Social,Academic, and Behavioral Competence of Depressed Children: Relationship to Diagnostic Status and Family Interaction Style

This study compared the social adjustment and academic performance of 15 psychiatrically hospitalized children with depression to 14 children with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 20 normal community children, ages 7–14. The relationship between children's interpersonal and academic competence and the quality of direct family interactions was also examined. Analyses revealed an association between children's adaptive functioning and both diagnostic status and family transactional processes, as assessed by two 10-minute conflict-solving tasks. Major findings were as follows: (a) depressed children and children with schizophrenia spectrum disorders received similarly low ratings of social competence in comparison to normal controls; (b) academic performance of depressed children was similar to normal controls and better than children with schizophrenia spectrum disorders; and (c) children with poorer social competence and more behavioral problems were more likely to have parents who showed negative affect during family problem-solving tasks. The implications of these results for understanding the relationship between psychiatric impairment and children's social and academic development were discussed.     

Social Costs for Wannabes: Moderating Effects of Popularity and Gender on the Links between Popularity Goals and Negative Peer Experiences

Youth in early adolescence are highly concerned with being popular in the peer group, but the desire to be popular can have maladaptive consequences for individuals. In fact, qualitative work suggests that youth with high popularity goals who are nonetheless unpopular have negative experiences with their peers. However, little quantitative work has examined this possibility. The purpose of the current study was to examine if popularity goals were linked with physical (e.g., being hit) and relational (e.g., being excluded) victimization and peer rejection, particularly for individuals who strived for popularity but were viewed by their peers as unpopular. Late elementary and early middle school participants (N?=?205; 54% female) completed self-reports of popularity goals and peer nominations of popularity and peer rejection. Teachers reported on students’ experiences of relational and physical victimization. Peer nominated popularity and gender were moderators of the association between popularity goals and negative peer experiences. Consistent with hypotheses, girls who were unpopular but wanted to be popular were more likely to experience peer rejection and relational victimization. Unexpectedly, boys who were unpopular but did not desire to be popular were more likely to be rejected and relationally victimized. The findings suggest that intervention and prevention programs may benefit from addressing the social status goals of low status youth in a gender-specific manner.     

Heterogeneity of Girls’ Consensual Popularity: Academic and Interpersonal Behavioral Profiles

The present study explored the heterogeneous nature of popularity by investigating subgroups of popular girls (N = 365) in their first year of secondary school (mean age  =  13.05). Cluster analysis revealed the presence of five subgroups based upon sociometric popularity (i.e., those considered likeable by peers) and consensual popularity (i.e., those considered popular by peers), and academic behavioral indices. Two of these groups contained girls who were all nominated as “popular” by classmates, yet the girls in one group displayed very positive academic behaviors (Popular Studious); girls in the other popular group displayed extreme antiacademic behaviors (Popular Disengaged). The remaining groups were Average Popular, Unpopular Disengaged, and Unpopular Studious. External validating measures confirmed the existence of the subgroups, that is, Popular Studious girls were judged by classmates to behave in a prosocial fashion, whereas Popular Disengaged girls exhibited many antisocial behaviors, and were often nominated as bullies. Unpopular Studious girls were often nominated as victims. These findings confirmed the hypothesis that consensual popularity is a heterogeneous concept, and that antiacademic and antisocial girls may still be among the most consensually popular students in secondary schools.Lecturer at the Department of Educational Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Wibautstraat 4, 1091 GM Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His interests include the academic and social behavioral correlates of consensual popularity in adolescence.Associate Professor and Head of Developmental Division, Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut. His interests include peer relations, social behavior, and social cognition in middle childhood and early adolescence.     

