcomes: nonmarital sexual activity, contraceptive use, and condom use. It explores adolescent's perceptions of the costs and benefits of engaging in these behaviors, their assessment of their susceptibility to the potential consequences of their actions, and the role of family, peer, and dyadic factors in shaping their reproductive decisions. The literature reveals that cultural values regarding sexuality and gender roles, the power dimensions of adolescents' lives, and economic disadvantage exert powerful influences on the decisionmaking process. Decisions to engage in unprotected sex may also be based on insufficient knowledge and distorted judgements of the risks of becoming pregnant and acquiring sexually transmitted infections. Nondecisionmaking is found to be fairly common in some contexts.

Parent Influences on Adolescent Peer Orientation and Substance Use: The Interface of Parenting Practices and Values

Abstract: This study examines how experiences in the family domain may magnify or mitigate experiences in the peer domain, and how processes in both milieus may influence adolescent substance use. The data derived from 666 European American mother-adolescent dyads and 510 European American father-adolescent dyads. Consistent with individuation-connectedness theory, mothers' responsiveness lessened their adolescents' orientation to peers, which, in turn, reduced adolescent substance use. This process was moderated by maternal values regarding adolescent alcohol use; that is, the relation of maternal responsiveness to adolescent substance use depended on the extent of maternal approval or disapproval of adolescent alcohol use. Among fathers, closer monitoring was directly associated with less adolescent substance use, with stronger effects among fathers who held more disapproving values regarding adolescent alcohol use. Theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic implications are given.

A Controlled Study of Peer Relationships of Children Surviving Brain Tumors: Teacher, Peer, and Self Ratings

Abstract: Objective: Evaluate the behavioral reputation and peer acceptance of children diagnosed and treated for brain tumors. Method: Twenty-eight children surviving brain tumors (8-18 years of age) were compared to 28 nonchronically ill, same classroom, same gender comparison peers (COMP). Peer, teacher, and self-report data were collected. Results: Relative to COMP, children who had been diagnosed with brain tumors received fewer friendship nominations from classmates and were described by peer, teacher, and self-report as socially isolated. Although they were no longer receiving therapy for their disease, peers perceived brain tumor survivors as being sick, more fatigued, and often absent from school. Conclusions: These data suggest that children surviving brain tumors are at risk for social difficulties even after treatment ends, although the specific cause(s) for this vulnerability were not investigated in the current study.

Controlling for the endogeneity of peer substance use on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use.

Abstract: This study examines whether the effects of peer substance use on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use are due to endogeneity of adolescents selecting their peer group. We analyzed data collected for a longitudinal analysis of a drug-use prevention programme for upper elementary school students. We used a two-step probit regression to control for the potentially endogenous explanatory variable peer substance use. Rigorous tests of endogeneity and the validity of the instrumental variables showed that controlling for the endogeneity of peer substance use to reduce bias is not worth the reduction in mean squared error in these data. Peer substance use has a positive and significant effect on adolescent substance use for both drinking and smoking. These results imply that peer influence is empirically more important than peer selection (endogeneity) in our sample of adolescents in grades 6-9. Living in a single-parent family was by far the strongest predictor of adolescent drinking and smoking.

Peer group victimization as a predictor of children's behavior problems at home and in school

Abstract: This study reports a short-term prospective investigation of the role of peer group victimization in the development of children's behavior problems, at home and in school. Sociometric interviews were utilized to assess aggression, victimization by peers, and peer rejection, for 330 children who were in either the third or fourth grade (approximate mean ages of 8–9 years old). Behavior problems were assessed using standardized behavior checklists completed by mothers and teachers. A follow-up assessment of behavior problems was completed 2 years later, when the children were in either the fifth or sixth grade (approximate mean ages of 10–11 years old). Victimization was both concurrently and prospectively associated with externalizing, attention dysregulation, and immature/dependent behavior. Victimization also predicted increases in these difficulties over time, and incremented the prediction in later behavior problems associated with peer rejection and aggression. The results of this investigation demonstrate that victimization in the peer group is an important predictor of later behavioral maladjustment.

