Single parents, stepparents, and the susceptibility of adolescents to antisocial peer pressure

According to a recent report, adolescents living in single-parent households are more likely to engage in deviant activity than are youngsters living with both natural parents, or in single-parent, extended households, allegedly because the presence of an additional adult provides greater control of youngsters' behavior. In the present study, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth graders from 1 of 3 family structures (both natural parents, mother alone, or 1 natural parent and a stepparent) were compared with respect to their susceptibility to peer pressure to engage in deviant activity. All comparisons controlled for sex, age, socioeconomic status, maternal employment, and patterns of family decision making. Youngsters living with both natural parents were less susceptible to pressure from their friends to engage in deviant behavior than youngsters living in other family structures. More important, youngsters growing up in stepfamilies--in the presence of an additional adult--were equally at risk for involvement in deviant behavior as were their peers growing up in single-parent households.     

Differences in the relations between antisocial behavior and peer acceptance across contexts and across adolescence

This study tests the hypothesis that, during adolescence, antisocial behavior becomes positively associated with peer acceptance. This hypothesis was tested considering both classroom and out-of-class peer relations. Data from a previously published study, with a cross-sectional sample of 577 Italian 11- to 13-year-olds, were used. Analyses showed that in the 6th grade antisocial behavior was negatively related to classroom peer preference, but not significantly related to out-of-class peer inclusion. By the 8th grade, antisocial behavior was positively related to out-of-class peer inclusion, but not significantly related to classroom peer preference. Similar results were found for males and females. The higher level of peer acceptance among the 8th grade antisocial individuals was primarily due to nominations received by other antisocial individuals.     

The breadth of peer relationships among preschoolers: an application of the Q-connectivity method to externalizing behavior

Preschoolers' (M(age) = 48.7 months) social breadth (the number of peer children interact with and the frequency of these interactions) and the relations between breadth and externalizing behaviors were examined using the Q-connectivity method. After considering age, sex, and classroom effects on social breadth, children's externalizing behaviors were studied in relation to levels of social breadth across variations in frequency of exposure to peers and to patterns of decline in social breadth. Externalizing preschoolers occasionally interacted with most of their classmates. However, their individual peer networks moderately to rapidly became selective, and they engaged in repeated interactions with a relatively small number of peers. Although there were no sex effects, significant age and classroom effects were obtained.     

Gender differences in developmental links among antisocial behavior, friends' antisocial behavior, and peer rejection in childhood: results from two cultures

This study addressed gender differences in the developmental links among antisocial behavior, friends' antisocial behavior, and peer rejection. High and increasing, moderate, and low antisocial developmental trajectories were identified among 289 Dutch children, ages 7 to 10, and 445 French-Canadian children, ages 9 to 12. Only boys followed the high trajectory. These boys had more deviant friends and were more often rejected than other children. A minority of girls followed the moderate antisocial behavior trajectory. These girls had fewer deviant friends than moderate antisocial boys, but moderate antisocial boys and girls were equally likely to be rejected. The influence of friends and poor peer relations plays a crucial but different role in the development of antisocial behavior among boys and girls.     

Linked lives: stability and change in maternal circumstances and trajectories of antisocial behavior in children

Drawing on the notion of linked lives, this study examined the effects of stability and change in maternal circumstance on developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior in children 4 to 7 years of age. Using data from a national sample of young mothers and growth curve analysis, the study demonstrated that early maternal circumstances influences early antisocial behavior, whereas stability and change in these circumstances both exacerbate and ameliorate behavior problems. Of particular note, meaningful escape from poverty attenuates antisocial behavior whereas persistence in poverty or long-term movement into poverty intensifies such problems. These findings highlight the importance of structural context for parenting practices and the need to consider child development in light of dynamic and changing life-course fortunes of parents.     

