Subject(s)
Peer Group , Rejection, Psychology , Sociometric Techniques , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Psychometrics , Social IdentificationABSTRACT
Differences in attraction to same- and other-sex peers as a function of sex, age, individual characteristics (i.e., aggression), and context were examined in a longitudinal study of early adolescent boys and girls (N = 217) that covered the transition from elementary school (Time 1) to middle school (Times 2 and 3). Consistent with T. Moffitt's (1993) concept of the "maturity gap," attraction to aggressive peers, especially attraction to aggressive boys among girls, increased with age and upon entry to middle school, as did attraction to peers who stood out in the peer group in easily observable ways. Attraction to peers who presented features associated with good classroom-based behavior decreased. These patterns are discussed in terms of the developmental needs served by associating with particular peers.
Subject(s)
Aggression/psychology , Interpersonal Relations , Peer Group , Psychology, Adolescent , Social Adjustment , Adolescent , Age Factors , Child , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Individuality , Male , Prospective Studies , Sex Factors , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Articles in this issue by A. C. Casiglia, A. LoCoco, and C. Zappulla; D. S. Crystal, H. Watanabe, K. Weinfurt, and C. Wu; M. Keller, N. Edelstein, C. Schmid, F. Fang, and G. Fang; and J. J. Han, M. D. Leichtman, and Q. Wang are discussed according to (a) the extent to which cultural variability can be reconciled with developmental theory and (b) the dimensions of cultural variability that matter most for development. It is argued that (a) cross-cultural research needs to be predicted on a model of how culture interacts with the forces that underlie and guide development and (b) the interpretation of cross-cultural research is severely limited without the direct measurement of the specific culture-related variables and processes that are hypothesized to account for diversity in development. Finally, within-culture variability needs to be studied in conjunction with between-culture variability so that a full model of diversity and development can be constructed.
Subject(s)
Child Development , Cultural Characteristics , Social Behavior , Child , Goals , Humans , Models, PsychologicalABSTRACT
Using a sample of 138 early adolescents and their parents, we examined the hypothesis that family and friendship measures would moderate each other's associations with measures of children's perceptions of their adjustment and well-being. Family environment was assessed by asking parents to complete the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale II. A sociometric nomination procedure and the Friendship Quality Scale were completed by the subjects as assessments of reciprocity and quality in their best friendship relations. The Perceived Competence Scale for Children was used to assess children's adjustment. Stronger associations were observed between the family measures and the adjustment measures in children without a close friendship than in children with such a relationship. Also, friendship was more strongly linked to outcome measures for children from low adaptive and low cohesive families than for children in more adaptive and cohesive families. These findings indicate that experiences in the family and friendship domains interact in their associations with children's impressions of their adjustment during early adolescence.
Subject(s)
Family/psychology , Personal Satisfaction , Personality Development , Social Environment , Adolescent , Child , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Interpersonal Relations , Male , Social Adjustment , Social SupportABSTRACT
In the present longitudinal study, we examined changes in parental labelling and infants' categorization skills as potential predictors of vocabulary composition, the age of the naming explosion, and the acquisition of subordinate labels. Sixteen French- and English-speaking parent-child dyads were videotaped during a 20-minute free-play session every month beginning when the child was 1;0 and ending at 2;0. The children received object-manipulation tasks every three months and their vocabulary growth was recorded. Parental labelling practices were assessed monthly using a picture-book reading task. Both parental labelling and children's categorization skills predicted the content of children's lexicon, with children with more names in their vocabulary having better categorization skills. Furthermore, the naming explosion was found to coincide with improvement of categorization skills. These findings suggest that the influence of each factor varies as a function of the stage and aspect of lexical development considered.