Social Competence and Substance Use Among Rural Youth: Mediating Role of Social Benefit Expectancies of Use

The present study examined the mechanisms by which social competence may be associated with substance use during early adolescence. The sample consisted of rural youth (N = 1,568) attending 36 junior high schools in a midwestern state. Structural equation modeling indicated that social competence had a direct protective association with substance use in that those youth who were more socially confident, assertive, and had better communication skills reported less smoking and drinking. Further analyses revealed that the relationship between social competence and substance use was fully mediated by social benefit expectancies of use. These findings suggest that poorly competent youth turn to smoking and alcohol use because they perceive that there are important social benefits to doing so, such as having more friends, looking grown up and cool, and having more fun. Prevention programs that teach youth interpersonal skills may reduce the initiation of substance use by improving social competence and providing youth with more adaptive means of gaining approval from peers.     

Attributes that Differentiate Children Who Sip Alcohol from Abstinent Peers

Sipping alcohol during childhood may be a marker of differentiation as regards children’s future risk of underage drinking; yet very little is known about alcohol use when it occurs among elementary school-aged children. The purpose of the present study is to examine alcohol sipping behavior in a sample of third-grade school children to learn whether sipping is associated with attributes that could increase children’s likelihood of further underage drinking. We collected telephone interview data from 1,050 mothers and their third grade children (mean age 9.2 years; 48.2 % male) residing in the Southeastern United States. The majority of mothers were White non-Hispanic (69.02 %) or Black non-Hispanic (21.3 %); most (85 %) lived in households shared with fathers or other adult caretakers. We hypothesized that children who sip alcohol would score lower than abstinent peers on indicators of competence and score higher on indicators of exposure to alcohol-specific socialization by parents and peers. A multivariate model controlling for frequency of parent alcohol use and demographic covariates showed that children who had sipped alcohol were significantly less likely than abstinent peers to affirm indicators of competence and significantly more likely to affirm indicators of exposure to alcohol specific socialization by parents and by same age peers. These preliminary findings suggest that developmental attributes associated with risk of underage drinking begin to differentiate at least as young as middle childhood. Research is needed to test prospectively for continuity between alcohol risk attributes present in middle childhood and future alcohol use.     

Family Characteristics and Adolescent Competence in India: Investigation of Youth in Southern Orissa

This study examines the relationship among a host of family characteristics and indicators of adolescent competence in a sample (N = 107) of 8th- and 9th-grade students in one school located in Berhampur city in Orissa state, India. Social competence (SC) and antisocial behavior (AB) were assessed by teachers, and adolescents evaluated various areas of their own competence on a perceived competence scale. Final examination grades also were obtained as a general measure of cognitive competence. The results indicated that families of more socially competent participants tended to be verbally and emotionally expressive; democratic with regard to discipline, input, and decision making; close but not enmeshed; higher in their level of parent–adolescent communication and family ideals; and lower in external locus of control. Consequently, families of more antisocial adolescents had more conflict and enmeshment and were more external-locus-of-control oriented and either permissive or authoritarian. Finally, several personal and family demographic traits were positively associated with SC and negatively associated with AB, including gender (girls higher in SC and lower in AB than boys), age and grade (older students and those in grade 9 more competent and less problematic), education level of mothers and fathers (positively related to SC and negatively to AB), and birth order (middle children in the family lower in self-perceptions of competence than oldest or youngest children). The findings have implications for parenting and family-life education efforts in India that could have a major impact on the development of adolescent competence.     

Attachment Styles and Aggression in Physically Abused and Neglected Children

Attachment theory provides a valuable conceptual model for understanding the role of the parent–child relationship and its consequences for the child's emerging self-concept and view of the social world. Attachment style is an individual-difference variable that is rooted in the child's early rearing experience and provides the context for later emotional, behavioral, and cognitive transactions with the environment. The aim of this study was to compare physically abused (n = 41), and neglected children (n = 38) with nonabused/nonneglected children (n = 35) aged 6–12 years, in terms of their attachment styles and their levels of aggression. We found that the physically abused children were significantly characterized by the avoidant attachment style and manifested significantly higher levels of aggression, and the neglected children were significantly characterized with the anxious/ambivalent attachment style. The strategies that the physically abused and neglected children adapted for interactions with their parents also marked their relationships outside the family. Thus, physically abused children are at risk of antisocial behavior and sustained suspicion toward the others, and neglected children are at risk of social withdrawal, and social rejection and feelings of incompetence.     

