Psychosocial characteristics of foster children

Psychosocial development of foster children was compared to that of home-reared children in two studies. The first explored differences between 29 foster children and children home-reared in both poverty (93) and nonpoverty (47) on a 12-item projective test (the Tasks of Emotional Development test) using discriminant function analysis. A function unique among faster children was found and interpreted as reliance upon and exploitation of externally determined events. The second study investigated whether subjective peer social deficits identified with the projective test are paraleled by objective peer social deficits relative to home-reared classmates. On the basis of peer sociometric data generated by classmates, 17 foster children were found to be more often disliked and rejected than home-reared peers. Externality and peer social deprivation as here-to-fore unrecognized risks for foster children were discussed.     

Effectiveness of social skills training with children: A meta-analytic study

This meta-analytic study examined the relative effectiveness of three methods of social skills training with socially isolated children: coaching, interpersonal cognitive problem solving, and modelling. An exhaustive search of the published literature in the area produced a total of 43 studies that met stringent criteria for inclusion in the subsequent analysis. Social skills training produced significant improvements in children's levels of social interaction, sociometric status and cognitive problem solving abilities. No training technique produced a significantly greater improvement than either of the others. Isolated children showed larger increases in their levels of social interaction and sociometric status than non-isolate children. Multi-modal training programmes were recommended to capitalize on the independent therapeutic effects which derive from a number of different social skills training techniques.     

Learned helplessness in social situations and sociometric status

Learned helplessness theory may provide a framework within which the correlates of sociometric status in children can be fruitfully investigated. Several parallels between learned helplessness and the characteristics of sociometric status groups are noted. It is argued that children who are rejected, and especially neglected, by peers are likely to manifest learned helplessness in social situations. In addition, reanalysis of Goetz and Dweck's (1980) study on learned helplessness in social situations provides data to support this viewpoint as: (a) rejected and neglected children resembled learned helpless children in regard to both attributions and behaviour following social rejection; (b) neglected children showed greater behavioural deterioration following rejection than rejected children. The implications of the proposed integration of research on learned helplessness and sociometric status are outlined, especially in relation to clinical disorders in children.     

Relations between different types of children's aggressive behavior and sociometric status among peers of the same and opposite gender

Croatian elementary school children in grades 4 to 6 (N= 151) reported on direct and indirect aggressive behaviors of their classmates. Acceptance and rejection by classmates were also assessed, employing the sociometric nomination technique. Correlational analyses revealed that both forms of aggression were related to peer rejection, but unrelated to peer acceptance. Girls' aggression was more strongly related to peer rejection than boys' aggression, independent of the type of aggression. Aggressive children of both genders tended to be more rejected by their same-gender classmates than by classmates of the opposite gender. Results were discussed in terms of children's attitudes towards aggression, and gender stereotyped perception of appropriateness of aggressive behavior. A need to examine developmental changes and cultural differences in relationships between aggression and peer status was emphasized.     

Sociometric Stability and the Behavioral Correlates of Peer Acceptance in Early Childhood

The author presents findings from an Australian study examining the behavioral correlates and stability of social status among preschool-aged children. Using sociometric assessment, the author determined the social status of an initial sample of 187 preschool-aged children (94 boys, 93 girls; M age = 62.4 months, SD age = 4.22 months). The author observed children (N = 70) who were classified as rejected, neglected, or popular. For a total of 25 min during a 3-month period, the author observed children engaging in free play in their preschool centers. Results indicate that children classified as popular were more likely to engage in cooperative play, engage in ongoing connected conversation, and display positive affect, compared with those classified as rejected or neglected. Popular children were less likely than rejected children or neglected children to engage in parallel play, onlooker behavior, or alone-directed behavior. To test for stability and change, the author repeated sociometric interviews 6 months after initial sociometric classification. Results indicate that preschool-aged children's social status classifications showed a moderate to high rate of stability for those children classified as popular, rejected, or neglected.     

