The Relationship of the Family Social Environment,Peer Influences,and Peer Relationships to Altruistic Orientation in Chinese Children

This study investigated the correlation between the family social environment, peer influences, and peer relationships to altruistic orientation in Chinese children. Results in the present study showed that (a) altruistic orientation measured by the Child Altruism Inventory (H. K. Ma & M. C. Leung, 1991) was directly associated with a positive family social environment, (b) altruistic orientation was directly associated with positive peer influences and was inversely associated with negative peer influences, and (c) altruistic orientation was directly associated with perceived prosocial behavior of one's best friend and inversely associated with perceived antisocial behavior of one's best friend. The findings suggested that a good family social environment, positive peer influences, and good peer relationships tended to increase altruistic orientation.     

The Relation of Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior to Personality and Peer Relationships of Hong Kong Chinese Adolescents

The prosocial and antisocial behaviors of 2,862 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents were investigated. The major findings were as follows: (a) boys were more antisocial than girls; (b) negative peer influences were significantly stronger in boys than in girls, whereas positive peer influences were significantly stronger in girls than in boys; (c) antisocial adolescents tended to perceive their best friend as antisocial and exerting more negative influences on them, whereas prosocial adolescents tended to perceive their best friend as prosocial and exerting more positive influences on them; (d) antisocial behavior was positively associated with psychoticism and neuroticism; and (e) academic achievement tended to have a positive relation with prosocial behavior and a negative relation with antisocial behavior.     

Observations of aggressive children during peer provocation and with a best friend

Observational methods were used to examine aggressive children's peer relations in 2 contexts: when being teased by a peer and when interacting with a best friend. Because aggressive children may have more difficulty than nonaggressive children in both peer contexts, the authors also examined whether relations between behaviors across contexts varied as a function of aggression. Results indicated that aggression was related to children's behavior when provoked. Children's behavior when provoked was associated with fewer positive and more negative interactions with their best friend, particularly for aggressive children. Results are discussed with respect to social norms in middle childhood and informing interventions for aggressive children.     

Female adolescent friendship and delinquent behavior

Young female offenders (n = 29) and female high school students (n = 47) were compared in terms of delinquent behavior and relationships with their best female friend and peer group. Young offenders exhibited significantly more delinquent behavior than did high school students in the past year. Delinquents and nondelinquents did not significantly differ in amount of companionship, conflict, help, security, and closeness with their best female friend, and amount of trust, alienation, and perceived intimacy in their peer group. Less communication and more perceived peer pressure in the peer group distinguished delinquent females from nondelinquent females. Perceived peer pressure significantly predicted delinquent behavior in female adolescents. In short, friendships of delinquent and nondelinquent female adolescents are essentially similar despite higher levels of peer pressure among delinquents.     

Beyond relationship reciprocity: A consideration of varied forms of children's relationships

The present research extends the use of a new scheme for classifying children's peer relationships that (a) jointly evaluates friendship and antipathy nominations and (b) includes nonreciprocated friend and antipathy nominations. Findings revealed that 12.1% of all classroom dyads (total dyads = 2,313) were unbalanced relationships, in which one child perceived a friendship but was disliked by the other child. Furthermore, having high frequencies of “befriending but disliked” relationships was associated with poor social competence and having high frequencies of “disliking but befriended” relationships was associated with good social competence. Results support the use of this new classification scheme by highlighting the common nature of unbalanced relationships and by establishing the association of unbalanced relationships to peer social competence outcomes.     

Parental, peer, and teacher influences on the social behavior of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents

Intensive interviews and self-report questionnaires were used to investigate parental, peer, and teacher influences on the prosocial and antisocial behaviors of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. Students came from 5 academically different high schools. Results indicated that perceived parental influence was positively associated with frequency of prosocial behavior and negatively associated with frequency of delinquent behavior. Students with good relationships with their parents and peers showed lower frequencies of antisocial behaviors than did students with bad relationships. Adolescents in different identity statuses (achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, diffusion; E. H. Erikson, 1968) showed different patterns of prosocial and antisocial behaviors. For example, adolescents in the identity achievement group exhibited high frequencies of prosocial behaviors and low frequencies of antisocial behaviors, but those in the identity moratorium group exhibited quite high frequencies of both prosocial and antisocial behaviors.     