The relation of attachment security to adolescents' paternal and peer relationships, depression, and externalizing behavior

The relation of attachment security to multiple domains of psychosocial functioning was examined in a community sample of 167 early adolescents. Security of attachment organization, assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview, was linked to success in establishing autonomy while maintaining a sense of relatedness both with fathers and with peers, even after accounting for predictions from qualities of the mother-teen relationship. Growth curve analyses revealed links of insecurity to increasing patterns of externalizing behavior and higher and stable patterns of depressive symptoms across adolescence. Implications for a developing theory of the connections of the attachment system to multiple domains of functioning in adolescence are discussed.     

Family adversity,positive peer relationships,and children's externalizing behavior: a longitudinal perspective on risk and resilience

Peer acceptance and friendships were examined as moderators in the link between family adversity and child externalizing behavioral problems. Data on family adversity (i.e., ecological disadvantage, violent marital conflict, and harsh discipline) and child temperament and social information processing were collected during home visits from 585 families with 5-year-old children. Children's peer acceptance, friendship, and friends' aggressiveness were assessed with sociometric methods in kindergarten and grade 1. Teachers provided ratings of children's externalizing behavior problems in grade 2. Peer acceptance served as a moderator for all three measures of family adversity, and friendship served as a moderator for harsh discipline. Examination of regression slopes indicated that family adversity was not significantly associated with child externalizing behavior at high levels of positive peer relationships. These moderating effects generally were not qualified by child gender, ethnicity, or friends' aggressiveness, nor were they accounted for by child temperament or social information-processing patterns. The need for process-oriented studies of risk and protective factors is stressed.     

'We're not Sheep': Illuminating the nature of the adolescent peer group in effecting lifestyle choice

This study investigates adolescent peer leadership in the context of health and social education affecting lifestyle choice. Cognate studies are summarised and reviewed and the study reported here is referenced to prior work in this area. The paper reports on a case study of a single school during the first stage of a two-stage study. Interview data illuminate how adolescent peer group members influence and shape the dynamics of the peer group and are in turn influenced by it. This is constructed from the perspectives of the pupils themselves. It is concluded that, while prior research identifies peer leaders who influence the lifestyle choices of members of the reference group, peer leadership is essentially an adult concept. Peer leadership as such is not acknowledged by adolescents as they reflect on and make sense of the social realities of life reflected within the peer group.     

Observed peer victimization during early elementary school: continuity, growth, and relation to risk for child antisocial and depressive behavior

The rate at which 266 boys and girls ages 5 to 7 years old were victimized by peers was observed on multiple occasions in kindergarten and first grade. Individual differences in victimization were observed at kindergarten entry and in growth over the subsequent 2 years. Victimization increased for some children but decreased for others. Growth in victimization was reciprocally related to growth in teacher-reported antisocial and depressive behavior for boys. For girls, kindergarten victimization was related to growth in parent-reported antisocial behavior, teacher-reported depressive behavior to growth in victimization, and growth in victimization to parent-reported depression. At a short-term group level, antisocial behavior had a lagged suppressive effect on victimization for boys but a facilitating effect for girls.     

The relationship between parental bonding and peer victimization: examining child stress and hopelessness as mediators

The purpose of the current study was to investigate a two-stage model in which parent-related stress and hopelessness each served as mediators of the relationship between perceived parental bonding and South Korean adolescent peer victimization. This study also examined whether the mediating relationships differed by the gender of parents and adolescents. A casual chain with three links and four sets of variables were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from 800 adolescents attending 10 middle schools in the Busan region of South Korea. Results indicated that both maternal and paternal parental bonding were negatively associated with stress, stress was positively associated with hopelessness, and hopelessness was positively associated with South Korean adolescent peer victimization. Most importantly, the significant negative associations between both maternal and paternal parental bonding and peer victimization were mediated by both stress and hopelessness. Furthermore, gender differences in these relationships existed for both parents and adolescents. Limitations and implications to practice were discussed.     

