Do relational risks and protective factors moderate the linkages between childhood aggression and early psychological and school adjustment?

This investigation addressed the question of how relational stressors and supports interface with a known behavioral risk (aggression) to influence early emerging adjustment trajectories. Children's risk for aggression, as well as multiple relational risk and protective factors (i.e., stressful and supportive features of peer and teacher relationships), were assessed in a sample of 396 children and used to predict changes in psychological functioning and school adjustment from the fall of their kindergarten year to the spring of their first-grade year. Results were largely consistent with additive risk-maladjustment models; with few exceptions, relational experiences predicted adjustment beyond children's aggressive risk status. For some adjustment criteria, however, there was evidence to suggest that relational stressors or supports exacerbated or compensated for dysfunctions that were linked with aggressive behavior. Moreover, compared with early onset, the chronicity of children's aggressive risk status and relational stressors and supports bore a stronger association with changes in maladjustment. Analyses conducted by ethnic groups suggested that African American children, who were typically a minority among their European American classmates, were more likely to experience particular stressors (e.g., chronic peer rejection), and were less likely to be afforded some form of support (e.g., stable teacher-child closeness). However, the nature of the predictive linkages found between the relational risk and protective factors and later maladjustment did not differ substantially by SES or ethnicity. The importance of investigating behavioral risks in conjunction with the relational features of children's interpersonal environments is discussed.

Peer rejection as an antecedent of young children's school adjustment: an examination of mediating processes.

A short-term longitudinal design (N = 399) was used to examine peer relations processes that may mediate the relation between peer rejection and children's emotional and academic adjustment during kindergarten. These proposed mediating processes extend the current literature by explicating behavioral pathways via which the attitudinal construct of peer rejection may affect adjustment outcomes. Structural equatiton modeling results supported the hypothesis that negative peer treatment (e.g., victimization, refusal of peer group entry bids, and exclusion from peer activities) and classroom participation partially mediate the relationship between rejection and adjustment outcomes. Rejected children were more likely to experience negative peer treatment, more likely to show decreases in classroom participation, and more likely to report loneliness, to express a desire to avoid school, and to perform less well on achievement measures.

Connectedness and autonomy support in parent-child relationships: links to children's socioemotional orientation and peer relationships.

Connectedness and autonomy support in the parent-child relationship are constructs that emerge from object relations and attachment theories but that overlap with other commonly studied qualities of parent-child relationships to provide a unifying focus for research in this domain. In this study, these constructs were examined in relation to children's relational competence, including socioemotional orientation, friendship, and peer acceptance. Semistructured conversations between mothers and their 5-year-olds (N = 192) were videotaped at home and rated for (a) connectedness between the members of the dyad and (b) the parent' s support for the child's autonomy. Results showed that connectedness was correlated with children's socioemotional orientations, number of mutual friendships, and peer acceptance and that the relation between parent-child connectedness and children's peer relationships was mediated by children's prosocial-empathic orientation. Implications of these findings for theories that link parent-child relationships to the development of relational competence in children are discussed.

Charting the relationship trajectories of aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive/withdrawn children during early grade school.

The premises examined in this longitudinal investigation were that specific behavioral characteristics place children at risk for relationship maladjustment in school environments, and that multiple behavioral risks predispose children to the most severe and prolonged difficulties. Aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive/withdrawn children were compared to normative and matched control groups on teacher and peer relationship attributes, loneliness, and social satisfaction from kindergarten (M age = 5 years, 7 months; n = 250) through grade 2 (M age = 8.1; n = 242). Children's withdrawn behavior was neither highly stable nor predictive of relational difficulties, as their trajectories resembled the norm except for initially less close and more dependent relationships with teachers. Aggressive behavior was fairly stable, and associated with early-emerging, sustained difficulties including low peer acceptance and conflictual teacher-child relationships. Aggressive/withdrawn children evidenced the most difficulty: compared to children in the normative group, they were consistently more lonely, dissatisfied, friendless, disliked, victimized, and likely to have maladaptive teacher-child relationships. Findings are discussed with respect to recent developments in two prominent literatures: children at-risk and early relationship development.

Peer relationships and social competence during early and middle childhood.

This review demarcates major periods of empirical activity and accomplishment (i.e. "generations") in research on children's peer relations and social competence during recent decades and identifies the investigative agendas that were dominant or ascendant during these periods. A sampling of studies that were conducted during the most recent generation of peer relations research is organized and reviewed in relation to two types of research objectives: (a) enduring agendas--aims from past research generations that have continued to serve as an impetus for empirical investigation during the 1990s--and (b) innovative agendas--newly emergent objectives that are predicated on novel conceptual issues or ongoing research controversies and deficiencies. This profile of continuity and change in investigators' research agendas provides a platform for delineating and analyzing recent empirical accomplishments in the field of peer relations research.

Children's social and scholastic lives in kindergarten: related spheres of influence?

