Reconsidering the failure model: Using a genetically controlled design to assess the spread of problems from reactive aggression to internalizing symptoms through peer rejection across the primary school years.

According to the failure model (Patterson & Capaldi, 1990), peer rejection is the intermediary link between problem behaviors and internalizing symptoms. The present study tested the model with 464 monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin pairs (234 female, 230 male dyads). Teacher-reported reactive aggression and internalizing symptoms, and peer-reported peer rejection were collected at ages 6, 7, and 10 (from 2001 to 2008). Support for the failure model emerged in conventional non-genetically controlled analyses, but not twin-difference score analyses (which remove shared environmental and genetic contributions). Univariate biometric models attributed minimal variance in failure model variables to shared environmental factors, suggesting that genetic factors play an important unacknowledged role in developmental pathways historically ascribed to nonshared experiences in the failure model.

Perceptions of relationship quality that predict friendship dissolution during childhood and adolescence: Social support matters more than negativity.

The present study examines perceptions of relationship quality as antecedents of best friendship dissolution. Participants included 230 students in Florida (United States; 54.3% girls; ages = 8-13; 39.6% European American, 27.0% Hispanic American, 21.7% African American, and 2.6% Asian American) and 496 students in Lithuania (49.0% girls; ages = 8-14; 358 boys; nearly all ethnic Lithuanian) attending public schools in Florida (United States) and Lithuania. Reciprocated best friends were identified from friend nominations midway through the school year, at which time each partner described perceptions of social support and negativity in the relationship. Of the 363 reciprocated friend dyads, 26.2% (n = 95) were no longer friends 1-3 months later. Dyadic analyses were conducted with initial perceived friend negativity and initial perceived friend social support as predictors of subsequent friendship stability. When considered separately, perceived social support predicted self- and partner reports of friendship stability and perceived negativity predicted self- (but not partner) reports of friendship stability. In each case, lower initial social support and higher initial negativity predicted a greater incidence of friendship dissolution. When considered together, initial perceptions of social support predicted self- and partner reports of friendship dissolution, but perceptions of negativity predicted neither. The findings are consistent with those from married couples, which indicate that the absence of positive interactions is a stronger predictor of relationship instability than the presence of negative interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Perils of Not Being Attractive or Athletic: Pathways to Adolescent Adjustment Difficulties Through Escalating Unpopularity.

Adolescents who lack traits valued by peers are at risk for adjustment difficulties but the mechanisms responsible for deteriorating well-being have yet to be identified. The present study examines processes whereby low athleticism and low attractiveness give rise to adolescent adjustment difficulties. Participants were public middle school students (ages 10 to 13 years, Mage = 11.54, SDage = 1.00) in the USA and Lithuania (300 girls, 280 boys; 52.7% girls). Self-reports of alcohol misuse and loneliness were collected three times during an academic year (M = 12.3 week intervals). Athleticism, attractiveness, unpopularity, and peer rejection were assessed through peer nominations. Full longitudinal mediation analyses examined direct and indirect pathways from stigmatized traits (i.e., low athleticism, low attractiveness) to adjustment difficulties (i.e., alcohol misuse, loneliness) through two indices of low peer status: unpopularity and rejection. The results indicated that the possession of stigmatized traits predicted escalating unpopularity, which, in turn, predicted increasing adjustment difficulties. Similar indirect associations did not emerge with rejection as a mediator, underscoring the unique role of power and prominence (and the lack thereof) in socioemotional development. The findings underscore the adjustment risks and interpersonal challenges that confront children and adolescents who lack traits valued by peers.

Adolescents with Few Friend Alternatives are Particularly Susceptible to Influence from Friends.

Friend influence in adolescence is well-documented, but the characteristics that contribute to individual differences in susceptibility to influence are not well understood. The present study tests the novel hypothesis that within a friend dyad, having fewer friends than one's partner (i.e., relative lack of alternatives) increases susceptibility to influence as it reduces dissimilarity and thereby promotes compatibility. Drawn from diverse California (USA) public middle schools, participants were 678 adolescents (58% girls) in reciprocated friendships that were stable from the fall to the spring of sixth grade (M = 11.53 years old). Longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models assessed peer influence, operationalized as individual change in the direction of increased friend similarity. Consistent with the hypothesis, partners with fewer friends were influenced by partners with relatively more friends in self-reported social anxiety and somatic complaints, as well as teacher-reported academic engagement and prosocial behavior. Academic engagement was the only domain wherein partners with more friends were also influenced by partners with relatively fewer friends. For those with few friends, conformity (i.e., becoming more similar to a partner) can be an important strategy to promote compatibility for strengthening existing friendships.

What Does it Mean to be Susceptible to Influence? A Brief Primer on Peer Conformity and Developmental Changes that Affect it.

Peer influence is a twofold process that entails a behavior by an agent of influence that elicits conformity from the target of influence. Susceptibility describes the likelihood that conformity will occur. This review focuses on factors that shape susceptibility to peer influence. We argue that conformity has two distinct sources. In some instances, conformity is a product of characteristics of the target of influence, operationalized as stable individual difference variables. Trait-like attributes associated with susceptibility to peer influence include conformity dispositions, social goals, resource acquisition strategies, vulnerabilities, and maturational status. In other instances, conformity is a product of the context in which the target is situated, operationalized as impermanent individual difference variables. State-like circumstances associated with susceptibility to peer influence include conditions of uncertainty, personal attributes that differ from the partner or group, perceived benefits of impression management, unmet social needs, and social referents and beliefs about their behavior. Empirical illustrations are provided. We close with a discussion of developmental changes hypothesized to impact variations in susceptibility to peer influence.

Classroom Seat Proximity Predicts Friendship Formation.

The present study tests the hypothesis that friendships form on the basis of classroom seating proximity. Participants included 235 students (129 boys, 106 girls) in grades 3-5 (ages 8-11) who nominated friends at two time points (13-14 weeks apart). Teachers described seating arrangements. Concurrent analyses indicated that students sitting next to or nearby one another were more likely to receive friend nominations and be involved in reciprocated friendships than students seated elsewhere in the classroom. Longitudinal analyses indicated that classroom seating proximity was associated with the formation of new friendships. Most results for randomly selected outgoing friend nominations and randomly selected reciprocated friend dyads were replicated in analyses that included all friend nominations and all friend dyads.

Conflict Moderates the Longitudinal Association between Aggression with Classmates and Popularity: Leveraging Disagreements into Peer Status.

The present study tests the hypothesis that conflict amplifies longitudinal associations from aggressiveness and disruptiveness to classroom popularity. Participants were 356 (181 girls, 172 boys) Florida primary school students (ages 8-12). The results revealed that higher initial levels of peer-reported aggression, and disruptiveness were associated with increases in peer-reported popularity, particularly for children who report frequent conflict with classmates. The findings highlight a hitherto unexplored avenue through which aggressive and disruptive children attain status in the peer group.