Leisure, coping and health: the role of social, family, school and peer relationship factors

The relationship between social, family, peer and school factors and leisure engagement within a transactional model of stress and health was investigated in 655 young adults. Results show that the family environment, encouragement from parents and teachers, relationships with peers and socioeconomic factors in childhood predict adult attitudes to and engagement in leisure. In turn, leisure attitude and engagement are related to psychological distress, optimism, perceived control and social support. It is argued that the development of patterns of leisure attitudes and engagement in childhood need to be understood in predicting and changing adult leisure behaviours relevant to health and illness.     

Cross-sectional and longitudinal relations among peer-reported trustworthiness, social relationships, and psychological adjustment in children and early adolescents from the United Kingdom and Canada

Trustworthiness was examined in children and early adolescents from two countries. In Study 1,505 children in the fifth and sixth school years in the United Kingdom (mean age = 9 years 7 months) were tested across an 8-month period. In Study 2,350 sixth- through eighth-grade Canadian children and early adolescents (mean age = 12 years 11 months) were tested across a 1-year period. Participants completed measures assessing trustworthiness (ratings of promise and secret keeping by peer group and also by best friend in Study 1), assertiveness (Study 1), prosocial behavior (Study 2), social relationships (friendships and peer preference), and psychological adjustment (self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and loneliness). Peer-reported trustworthiness was positively associated with, and predicted changes across time in, the number of friendships. The observed relations were found to be statistically independent of peer preference and peer-reported assertiveness or prosocial behavior. Trustworthiness was found to be positively associated with peer preference (Study 1 and Study 2) and psychological adjustment (Study 1).     

Group identity and peer relations: A longitudinal study of group identity,perceived peer acceptance,and friendships amongst ethnic minority English children

This research examined whether peer relationships amongst ethnic minority status children reflect the social groups to which children belong and the degree to which they identify with these groups. A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the influence of group identities (i.e., ethnic and national) on children's perceived peer acceptance and preference for same‐ethnic friendships. Measures of ethnic and English identification, perceived peer acceptance, and friendship choice were administered to 207 south‐Asian English children, aged between 5 and 11, at two time points 6 months apart. In line with predictions, longitudinal analysis showed that bicultural identification (i.e., higher ethnic and English identity) was related to higher perceived peer acceptance and less preference for same‐ethnic friendships. Importantly, as hypothesized, this finding was limited to the older children with more advanced social‐cognitive abilities. The results suggest that older children who adopted a bicultural identity were able to strategically ‘flag’ their multiple group identities, within their multicultural peer groups, to obtain acceptance amongst the maximum number of peers and show less preference for same‐ethnic friendships. This study extends previous peer relations research, which has typically focused on individual social deficits or classroom norms, by showing that group identities influence peer relationships amongst ethnic minority status children.     

朋友支持与大学生幸福感：自我效能感的中介与社会比较倾向的调节

为探讨朋友支持与幸福感的关系,并重点关注自我效能感和社会比较倾向在其中所起的作用,该研究采用总体幸福感量表、一般自我效能感量表、社会比较观念量表和朋友支持评价量表对776位大学生进行施测。结果表明：（1）朋友支持正向预测大学生幸福感;自我效能感在两者间起中介作用;（2）社会比较倾向调节了社会支持→自我效能感→幸福感的后半段,即相对于高社会比较倾向的大学生而言,自我效能感对低社会比较倾向大学生的幸福感促进作用更强。该结果揭示了朋友支持影响大学生幸福感的内在机制：朋友支持和大学生幸福感之间是有调节的中介关系,朋友支持通过自我效能感影响幸福感,社会支持对间接效应起调节作用。     

Family,friend, and neighbour child care providers and maternal well‐being in low‐income systems: An ecological social perspective

Integrating theory from the family ecological systems and social support literatures with findings from child care research, in this study we develop and test a model relating family, friend, and neighbour (FFN) child care provider characteristics to perceived child care quality (provider reports of caregiving behaviours, mother‐provider caregiving relationship) and maternal well‐being (work‐family conflict, depressive symptoms). Results from phone interviews with 187 FFN providers receiving public subsidies indicated that even after controlling for familial status or household income, caregiver perceptions of higher quality care were associated with higher education levels, greater attachment to child care as a job; and lower provider depressive symptoms. After controlling for familial status, data analysed from a subset of 51 mother‐provider pairs, indicated that mothers using care from providers who reported higher quality parent‐caregiver social relationships reported lower work‐family conflict and depressive symptoms. This study suggests mothers who have providers with whom they have good caregiving interactions may experience positive social support and psychological crossover dynamics associated with mother well‐being.     