Trajectories of peer victimization and perceptions of the self and schoolmates: precursors to internalizing and externalizing problems

Evidence indicates that peer victimization is predictive of later maladjustment, but the mechanisms by which harassment impairs development have yet to be identified. The objectives of this study were (a) to discern normative trends in peer victimization experiences and self- and peer perceptions during preadolescence and (b) to investigate associations between individual differences in these trajectories and changes in psychosocial adjustment. A sample of 381 children (196 girls; 185 boys) was followed longitudinally between the ages of 9 and 11 years. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that, although children's self-appraisals became increasingly positive during preadolescence, their appraisals of peers became more negative. Moreover, analyses supported the contention that self- and peer beliefs act as mechanisms through which victimization is related to psychological dysfunction.     

Interpersonal dynamics within adolescent friendships: dyadic mutuality, deviant talk, and patterns of antisocial behavior

Interpersonal dynamics within friendships were observed in a sample of 120 (60 male, 60 female) ethnically diverse 16- and 17-year-old adolescents characterized as persistently antisocial, adolescent-onset, and normative. Dyadic mutuality and deviant talk were coded from videotaped friendship interactions. Persistently antisocial adolescents demonstrated lower levels of dyadic mutuality compared with adolescent-onset and normative adolescents. Persistently antisocial and adolescent-onset adolescents spent more time in deviant talk than did normative adolescents. Across groups, girls were rated as more mutual and coded less in deviant talk than boys. Furthermore, friendship dyads who engaged in high levels of deviant talk and were mutual in their interactions reported the highest rates of antisocial behavior.     

The peer group as a context for the development of young adolescent motivation and achievement

This study investigated the peer group as a context for the socialization of young adolescents' motivation and achievement in school. Social network analysis was used to identify peer groups of adolescents in middle school whose members regularly interacted with each other (N = 331). Actual reports from these peer group members were used to assess peer group characteristics. Multilevel analyses indicated that peer groups did socialize some academic characteristics, controlling for selection factors. Students' peer group context in the fall predicted changes in their liking and enjoyment of school (intrinsic value) and their achievement over the school year. Students' peer group context was unrelated to changes in their beliefs about the importance of school (utility value) or expectancies for success over the school year.     

The cycle of victimization: The relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent peer victimization

Child maltreatment has been demonstrated to have many short- and long-term harmful consequences for victims, but whether or not child abuse is associated with an increased risk of peer victimization during adolescence is unclear. This study analyzed prospective data from 831 children and parents participating in the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) to investigate the relationships between child physical and sexual abuse and adolescent victimization by peers, as well as the potential for gender to moderate these relationships. Results from ordinal logit regression models indicated that children who were physically abused prior to age 12, based on official reports, parent reports, and child reports, had a greater risk of experiencing more intimidation and physical assault by peers at age 16. Having a history of sexual abuse predicted more physical assault but not intimidation. There was no evidence that gender moderated these relationships; in all cases, the relationship between abuse and revictimization was similar for boys and girls. The findings emphasize the need to provide victims of abuse with assistance to help prevent a cycle of victimization.     

母亲社交指导与青少年同伴适应:一项来自皮肤电的证据

帮助青少年管理同伴压力,降低不良适应的风险,是当下学校教育者和父母都在思考的重要问题。有研究发现,父母在青少年面临同伴压力时会倾向于提供帮助和指导建议。但不同类型的社交指导建议(如参与性建议和自立性建议)对青少年同伴适应的影响并不相同。这可以部分地用青少年面临压力挑战和父母参与时存在的个体差异来解释。皮肤电水平反应(Skin Conductance Level Reactivity,简称SCLR)能反映出个体在家庭养育背景下应对不同环境线索时所作出的生理反应(如生理唤醒和抑制反应)。基于“生物一心理一社会”视角,青少年的自主神经系统活动可能与家庭因素相互作用,共同预测青少年的适应能力。     

Using Bayesian analysis to examine associations between spanking and child externalizing behavior across race and ethnic groups

While corporal punishment is widely understood to have undesirable associations with children's behavior problems, there remains controversy as to whether such effects are consistent across different racial or ethnic groups. We employed a Bayesian regression analysis, which allows for the estimation of both similarities and differences across groups, to study whether there are differences in the relationship of corporal punishment and children’s behavior problems using a diverse, urban sample of U.S. families (n = 2653). There is some moderation of the relationship between corporal punishment and child behavior by race or ethnicity. However, corporal punishment is associated with increases in behavior problems for all children. Thus, our findings add evidence from a new analytical lens that corporal punishment is consistently linked to increased externalizing behavior across African American, White, or Hispanic children, even after earlier externalizing behavior is controlled for. Our findings suggest that corporal punishment has detrimental consequences for all children and that all parents, regardless of their racial or ethnic background, should be advised to use alternatives to corporal punishment.     