Social Support for Adolescents at Risk of School Failure

Abstract: The positive relationship between social support and an individual's physical and mental well-being (Ganster & Victor, 1988; Hardy, Richman, & Rosenfeld, 1991) has provided the impetus for a great deal of research on the clinical utility of social support for individuals and groups. For example, support has been used for purposes such as decreasing morbidity (House & Kahn, 1985), reducing stress (Cutrona & Suhr, 1994; Richman & Rosenfeld, 1987) and feelings of loss (Hobfoll & Stephens, 1990), combating burnout (Etzion, 1984; Pines, Aronson, & Kafry, 1981), increasing feelings of well-being (Ganster & Victor, 1988), increasing job performance and work innovation (Albrecht & Hall, 1991), improving performance on academic examinations (Goldsmith & Albrecht, 1993; Sarason & Sarason, 1986), reducing loneliness (Jones & Moore, 1987), and providing information and support for rural residents with AIDS (Rounds, Galinsky, & Stevens, 1991). Social support also has been widely studied as a variable specifically designed to promote the development and adaptation of children and adolescents; for example, support has been indicated in research as useful for working with adolescent depression (Barrera & Garrison-Jones, 1992), improving academic and behavioral adjustment (Dubow, Tisak, Causey, & Hryshko, 1991; Ford & Sutphen, 1996), supporting high-risk youths and their families (Tracy, Whittaker, Boylan, Neitman, & Overstreet, 1995), and reducing delinquent behaviors that correlate highly with poor school performance (Zigler, Taussig, & Black, 1992). Furthermore, the literature on risk and protective factors and educational resilience clearly endorses the primacy of the supportive role provided by the family, the peer group, the school, and the community in predicting positive outcomes for students (Benard, 1991; Bogenschneider, 1996; Richman & Bowen, 1997; Wang, Haertel, & Walberg, 1994). Social support is often less present in the lives of children and youths who are at risk of school failure (Coie et al., 1993; Richman & Bowen, 1997). The purpose of the present study was to explore how the self-perceived social support of adolescents at risk of school failure varied by the type and provider of support and to examine the effects of particular types of social support on school performance outcomes, such as attendance, grades, time studying, and school self-efficacy. By understanding provider networks, students' support patterns, and the effect of support on school performance outcomes, implications may be drawn for the use of social support as an intervention strategy for children and youths at risk of school failure. Social support is a multidimensional concept that needs to be defined and measured accordingly (Milardo, 1992; Norbeck, Lindsey, & Carrieri, 1981; Sarason, Levine, Basham, & Sarason, 1983; Streeter & Franklin, 1992). Each of three broad types of social support - tangible, informational, and emotional (Cobb, 1976; House, 1981) - are communicated by support providers when they behave in ways that are perceived by recipients as enhancing the recipients' well-being (see Shumaker & Brownell, 1984). These perceptions of others' communication behaviors may take eight distinguishable forms: 1. listening support - the perception that an other is listening without giving advice or being judgmental 2. emotional support - the perception that an other is providing comfort and caring and indicating that she or he is on the support recipient's side 3. emotional challenge - the perception that an other is challenging the support recipient to evaluate his or her attitudes, values, and feelings 4. reality confirmation support - the perception that an other, who is similar to and who see things the same way the support recipient does, is helping to confirm the support recipient's perspective of the world 5. …

The Popularity of Friendship and the Neglect of Social Networks: Toward a New Balance.

Abstract: The study of peer relations has traditionally focused on children's dyadic experiences. The authors argue that an analysis of experiences at the network or group level provides an equally compelling perspective of children's relations within the peer system.

Peer Helping/Involvement: An Efficacious Way to Meet the Challenge of Reducing Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use among Youth.

Abstract: Peer-led drug prevention programs for middle school youth are reviewed as to whether or not they are a vital resource in an overall effort to minimize the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) The paper focuses on the following: a) results of a 120-study meta-analysis of school-based drug prevention programs and positive program features; b) considerations for falsely concluding that peer programs are ineffective; c) features of two model or stellar programs that compared interactive (peer leadership) to teacher/researcher-led (non-interactive) programs that followed National Peer Helpers Association (NPHA) Programmatic Standards; and d) suggestions for designing and implementing high-quality, peer-led programs The authors conclude that interactive peer interventions for middle school students are statistically superior to non-interactive didactic, lecture programs led by teachers/researchers Programs implemented according to NPHA Programmatic Standards may eliminate Type II (false negative) and III ("implementation failure" or ineffectively designed and implemented program) errors Opportunities for prudent application of well-designed peer programs appropriately implemented and evaluated must remain a salient priority

A Cross-Cultural Study of Family and Peer Correlates of Adolescent Misconduct.

Abstract: Participants were 4 groups of early adolescents from middle-class backgrounds (European and Chinese Americans in southern California and Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, and Beijing, China). The 591 adolescents (M age = 13.8 years) completed questionnaires about their involvement in misconduct and about family and peer characteristics. Mothers of a subsample of adolescents (n = 405) also completed a questionnaire about their relationships with their adolescents. The 4 groups of adolescents reported significantly different mean levels of family and peer correlates but showed strikingly similar levels and patterns of self-reported misconduct. Structural equation models revealed that 2 latent variables (family relationships and peer sanctions) accounted for more variance in misconduct among European and Chinese American adolescents (51%-62%) than among the 2 Chinese groups (15%-24%), mainly because of a greater contribution of peer factors in the former groups.