Adolescent identification and academic achievement: Reporting the awareness of similarity to role models

Individualized identification grids were administered to 16–18-year-old males (N=49) in order to chart the complex of identification they have established with their parents, peers, and school personnel. It was hypothesized that patterns of identification with particular acquaintances would vary as a function of individuals' level of academic achievement. The results of this study indicated that high achievers identified more often with their liked school personnel than did low achievers, and more often with their peers and school personnel than with their parents. Low achievers were shown to most often identify with their mothers and peer. Arguments for viewing identification as a cognitive process based upon reciprocal interpersonal involvement and mediated by situation-specific competence are presented.Current research interests are the interactional effects of skill competence and personal salience of skill areas on the formation of role model identifications in adolescence.     

Same and Other: Interdependency Between Participation in Same- and Other-Sex Friendships

Linear and curvilinear associations between experiences in the same- and other-sex peer groups and the protective functions of friendship with an other-sex peer for early adolescents without a same-sex friend were examined in a sample of 231 fifth, sixth, and seventh grade girls and boys. Findings indicate that (a) at the level of the individual, early adolescent girls and, to a much smaller extent, early adolescent boys show a preference for same-sex peers; (b) this unilateral difference in expansiveness accounts for differences in participation rates in same -and other-sex friendships; (c) children of both sexes who are either very popular or very unpopular are more likely than other children to have other-sex friends; and (d) among children without a same-sex friend, having an other-sex friend is linked to higher levels of perceived well-being for boys and lower levels of well-being for girls. Each of these results is discussed according to our understanding of how the same- and other-sex peer systems function as a system to affect development in early adolescence.     

An Examination of Reciprocal Associations Between Social Preference,Popularity, and Friendship during Early Adolescence

Getting along with peers becomes increasingly important to health and well-being during early adolescence (10–14 years). Young adolescents may succeed with peers when they are well-liked by and popular among the larger peer group (or at the group-level of social complexity). They might also fare well with peers when they are able to form numerous mutual and high quality friendships (at the dyadic-level of social complexity). Theory emphasizes the interrelatedness of different types of peer experiences, but few longitudinal studies have examined the interplay among and between group- and dyadic-level peer experiences in the same study. As a result, it is not known whether group-level peer experiences are predictors of dyadic-level peer experiences, and/or vice versa. To address this limitation, this study examined the prospective and reciprocal relations between four indices of peer experiences, preference (or being highly liked and not disliked by peers), popularity (or having a reputation as popular), friendship quantity (or having many mutual friends), and friendship or relationship quality, during early adolescence. Participants were 271 adolescents (49% girls; M_age?=?11.52 years) who completed peer nominations of preference and popularity, a self-report measure of friendship quality, and nominated friends at two waves (Wave 1: November, Grade 6; Wave 2: October, Grade 7). Structural equation modeling indicated that friendship quantity predicted increases in preference and popularity and that friendship quality predicted increases in friendship quantity. Initial popularity was associated with decreases in preference. The importance of these findings for future research is discussed along with study limitations.     

Suicide Ideation among Participants in an After-School Program: A Convenience Sample

This exploratory study examined differences between elementary-age youth who have considered suicide and their peers using a data set that was collected from elementary school-age children (N = 51) who participated in an after-school program. Data were collected using a standardized survey assessing daily activities, social support, self-esteem, and antisocial behaviors. Youth considering suicide were distinctive from their peers in two composite measures representing club affiliation and illicit drug use. However, these two groups of youth did not differ in attitudes about school or a composite measure of worry, low confidence, and antisociality. These findings were interpreted as reflecting these vulnerable youths' ambivalence about seeking help, which presents an opportunity for intervention.     