Assessment of peer rejection and externalizing behavior problems in preschool boys: a short-term longitudinal study

We examined the longitudinal stability of measures of negative peer status and aggressive-disruptive behavior in preschool boys. Subjects were 53 white 4- to 5- year- old boys from low-income family backgrounds. Peer sociometric measures of rejection and behavioral deviance were assessed in the fall and spring of the preschool year. Complementary measures were also obtained from teachers at both assessment points. Half of the boys designated as rejected on the basis of peer nominations maintained this status at the end of the preschool year. Teachers and peers did not agree on their selections of socially rejected children, but had good agreement concerning the identification of children with externalizing-type behavior problems. Finally, teacher and peer classifications of aggressive-disruptive children were highly stable throughout the preschool year. These findings indicate that peer-rejected children can be identified at very young ages, and that preschoolers can be reliable informants about the social maladjustment of peers.We thank the Head Start children, parents and staff who participated, and Karen Lifgren for her help with data collection.     

Popular and Rejected Children's Social Reasoning: Linking Social Status and Social Knowledge

The relationship between children's social status/sex and their moral judgments was examined. Sixty-four second- and third-grade children (33 boys, 31 girls) who were identified as popular or rejected by peer sociometric measures were shown pictures of children engaged in moral and second-order transgressions. The children were asked to rate each event on (a) the degree of seriousness for other and self, (b) the amount of punishment for other and self, and (c) rule alterability. The children were also asked for justification of the transgressions (why they thought the transgressions were wrong). The popular and rejected children differentiated between moral and second-order transgressions based upon criterion ratings and justifications. Differences emerged between the popular and the rejected children's ratings and justifications for moral transgressions, suggesting that children's moral judgments are related to social experiences associated with peer acceptance and rejection.     

Popular and rejected children's social reasoning: linking social status and social knowledge.

The relationship between children's social status/sex and their moral judgements was examined. Sixty-four second- and third-grade children (33 boys, 31 girls) who were identified as popular or rejected by peer sociometric measures were shown pictures of children engaged in moral and second-order transgressions. The children were asked to rate each event on (a) the degree of seriousness for other and self, (b) the amount of punishment for other and self, and (c) rule alterability. The children were also asked for justification of the transgressions (why they thought the transgressions were wrong). The popular and rejected children differentiated between moral and second-order transgressions based upon criterion ratings and justifications. Differences emerged between the popular and the rejected children's ratings and justifications for moral transgressions, suggesting that children's moral judgements are related to social experiences associated with peer acceptance and rejection.     

Early rejected status and later social adjustment: A 3-year follow-up

Sociometric measures and rates of social interaction were obtained from 186 kindergarten children. Subjects were classified into popular, rejected, and average status groups on the basis of sociometric data. Teachers' ratings on the Bristol Social Adjustment Guides were obtained when the children were in grade 2 and again in grade 3. Analyses of variance showed rejected children to be significantly more acting-out than popular or average children by grade 3. Rejected children were rated as less physically attractive, doing less well in reading and in arithmetic. Negative peer nomination in kindergarten was more predictive of later acting-out in grades 2 and 3 than rate of interaction.Research was funded by Alberta Mental Health Advisory Council, and Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies. I wish to thank Steven Asher for his helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Social information processing and sociometric status: Sex,age, and situational effects

Theoretically based measures of social information-processing patterns in specific situations were developed and administered to popular, average, socially rejected, and socially neglected girls and boys in the first, third, and fifth grades (total n=95). Measures included interpretations of peers' intentions, quantity and quality of responses generated to problematic stimuli, evaluations of responses, and enactments of particular responses. Three kinds of situations were generated empirically as stimuli: being teased, being provoked ambiguously, and initiating entry into a peer group. Deviant children (rejected and neglected) were found to respond deficiently compared to average and popular children, but only in the situation in which they were teased. Older children performed more competently than younger children in all three situations. Interactions among gender, sociometric status, and age also were found. Findings were interpreted as evidence of the elusiveness and complexity of social information-processing defects among low sociometric status children.The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the staff of the Monroe County Community School Corporation in the conduct of this research. This research was supported by an Indiana University doctoral dissertation grant and an Indiana University Women's Studies Grant awarded to the first author, and by NIMH Grant 37062 awarded to the second author. The authors wish to thank Steven R. Asher and Kenneth H. Rubin for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

Creative potential and the sociometric status of children

The social adaptation problems of highly creative children were first discussed by Torrance (1961a, 1961b), but there is still no clear consensus as to whether or not creative children suffer from social rejection. The social status of these children in classroom groups deserves attention because of the educational and developmental importance of sociometric position. The present study utilized a multivariate approach to sociometric status (exploratory principal‐components analysis). The principal components were subjected to cluster analysis, which produced a clear sociometric taxonomy, comprising “neglected,”; “popular,”; “academic,”; and “rejected”; groups. Most of the highly creative children were in the neglected group. Further exploration using path analysis demonstrated that the child's self‐perceived social distance from other group members represents an intervening variable which is related to creative potential and is negatively associated with popularity in classroom groups.     