Evidence from two studies conducted with kindergarten samples (N = 200, M age = 5.58 years; N = 199, M age = 5.47 years) supported a series of interrelated hypotheses derived from a child x environment model of early school adjustment. The findings obtained were consistent with the following inferences: (1) Entry factors, such as children's cognitive maturity and family backgrounds, directly as well as indirectly influence children's behavior, participation, and achievement in kindergarten; (2) as children enter school, their initial behavioral orientations influence the types of relationships they form with peers and teachers; (3) stressful aspects of children's peer and teacher relationships in the school environment adversely impact classroom participation and achievement; and (4) classroom participation is an important prerequisite for achievement during kindergarten. Collectively, these findings illustrate the need to revise prevailing theories of school adjustment, and the research agendas that evolve from these perspectives, so as to incorporate interpersonal risk factors that operate within the school environment.

Parenting behaviors and parent-child relationships: correlates of peer victimization in kindergarten?

This study examined features of parenting behavior and the parent-child relationship as correlates of peer victimization in young children. A sample of 197 kindergartners (94 girls and 103 boys) and their primary caregivers were videotaped in their homes while engaging in multiple interactional tasks, and peer victimization data were gathered on children as they began kindergarten. The video-recorded interaction data were used to create measures of parenting behavior (e.g., intrusive demandingness, responsiveness) and relationship quality (i.e., intense closeness), which were examined as predictors of peer victimization. High intrusive demandingness and low responsiveness were associated with peer victimization in both boys and girls, and parent-child relationships characterized by intense closeness were associated with higher levels of peer victimization in boys. Results are discussed in terms of the role that caregiver socialization plays in the development of child behaviors that may increase children's risk for peer victimization.

Children's interpersonal behaviors and the teacher-child relationship.

Relations between kindergartners' (N = 199; M age = 5 years 6 months) behavioral orientations and features of their 1st-grade teacher-child relationships (i.e., conflict, closeness, dependency) were examined longitudinally. Early behavioral orientations predicted teacher-child relationship quality in that (a) unique associations emerged between children's early antisocial behavior and features of their 1st-grade teacher-child relationships (i.e., negative relation with closeness, positive relation with conflict and dependency) and between asocial behavior and teacher-child dependency, and (b) prosocial behavior was correlated with but not uniquely related to any feature of children's 1st-grade teacher-child relationships. In addition, specific features of the teacher-child relationship (e.g., conflict) predicted changes in children's behavioral adjustment (e.g., decreasing prosocial behavior).

Victimized children's responses to peers' aggression: behaviors associated with reduced versus continued victimization.

The aim of the current investigation was to identify victimized children's responses to peers' aggression that may be associated with reduced versus persistent victimization. To address this aim, 199 5-6-year-old children (96 boys, 103 girls) were interviewed twice during kindergarten (fall and spring) about their own victimization experiences and peers' responses to aggression. Observational rating of children's victimization experiences were used to examine the validity of the self-reported victimization scores. Relations between response strategies and subsequent victimization status were significant only for boys: "having a friend help" was associated with reduced victimization, whereas "fighting back" was related to stable victimization. Implications for future research on peer victimization and intervention with young victimized children are discussed.

Classroom peer acceptance, friendship, and victimization: distinct relational systems that contribute uniquely to children's school adjustment?

The proposition that relationships make differential (i.e., unique, redundant, contingent) contributions to adjustment was examined by investigating the linkages between children's participation in different types of peer relationships (i.e., friendship, peer acceptance, peer victimization) and their adjustment to school. Relationship measures were gathered for 5- to 6-year-old children (105 males, 95 females) twice during kindergarten (i.e., fall and spring) and were correlated with adjustment indicators at each time of assessment and used to predict changes in school adjustment over time. Examination of the relative associations between the relationship measures and children's adjustment revealed evidence of both unshared (i.e., unique) and shared (i.e., redundant) linkages, depending on the form of adjustment examined. These findings suggest that adjustment may be influenced by the diverse experiences (i.e., provisions) that children encounter in different forms of relationship, and that certain types of relationships may have greater or lesser adaptive significance depending on the adjustment outcome examined.

Peer victimization: cause or consequence of school maladjustment?

Past research has shown that peer victimization and school maladjustment are related, but it is unclear whether victimization is a cause or consequence of such difficulties. This study examined whether (a) peer victimization is a precursor of school maladjustment, (b) the effects are limited to the period of victimization, and (c) stable peer victimization experiences compound adjustment difficulties. Toward this end, data were collected on 200 5- and 6-year-old children (105 males, 95 females) in the fall and spring of kindergarten. Findings supported the hypothesis that victimization is a precursor of children's loneliness and school avoidance. Whereas children's feelings of loneliness were more pronounced while victimization was occurring, delayed effects were found for school avoidance. Furthermore, the duration of children's victimization experiences was related to the magnitude of their school adjustment problems.

Friendship quality as a predictor of young children's early school adjustment.