Adolescents' romantic relationships and the structure and quality of their close interpersonal ties

Several interpersonal theories suggest that adolescents' romantic relationships are associated with distinct patterns of social experience. In this study, 1,049 adolescents indicated whether they had a boy/girlfriend and the temporal duration of the relationship. They described the structure of their peer networks and the quality of their relationships with a parent/adult and best friend. Adolescents with a boy/girlfriend reported larger networks, more opposite-sex friends, and more nonschool friends. Adolescents with longer romantic relationships reported more social support with the boy/girlfriend than did adolescents with short-term romantic relationships. Temporal duration also moderated the salience of the romantic relationship. Those of short duration were viewed less favorably than friend and parent/adult relationships, whereas those of longer duration were viewed more favorably. Finally, continuity in perceived quality was evident between romantic and other relationships. Overall, the results support the view that romantic relationships are embedded within adolescents' ongoing social experience and show important links to the structure and quality of their relationships with parents and with peers.     

大学生特质移情与网络利他行为:网络社会支持的中介效应

为了探讨大学生特质移情与网络利他行为之间的关系,以及网络社会支持在其中所起的中介效应,本研究采用特质移情量表、青少年网络社会支持量表和大学生网络利他行为量表对560名大学生进行调查,结果表明:(1)大学生的整体特质移情能力较高,且女生显著高于男生;其所获得的网络社会支持总体状况良好,且不存在显著的性别差异;网络利他行为处于中等水平,也不存在显著的性别差异。(2)大学生特质移情和网络社会支持均显著正向预测网络利他行为。(3)大学生网络社会支持在特质移情与网络利他行为的关系之间起完全中介作用,其中,网络社会支持的两个分维度情感支持和友伴支持在特质移情与网络利他行为之间的中介效应更为显著。     

Promoting early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships: the effects of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures

Emphasizing the developmental need for positive peer relationships, in this study the authors tested a social-contextual view of the mechanisms and processes by which early adolescents' achievement and peer relationships may be promoted simultaneously. Meta-analysis was used to review 148 independent studies comparing the relative effectiveness of cooperative, competitive, and individualistic goal structures in promoting early adolescents' achievement and positive peer relationships. These studies represented over 8 decades of research on over 17,000 early adolescents from 11 countries and 4 multinational samples. As predicted by social interdependence theory, results indicate that higher achievement and more positive peer relationships were associated with cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic goal structures. Also as predicted, results show that cooperative goal structures were associated with a positive relation between achievement and positive peer relationships. Implications for theory and application are discussed.     

Evaluations of relational aggression as a function of relationship type and conflict setting

The present study examined influences on girls' evaluations of relational aggression situations. Second‐, third‐, fifth‐, and sixth‐grade girls evaluated four relational aggression conflict scenarios in terms of attributions of aggressor's intentions, evaluator's behavioral response, evaluator's affective state, and how likely the situation was to actually occur. Girls evaluated intentions of a best friend more positively, reported being more mad at an enemy, and perceived conflict to be more likely to occur with an enemy than a best friend. Aggressor intentions in direct conflict scenarios (aggressor said something mean to evaluator) were perceived as more negative than aggressor intentions in indirect conflict scenarios (aggressor said something mean about evaluator to another peer). Younger girls reported intentions of their enemy as being more positive than did older girls. Further, older girls reported intentions of their best friend as being more positive than intentions of their enemy. Older girls also were more accurate in conceptualizing variations in the conflict setting (direct, indirect) and responding in a context‐consistent manner. Findings are discussed in terms of the social‐relational and social‐situational processes that influence children's evaluations of relational aggression and how the current study extends previous research on relational aggression. Aggr. Behav. 26:179–191, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Role of Perceived Burden and Social Support in Suicide and Depression

In a sample of 114 military veterans with depression histories, perceived burden was related to depression symptoms and suicide attempt history. After accounting for perceived burden, sense of belonging was negatively related to depression. Among the areas of social support, family support was inversely related to both depression and suicide history. After accounting for family support, personal meaning from relationships and friend support were related to depression. The results of this study suggest that perceived burdensomeness may be a stronger determinant of suicidality than sense of belonging or social support. This study highlights the contribution of perceived burdensomeness to suicide and depression.     