Victimization by peers : Associations with children's reports of mother-child interaction

Abstract: Children who are chronically victimized by peers are at risk for personal difficulties. This study examined whether victimization is associated with mother-child interaction at home. Preadolescents (N = 184; mean age = 11.7 years) reported on their mother's child-rearing practices and on how they cope during conflicts with their mother. Peers reported on victimization at school. Sex-specific links between perceived family interaction and peer victimization were found. For boys, victimization was associated with perceived maternal overprotectiveness, especially when boys reported reacting with fear during mother-child conflict. For girls, victimization was associated with perceived maternal rejection and with girls' reports of aggressive coping during mother-child conflict. Results support the theory that parenting that hinders children's development of gender-salient competencies (autonomy for boys and communion for girls) places children at risk for peer victimization.

Sociometry then and now: Building on six decades of measuring children's experiences with the peer group.

Abstract: 1. The Organization of Children's Same-Sex Peer Relationships. - Joyce Beneson, Nicholas Apoltoleris, Jodi Parnass 2. The Popularity of FriAndship and the Neglect of Social Networks: Toward a New Balance. - Robert Cairns, Hongling Xie, Man-Chi Leung 3. Children's Development Within Peer Groups: Using Composite Social Maps to Identify Peer Networks and to Study Their Influences. - Thomas Kindermann 4. The Peer Ecology of Popularity: The Network Embeddedness of a Child's FriAnd Predicts the Child's Subsequent Popularity. - Amir Georges Sabongui, William M. Bukowski, Andrew F. Newcomb.

An attribution retraining program to reduce aggression in elementary school students

Abstract: The BrainPower Program, an attribution retraining intervention to reduce peer directed aggression, was implemented in four elementary schools in Southern California We collected measures of children's behavior and self-reports of attributions for 12 months following the intervention to assess changes in social cognition and social behavior Results suggest that improvements in behavior are related to changes in subjects' attributions The intervention effects are moderate to strong for many students but not evident at all for some students Further, treatment effects diminished over time Results are discussed in terms of the role of psychological theory in intervention research © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Social Functioning of Children Surviving Bone Marrow Transplantation

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the behavioral reputation and peer acceptance of pediatric bone marrow transplant (BMT) survivors. Methods: Forty-eight BMT survivors (8-16 years of age) were compared to 48 nonchronically ill, sameclassroom, same-gender comparison peers (COMP). Peer, teacher, and self-report data were collected. Results: Relative to COMP, BMT survivors had fewer friends and were described by peers, but not teacher or self-report, as more socially isolated. In addition, peers described BMT survivors as being less physically attractive and athletically skilled. Further analyses suggested that these nonsocial attributes (physical appearance and athletic ability) and treatment variables (whether cranial irradiation was received) mediated the social difficulties of BMT survivors. Conclusions: These data are suggestive of an unremitting pattern of difficulties with peers that has the potential to disrupt normal social and emotional development. Differences between peer, teacher and self-reports highlight the need for multiple informants in future work.

Primary socialization theory. The influence of the community on drug use and deviance. III.

Abstract: Primary socialization theory states that drug use and deviance are social behaviors learned predominantly through three sources, the family, the school, and peer clusters. This paper shows that the theory provides a parsimonious explanation of how characteristics of both the local community and the larger extended community influence drug use and deviance. These characteristics affect deviance because they either strengthen or weaken bonding with the three primary socialization sources, or affect the norms that are transmitted through the primary socialization process. The paper considers the following social structure characteristics of the local neighborhood or community: physical characteristics, rurality, ethnicity, heterogeneity, occupational type, mobility, poverty, neighborhood deviance, and age distribution. It also examines how other secondary socialization sources, the extended family, associational groups, religion, the peer environment, and the media influence the primary socialization process and, in turn, drug use and deviance.

Pathways to marijuana use among adolescents: cultural/ecological, family, peer, and personality influences

Abstract: Objective To examine the linkages, cultural/ecological factors, and major psychosocial risk factors as they relate to drug use in a sample from Colombia, South America Method The participants were 1,687 adolescents living in mixed urban-rural communities in Colombia, South America An individual interview was administered to youths in their homes by Colombian interviewers The scales used were based on item intercorrelations grouped into the following risk categories: (1) adolescent personality, (2) family traits, (3) peer factors, and (4) cultural/ecological variables Results Pearson correlations were computed for each variable and the frequency of marijuana use Results show that each of the domains was related to adolescent marijuana use, with some notable gender differences As regards the interrelation of domains, a mediational model was operative Conclusions Findings support a family interactional theory The domains of family, personality, and peer factors had a direct effect on the adolescents' marijuana use Implications for prevention are also addressed J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1998, 37(7):759–766