Family profiles of adaptability,cohesion, and communication for learning handicapped and nonhandicapped adolescents

The family functioning of 30 nonhandicapped and 30 learning handicapped adolescents and their parents was examined. Measures of adaptability, cohesion, and communication were taken from the parent and the adolescent perspectives. Parent and adolescent perspectives on these areas of functioning were analyzed with a cluster analytic technique, which resulted in five distinct profiles of family functioning. These statistical groupings were confirmed by information gathered through participant observation from an accompanying investigation. The nature of the five clusters confirmed the existence of similar family functioning across the nonhandicapped and learning handicapped groups. Additionally, variations in reaction and adjustment to the amount of structure in the family environment by different families was documented. The importance of considering adolescent and parent perspectives separately was highlighted.Received degree from University of California, Riverside. Research interests are in the area of the social development of at-risk or mildly handicapped children and adolescents in school and family settings.Received degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Research interests in social competence and family relations of learning handicapped populations as well as the development of family, community, and school partnerships.     

The development of autonomy among learning handicapped and nonhandicapped adolescents: A longitudinal perspective

Factors that influence the development of adolescent autonomy were examined in a longitudinal study of 30 learning handicapped and 30 nonhandicapped adolescents. Autonomy was represented by three separate measures: distance from parental supervision, responsibility, and deviance. Findings suggest that handicapped adolescents lag behind their nonhandicapped peers in achieving separation from parental supervision, in part because of more restrictive parental rules. But the gap appears to be shrinking as the handicapped adolescents are making strides to catch up during the high school years. In both groups, the families where autonomy is achieved with the least amount of discord are those where parents relax control gradually during the period of adolescence.This research was supported by Grant No. HD23097 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Received Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the University of California, Irvine. Current interests include adjustment problems of learning handicapped young adults.Received Ed.D. from Columbia University. Current interest is social competence and family relations of learning handicapped populations.     

Friendship Dynamics of Adolescent Aggression,Prosocial Behavior,and Social Status: The Moderating Role of Gender

Interactions with friends are a salient part of adolescents’ experience at school. Adolescents tend to form friendships with similar peers and, in turn, their friends influence adolescents’ behaviors and beliefs. The current study investigated early adolescents’ selection of friends and friends’ influence with regard to physical aggression, prosocial behavior, and popularity and social preference (i.e., likeability) among fifth and sixth graders (N?=?736, 52% girls at wave1, N?=?677, 52% girls at wave 2) in elementary schools in South Korea. The moderating role of gender on early adolescents’ friend selection and influence was also examined. With longitudinal social network analysis (RSiena), we found that youth tended to select friends with similar levels of physical aggression and popularity, and their friends influenced their own physical aggression and popularity over time. The higher youth were in social preference, the less likely they chose physically aggressive peers as friends. Boys were more likely to select highly popular peers as friends compared to girls, and influence effects for physical aggression and popularity were stronger for boys compared to girls. The results underscore the importance of gender in friendship dynamics among Asian early adolescents.     

Children's responses to interpersonal obstacles as a predictor of social competence

Children's responses to interpersonal obstacles and the relationship of these responses to social competence were investigated using the Social Problem Situation Analysis Measure. In this procedure, children respond to standard vignettes and then have their initial response negated by the examiner. The data showed that indices of problem-solving skills instandard andobstacle situations were indeed complementary. Problem solving in response to obstacles was the strongest predictor of self-concept and teachers' ratings of studients' adjustment. Expectancies in standard situations were most predictive of behavioral problem solving and social isolation. The discussion emphasized implications for theory and research into the way in which social problem solving under obstacle conditions relates to different indices of social competence.This study was supported in part by grants to the first author from the William T. Grant Foundation (with John Clabby) and NIMH.Received Ph.D. from University of Connecticut. Research interests include primary prevention and social competence promotion.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Research interests include stress and coping processes.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Research interests include theory and assessment, self and psychopathology.     