Assessing peer network and dyadic loneliness

Describes the Peer Network and Dyadic Loneliness Scale (PNDLS), a new scale designed to assess simultaneously children's loneliness at multiple levels of peer relationships. Specifically, this scale measures loneliness associated with (a) lack of involvement in a social network and (b) the absence of a close dyadic friendship. Employing a sample of 209 5th-, 6th-, and 7th-grade boys and girls, the psychometric properties, interscale correlations, and preliminary validity data for the new scale are examined. Analyses revealed good internal consistency and a pattern of relationships with other loneliness, friendship quality, mutual best friendship, and sociometric social preference variables supporting the validity of the new scale.     

An ecological analysis of the effects of deviant peer clustering on sexual promiscuity, problem behavior, and childbearing from early adolescence to adulthood: an enhancement of the life history framework

The authors propose that peer relationships should be included in a life history perspective on adolescent problem behavior. Longitudinal analyses were used to examine deviant peer clustering as the mediating link between attenuated family ties, peer marginalization, and social disadvantage in early adolescence and sexual promiscuity in middle adolescence and childbearing by early adulthood. Specifically, 998 youths, along with their families, were assessed at age 11 years and periodically through age 24 years. Structural equation modeling revealed that the peer-enhanced life history model provided a good fit to the longitudinal data, with deviant peer clustering strongly predicting adolescent sexual promiscuity and other correlated problem behaviors. Sexual promiscuity, as expected, also strongly predicted the number of children by ages 22-24 years. Consistent with a life history perspective, family social disadvantage directly predicted deviant peer clustering and number of children in early adulthood, controlling for all other variables in the model. These data suggest that deviant peer clustering is a core dimension of a fast life history strategy, with strong links to sexual activity and childbearing. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the need to integrate an evolutionary-based model of self-organized peer groups in developmental and intervention science.     

Friendship as a moderator of the relationship between social skills problems and peer victimisation

Previous research, primarily in North America, has found that individual factors (e.g., ‘internalising problems’) and social factors (e.g., friendship) interact to influence children's levels of peer victimisation. Some research has found that the identity of children's friends and friendship quality (as ‘protective factors’) are more important than the sheer number of friends. However, studies have produced conflicting findings. A peer nomination inventory was used to assess social skills problems, peer victimisation, peer acceptance, and several different aspects of friendship. Four hundred and forty‐nine children aged 9 to 11 years completed the inventory at two time points over the course of an academic year. Social skills problems were found to predict an increase in peer victimisation over time. Two friendship variables were found to moderate this relationship: a) number of friends, and b) the peer acceptance of the very best‐friend. The relationship was found to be weaker for those children with lots of friends and for those children with a ‘popular’ best‐friend. The findings advance understanding of the factors that promote peer victimisation. Aggr. Behav. 32:110–121, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Personal values as a mediator between parent and peer expectations and adolescent behaviors.

The current study examined the mediating role of adolescents' personal values on the relation between maternal and peer expectations for prosocial behaviors and adolescents' self-reported prosocial and antisocial behaviors. One hundred thirty-four adolescents (mean age = 16.22 years, 54% girls) completed measures of their own values and behaviors, as well as their perceptions of the positive expectations that their mother and their best friend(s) had for their (the adolescents') prosocial behaviors. Stepwise regression analyses suggested that adolescents' personal prosocial values mediated the relation between adolescents' perceptions of both maternal and peer expectations and adolescents' prosocial behaviors. In addition, for boys, perceptions of positive peer expectations were directly and negatively related to antisocial behaviors. The current study has important implications for parents, educators, and practitioners who are concerned about promoting adolescents' positive behaviors and discouraging negative behaviors.