Aggression and social status: the moderating roles of sex and peer‐valued characteristics

Research on peer rejection has long emphasized links between aggressive behavior and peer liking, with aggressive children and adolescents being more rejected by peers. However, recent research shows that at least some aggressive students enjoy considerable power and influence and are perceived as “popular” within the peer group. To understand the processes underlying links between aggression and social status, the present research considered three distinct indices of social status (social preference, perceived popularity, and power) and investigated the degree to which the possession of peer‐valued characteristics moderated the links between status and aggression and whether these links varied by sex. A sample of 585 adolescents (grades 6–10) completed peer evaluation measures assessing social status, aggression (overt/physical, indirect/relational), and the degree to which peers possessed eight different peer‐valued characteristics (e.g., attractiveness, athleticism, etc.). Although sociometric indices of status were significantly related to perceived popularity, especially for boys, perceptions of power were more strongly linked to perceived popularity than to sociometric likeability. Moreover, the three indices of social status were differentially related to peers' assessments of aggression and to peer‐valued characteristics, with notable sex differences. As predicted, regression analyses demonstrated that the observed relationships between social status and aggression were moderated by the possession of peer‐valued characteristics; aggressive students who possessed peer‐valued characteristics enjoyed higher levels of perceived popularity and power and less disliking than those who did not. This relationship varied as a function of sex, the type of aggression considered, and the status construct predicted. Aggr. Behav. 32:396–408, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Children's verbalizations and cheating behavior during game playing: the role of sociometric status,aggression, and gender

The first goal of this study was to investigate sociometric status, aggression, and gender differences in children's verbalizations and cheating behavior during game playing using a fine-grained observational coding system. The second goal was to control for the effects of differential peer treatment and bias on children's behavior by observing children in a standardized procedure with unfamiliar peer confederates. Participants were 111 second-grade African American children, half average and half rejected sociometric status, half aggressive and half nonaggressive based on peer nominations, and half boys and half girls. Rejected children engaged in more cheating behavior and made more negative and argumentative verbalizations than average status children. Boys made more negative and argumentative verbalizations than girls. Aggressive children did not differ from nonaggressive children, in terms of either verbalizations or cheating behavior.     

Preschool peer perceptions of the behavior of hyperactive and aggressive children

To assess if preschool children can successfully identify externalizing symptomatic behaviors in their male classmates, and if these perceptions are associated with peer-rated popularity and rejection, 154 preschool boys and girls were interviewed using a peer nomination procedure. Behavioral data on the same preschool boys (N=86) were also provided by their respective teachers. Preschool children were capable of providing stable nominations of popularity, rejection, and aggression, boys and girls significantly agreed in their nominations, and these nominations were not a function of the age of the rated child, although they differed somewhat as a function of the age of the rater. Teachers and peers reflected significant convergence in ratings of hyperactivity and aggression and teacher ratings of peer problems significantly agreed with actual peer nominations of popularity and rejection. Boys nominated as aggressive were more rejected by their classmates, whereas boys nominated as hyperactive were either more popular and /or more rejected. Limited evidence for differential patterns of relationships among hyperactivity, aggression, and peer status was obtained for both the peer and teacher data.Portions of this paper were presented as part of a symposium, W. Pelham (Chair),Peer relations in hyperactive children: Diagnostic, symptomatic, and treatment consideration, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, August 1981. This research was supported, in part, by NIMH grant #32992 to the first author.     

Growing Together—Effects of a school-based intervention promoting positive self-beliefs and social integration in recently immigrated children

We present a school-based intervention geared to foster the social integration of recently immigrated (RI) primary school children by creating repeated positive contact situations with classmates brought up in the receiving society. Coaches encouraged groups of tandems, consisting of one RI and one child brought up in Germany each, to engage in cooperative activities designed to strengthen positive self-beliefs and perception of equal status. In a quasi-experimental control-group design (N = 318), we compared the 30 children (12 RI) who participated in our intervention between pre-test and post-test with a reference group. Self-beliefs were measured via self-reports, social integration via sociometric peer-nominations. The reference group (n = 288 children) included all children who did not participate in the intervention between pre-test and post-test: (a) 12 children (7 RI) of a waiting control group and (b) all classmates of both the students of the intervention and the waiting control group. Post-test self-beliefs were more positive in children having participated in the intervention. The intervention did not affect social integration: Neither the number of classmates nominating a student nor the number of peers the respective student nominated increased. Possibly, the intervention initiated self-reinforcing processes which support social integration over longer time periods.     