The purpose of this study was to develop a method for assessing young children's perceptions of classroom friendships and to determine whether these perceptions were associated with their adjustment during the transition to grade school. Subscales tapping 5 friendship processes (e.g., validation, aid, disclosure of negative affect, exclusivity, conflict) were extracted from a 24-item friendship interview that was individually administered to 82 kindergarten children (M age = 5.61) who possessed a reciprocated and stable "best" friend in their classroom. Children's reports of the investigated friendship processes were found to be reliable, and processes such as perceived validation and conflict predicted children's satisfaction with their friendships, and the stability of these relationships. Perceived conflict in friendships was associated with multiple forms of school maladjustment for boys, including higher levels of school loneliness and avoidance and lower levels of school liking and engagement. For both boys and girls, validation and aid forecasted gains in perceived support from classmates, and aid also predicted improvements in children's school attitudes. Perceived exclusivity in friendships was associated with lower levels of achievement. These findings, and others reported in this article, are consistent with the hypothesis that the relational features of children's classroom friendships yield psychological benefits or costs (e.g., provisions) that, in turn, affect their development and adjustment.

Children: ethnic and political violence.

Violence stemming from ethnic and political tensions is a problem of increasing proportions throughout the world, and many indicators show that large numbers of children are directly or indirectly exposed to war, political repression, torture, and terrorism. There is growing evidence to suggest that children are at risk under these conditions, and that the consequences of growing up amid danger, chaos, and deprivation can be severe. The articles contained in this special section were assembled to foster greater awareness of this important topic among the readers of Child Development and, hopefully, stimulate new research on ethnic and political violence in many of the disciplines that are represented within the Society for Research in Child Development.

Maternal support networks, maternal cognitions, and young children's social and cognitive development.

The relations among maternal support networks, maternal perceptions of parenting, maternal attributions for parenting situations, and children's social development, as indexed by peer acceptance, and cognitive performance, as indexed by the PPVT-R and PSI, were examined in a sample of 69 mothers and their preschool-age children. Network characteristics directly predicted cognitive performance and indirectly predicted peer acceptance through effects on maternal perceptions and attributions. Parent cognitions as mediators of network effects on children's development are discussed, addressing variation due to network dimensions, types of parent cognitions, and domain of children's development.

Having friends, keeping friends, making friends, and being liked by peers in the classroom: predictors of children's early school adjustment?

The potential role that children's classroom peer relations play in their school adjustment was investigated during the first 2 months of kindergarten and the remainder of the school year. Measures of 125 children's classroom peer relationships were obtained on 3 occasions: at school entrance, after 2 months of school, and at the end of the school year. Measures of school adjustment, including children's school perceptions, anxiety, avoidance, and performance, were obtained during the second and third assessment occasions. After controlling mental age, sex, and preschool experience, measures of children's classroom peer relationships were used to forecast later school adjustment. Results indicated that children with a larger number of classroom friends during school entrance developed more favorable school perceptions by the second month, and those who maintained these relationships liked school better as the year progressed. Making new friends in the classroom was associated with gains in school performance, and early peer rejection forecasted less favorable school perceptions, higher levels of school avoidance, and lower performance levels over the school year.

Children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies; relations with sociometric status and maternal disciplinary styles.

To explore relations between maternal disciplinary styles, children's expectations of the outcomes of social strategies, and children's peer status, 144 mothers and their first- (N = 59) and fourth- (N = 85) grade children (ages = 70-86 months and 116-129 months, respectively) participated in home interviews prior to the beginning of the school year. Measures of children's sociometric status were obtained in classrooms after the school year began. Results indicated that children of mothers who were more power assertive in their disciplinary styles tended to be less accepted by peers and tended to expect successful outcomes for unfriendly-assertive methods for resolving peer conflict (e.g., threatening to hit another child). In addition, children who expected unfriendly-assertive strategies to lead to self-oriented gains were less accepted by peers. Moreover, maternal disciplinary styles and outcome expectations for unfriendly-assertive strategies were found to make separate and independent contribution to peer status.

Friendship patterns and peer status during early and middle childhood.

The primary aim of this article is to provide a brief review of research on children's peer relations for child- and family-oriented practitioners. Attention is devoted to the importance of children's peer relations in child socialization and development, and to distinguishing between specific types of peer relationships and their potential functions. Findings that shed light on the nature or normative features of children's peer relationships at different ages, and evidence pertaining to the origins of specific types of relationships (i.e., peer status and friendship), will also be considered. The final section of the review will provide an overview of recent efforts to develop and test procedures for improving children's peer relations.

Effectiveness of a social learning method for enhancing children's social interaction and peer acceptance.

Previous research indicates that the consequences of peer isolation or rejection may be severe. The present investigation examined changes in low-accepted children's behavior and peer acceptance resulting from social learning approach to social skill training. Third-grade children responded to a sociometric measure and were later observed on targeted social skills. 36 children with low scores on both criteria were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental conditions: skill training, attention control, and nontreatment control. Children in the training condition were coached in 3 social skills: asking questions, leading, and offering support to peers. Sociometric and observational assessments were conducted upon completion of the experimental procedures and at follow-up. Trained children spent a significantly greater percentage of time engaging in 2 of the 3 trained skills at posttest and follow-up, whereas control group children remained the same or declined. Unlike their control group counterparts, trained children also evidenced significant and lasting gains in classroom peer acceptance. The results are interpreted as support for the intervention's effectiveness and a social learning explanation of behavioral change.