Sixth Graders’ Conflict Resolution in Role Plays with a Peer,Parent, and Teacher

This study used conflict resolution role play vignettes and self-report surveys of 450 New York City 6th graders to examine associations between adolescents’ conflict resolution efficacy and social skills. Vignettes covered 3 social contexts, conflict with a peer (disagreement over activities), with a parent (raise in allowance), and with a teacher (low grade on report). Effective and ineffective strategies for resolving these conflicts were coded from the videotaped interactions. Adolescents were more often effective in resolving conflict with peers than with parents (χ²(1) = 7.10, p < .01). Strong communication skills cut across interpersonal context as associated with effective resolution. Assertiveness and absence of aggression were associated with effective conflict resolution in vignettes with peers. Assertiveness was also associated with effective conflict resolution in vignettes with parents, however nervousness was unexpectedly found to facilitate conflict resolution in vignettes with parents. Only skills observed within a particular context were associated with effective resolution in that context; self-report skills and cross-context observed skills were not associated with efficacy. Implications for implementation and evaluation of social skills curricula and conflict resolution process are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meetings of the Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, LA, April 2002Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2004. Research interests include adolescent social competence and youth development programs.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 1991. Research interests include the psychosocial correlates of puberty, stress reactivity, and health compromising behaviors and adjustment.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2002. Research interests include social competence, prevention research, and women’s health.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2002. Research interests include social competence, prevention research, and women’s health.Received Ph.D. in 1975 from University of Pennsylvania in Human Learning and Development. Research focus centers around designing and evaluating interventions aimed at enhancing the wellbeing of children living in poverty and associated conditions. Conducts research on transitional periods during childhood and adolescence, focusing on school, family and biological transitions in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Specific interests are in the factors that contribute to positive and negative outcomes, and changes inwell-being over these years.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University in 1977. Research interests include tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse prevention, violence prevention, AIDS risk reduction among adolescents, health promotion and disease prevention, smoking cessation.     

Do Academically-Engaged Adolescents Experience Social Sanctions from the Peer Group?

Existing theoretical perspectives suggest that adolescents who are characterized by high achievement may experience social sanctions from peers. The central premise is that, in many North American settings, adolescent peer groups are characterized by negative attitudes toward the school environment. To test these hypotheses, we examined associations between indicators of low social power (unpopularity and victimization by peers) and academic competence for 415 adolescents (193 boys; 222 girls) attending an urban high school. This school served neighborhoods that were characterized by a moderate degree of economic distress and the students were predominately of Hispanic American descent. A short-term longitudinal design was used, with two waves of data collected over consecutive school years. The adolescents completed a peer nomination inventory assessing relational and overt victimization by peers, unpopularity, and social rejection. In addition, we obtained math and language arts grades from school records, and we assessed behavioral engagement in school with a self-report inventory. Structural equation models did not reveal a strong pattern of longitudinal change in social standing with peers or academic functioning. However, we found positive correlations between academic achievement and problematic peer relationships in both years of the project. We also found evidence that gender moderates these associations, with the effects reaching significance only for boys. Our results provide evidence that, in some settings, high achieving adolescents can be prone to negative treatment or marginalization by peers.     

Attributional style,depressive features,and self-esteem: Adult children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents

Undergraduate adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs; N=57) were compared to children of nonalcoholic parents (CONAs; N=100) on measures of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), selfesteem, and attributional style. ACOA status was determined using the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (Jones, 1981). ACOAs were found to have significantly higher scores on the BDI and to have significantly lower self-esteem, as measured by the Index of Self-Esteem, than CONAs. ACOAs were also more likely to have a depressive attributional style, in that they perceived failure as more internal, stable, and global than CONAs. Further, females had significantly higher BDI scores than males.Received B.A. from West Virginia University. Research interests: adult children of alcoholics and human sexual behavior.Received Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Research interests: the impact of popular culture on adolescents and the impact of parental conflict on children.Received Ph.D. from University of Massachusetts. Research interests: adolescent suicide risk.