Children's judgments of disloyal and immoral peer behavior: subjective group dynamics in minimal intergroup contexts

The developmental model of subjective group dynamics hypothesizes that peer exclusion during middle childhood involves inferences about group dynamics. To test the generality of this prediction, children judged, within minimal groups, peers whose behavior was loyal versus disloyal (Study 1: n = 46, mean age = 113 months) or morally acceptable versus unacceptable (Study 2: n = 121, mean age = 90 months). As hypothesized, in Study 1, children used their understanding of loyalty norms as a basis for evaluating peers. In both studies, higher commitment to the in-group increased use of group-based criteria for judging peers. In Study 2, children employed moral- and group-based criteria independently for judging peers. Multiple classification skill was associated with lower intergroup bias and greater use of morality-based judgment.     

A pernicious cycle: Finding the pathways from child maltreatment to adolescent peer victimization

The purpose of this study was to identify the pathways from childhood physical and sexual abuse to adolescent physical and sexual victimization by assessing behavior symptoms (both internalizing and externalizing) and peer popularity as potential mediating variables. The data derive from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), which tracks the consequences of child abuse and neglect using five study sites across the US. Child physical and sexual abuse was measured at age 12 using self-reports of life-time maltreatment experiences. Internalizing and externalizing symptoms were assessed at age 12 using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Peer popularity was assessed at age 14 by teachers. Peer victimization was assessed at age 16 using the modified version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. The results indicated that physical abuse had no direct effect on either physical or sexual peer victimization, whereas sexual abuse had significant direct effect on both physical and sexual victimization. Assessed at age 12, children who had been physically or sexually maltreated were found to have higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. These increased symptoms are associated with lower peer popularity at age 14, which in turn is associated with greater physical and sexual peer victimization at age 16. The findings suggest that multiple points for interventions may exist to disrupt the cycle of victimization. Early assessment and treatment for externalizing symptoms and for low peer popularity may be helpful in preventing physical peer victimization among adolescents who have been physically and/or sexually abused.     

Jocks,Teckers, and Nerds: The role of the adolescent peer group in the formation and maintenance of secondary school institutional culture

The adolescent peer group constitutes a vital component of the institutional culture of the contemporary secondary school. Formed among students and reinforced by administrators and teachers, it takes the form of a structured status hierarchy whose membership and boundaries are clearly understood within the school community. Individual students' perceptions of their positions within that hierarchy have the potential to impact significantly on their attitudes towards the institution they attend as well as the process of formal education. This study focuses on the attitudes and opinions expressed by 268 students attending two composite secondary schools in a mid‐sized Canadian city, and attempts to provide an insight into an aspect of secondary school education that is not often acknowledged by educators.     

Cognitive and parenting pathways in the transmission of antisocial behavior from parents to adolescents

This study examined the role of adolescent perceptions of parental behavior and disrupted parenting in the continuity of antisocial behavior across generations. Participants included 430 adolescents and their biological parents assessed during the period from the 9th to 12th grades (9th grade age in years: M=15.09, SD=0.43). Structural equation modeling provided support for the mediating role of adolescent perceptions and disrupted parenting in the familial transmission of antisocial behavior. Furthermore, the results were consistent across parent and adolescent gender. The findings extend previous research by suggesting a significant role for adolescent perceptions of parents' activities in the development and growth of antisocial behavior. Results also support significant stability in antisocial tendencies over the course of adolescence.