Teaching social skills to isolated children

The effects of a social skill training program on socially isolated children are reported. The training program was derived from the results of a previous study of the specific social skills that discriminated popular from unpopular children. Training effects in the present investigation were assessed on sociometric position, and on the quality, frequency, and distribution of social interaction to peers. Time-series analyses were performed on the frequency and distribution of peer interaction. Two isolated children received social skill training with an adult coach, and two isolated children spent an equivalent amount of time with an adult. Results indicated that socially isolated children in the treatment group changed significantly in sociometric position on a follow-up assessment 9 weeks after the end of the intervention, did not change in the total frequency of peer social interaction, but did redistribute their interaction to peers. The two isolated children who did not receive the treatment program did not change significantly on the total frequency of peer interaction, and tended to withdraw from peers rather than redistribute their interaction. The insensitivity of total peer interaction frequency as a measure of outcome was discussed.     

Children’s ADHD Symptoms and Friendship Patterns across a School Year

Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in elementary school-age children are associated with poor relationships with classroom peers, as indicated by poor social preference, low peer support, and peer victimization. Less is known about how friendship patterns relate to ADHD symptoms, or how friendships may buffer risk for negative peer experiences. Participants were 558 children in 34 classrooms (grades K-5). At the beginning (fall) and end (spring) of an academic year, children completed (a) sociometric interviews to index friendship patterns and social preference, and (b) self-report questionnaires about their support and victimization experiences from classmates. In fall, higher teacher-reported ADHD symptoms were associated with children having more classmates with no friendship ties (non-friends) and who the child nominated but did not receive a nomination in return (unreciprocated friends), and with having fewer classmates with mutual friendship ties (reciprocated friends) and who nominated the child but the child did not nominate in return (unchosen friends). Higher fall ADHD symptoms predicted more non-friend classmates, poorer social preference, and more victimization in the spring, after accounting for the same variables in fall. However, having many reciprocated friends (and to a lesser extent, many unchosen friends) in fall buffered against the trajectory between fall ADHD symptoms and poor peer functioning in spring. By contrast, having many unreciprocated friends in fall exacerbated the trajectory between fall ADHD symptoms and poor peer functioning in spring. Thus, elevated ADHD symptoms are associated with poorer friendship patterns, but reciprocated friendship may protect against negative classroom peer experiences over time.

     

The Revised Behavior Problem Checklist and severely emotionally disturbed adolescents: Relationship to intelligence,academic achievement,and sociometric ratings

This study explored the relationship among the subscales of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist and intelligence, academic achievement, and sociometric ratings for a sample of 62 severely emotionally disturbed adolescents enrolled in a special school. A relationship of the Attention Problems-Immaturity subscale with intelligence scores and mathematics achievement was found. Four of six subscales were found to be related to peer sociometric ratings of social acceptance, while only one subscale was related to sociometric ratings of peer acceptance of his/her classmates. These findings are discussed within the context of previous research.An earlier version of this study was presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Boston, March 1989. The author would like to acknowledge the special support and assistance of the faculty, administration, and students of the Alternative School in Brooklyn, New York.     

Perceptions of Self and Relationship with Parents in Aggressive and Nonaggressive Rejected Children

This study examined the perceptions of self and the attachment relationship to parents in aggressive and nonaggressive rejected children, as compared to children with an average or popular sociometric status. Participants were 216 children from grades 3 and 4. They completed peer nomination measures, the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC), and the Security Scale (mother and father form). Results generally confirmed the assumption that only the nonaggressive rejected children perceive themselves as less competent and worthy as a person than the more popular children. Aggressive rejected children did not report lower feelings of global self-worth or competence, although they did report lower levels of social acceptance. Furthermore, rejected-nonaggressive children perceived the relationship with their father (but not with their mother) as less secure than did the more popular children. Logistic regression analyses suggested that the linkage between felt security with father and rejected-nonaggressive status was mediated by children's self-worth. Implications for attachment theory and for the hypothesized heterogeneity among rejected children are discussed.