Peer assessments of normative and individual teacher–student support predict social acceptance and engagement among low-achieving children

This study used hierarchical linear modeling to predict first grade students' peer acceptance, classroom engagement, and sense of school belonging from measures of normative classroom teacher–student support and individual teacher–student support. Participants were 509 (54.4% male) ethnically diverse, first grade children attending one of three Texas School districts (1 urban, 2 small city) who scored below their school district median on a measure of literacy administered at the beginning of first grade. Peer nominations from 5147 classmates were used to assess both normative and individual levels of teacher support. Normative classroom teacher–student support predicted children's peer acceptance and classroom engagement, above the effects of child gender, ethnic minority status, and individual teacher–student support. Results are discussed in terms of implications for teacher preparation and professional development.     

The relationship between children's self-reported recess problems, and peer acceptance and friendships

This study used three samples to investigate the nature of children's self-reported recess problems and the degree to which these were correlated with children's peer acceptance and mutual friendships. Results suggest that seven student complaints about recess can be grouped into problems with peer conflict and problems with social inclusion. Modest relations were reported between inclusion recess problems and children's mutual friendships and peer acceptance. Relations of conflict recess problems with mutual friendships and peer acceptance were less frequent. Results suggest that self-reported recess problems are a distinct construct from traditional research measures of peer acceptance and friendships.     

班级环境变量对儿童社会行为与学校适应间关系的影响

运用同伴提名和问卷法,对82个城市初中班级的4650名学生进行了测试,并使用多水平分析技术探讨了班级环境变量对儿童社会行为和学校适应间关系的影响。结果显示：儿童的亲社会行为可以显著地正向预测其同伴接受和学业成就,儿童的攻击、退缩行为对学业成就和同伴接受有明显的负向预测效果;在班级环境变量方面,老师支持可以减弱退缩行为和学校适应间的负向联系;老师训诫不仅可以减弱攻击行为与同伴接受间的负向关联,并且对退缩行为与学业成就之间的负向联系也具有削弱效果;同学关系这一变量的班级效果最为明显,可以明显地增强儿童问题行为与学校适应间的负向联系;而班级秩序纪律对攻击行为和学校适应间的负向关联有明显的强化效果。     

Peer rejection, negative peer treatment, and school adjustment: Self-concept and classroom engagement as mediating processes

Data gathered from a short term longitudinal study within fifth grade classrooms (n = 378) were used to evaluate two process-oriented models linking peer rejection and negative peer treatment to children's self-concept, school engagement and adjustment. Both structural models linked peer rejection, victimization, and exclusion to children's self-concept, classroom engagement, and change in achievement (fall of fifth grade to the spring). The model evaluations indicated that peer rejection predicted both exclusion and victimization and that these forms of peer treatment, in turn, predicted academic self-competence. Academic self-competence, however, only partially mediated linkages to achievement change. Parallel (i.e. direct) linkages from exclusion and victimization to both academic self-competence and engagement were required for adequate model fit, as were direct links from academic self-concept and engagement to achievement change. An alternative model representing the hypothesis that academic self-concept fully mediated the relationships between the forms of negative peer treatment and children's engagement and achievement did not fit the data well.     

The promise and potential of studying the “invisible hand” of teacher influence on peer relations and student outcomes: A commentary

Peers influence children's social-emotional development and school engagement in important and unique ways. Recent research on peer social networks documents that children are affected by the nature of the school-based peer ecology, as well as by their personal peer experiences. Yet, little is known about how teachers affect the peer ecology, nor how teachers can promote positive peer influences in the school context. The four studies in this special section examine this issue. Together, they document the promise and the potential of studying the “invisible hand” of teacher influence on peer relations, and illustrate the need for further research in this area. This commentary considers the contributions of these papers for conceptualizing processes of transactional teacher and peer influence on student outcomes, and implications for interventions designed to reduce problem behaviors or increase school engagement. In addition, it considers the limitations of current knowledge and directions for future research.     

The impact of peer relations on academic progress in junior high

The purpose of this study is to examine whether peer relations within classrooms were related to students' academic progress, and if so, whether this can be explained by students' relatedness and engagement, in line with Connell and Wellborn's self-system model. We analyzed data of 18,735 students in 796 school classes in Dutch junior high schools, using multilevel analysis. Academic progress, conceptualized as regular promotion to the next year versus grade retention, moving upward, and moving downward in the track system, was measured at the time of transition between Grades 1 and 2 (equivalent to US Grades 7 and 8). The results indicated that students who were accepted by their peers had lower probabilities to retain a grade or to move downward in the track system. Although peer acceptance was associated with relatedness and engagement, these variables did not explain why peer acceptance was associated to academic progress. Furthermore, peer acceptance and relatedness were more strongly related in classes with more negative class climates.     

幼儿同伴关系发展的稳定性

研究采用同伴提名法,从2004年到2008年对三个自然班幼儿(71名)群体水平的同伴关系分别在三个时间点开始从小班到大班的追踪,考察学前期幼儿同伴关系连续变量的稳定性,结果发现:(1)幼儿同伴接纳、同伴拒绝、社会偏好和社会影响的稳定性受年龄和时间间隔的影响,在中班与大班之间均存在中等相关,而社会偏好和同伴接纳在小班与中班也存在中等相关,社会偏好在小班与大班也存在中等相关;(2)幼儿社会偏好发展模式经聚类分析为4组:一般偏好稳定组、高偏好稳定组、一般到高偏好变化组和低偏好变化组,64.79%的幼儿社会偏好发展保持稳定;(3)幼儿从小班起,女孩比男孩一直更少受到同伴拒绝,更多受到同伴偏爱。总体而言,学前期幼儿同伴关系发展具有中等稳定性,中班是稳定性发展的重要时期。     

影响小学生同伴接纳因素的研究

用测量表对453名小学生的社会行为、教师接纳、学业成绩、社交策略与儿童同伴接纳之间的关系进行研究.结果表明,社会行为、教师接纳、学业成绩、社交策略与同伴接纳之间存在显著相关;各变量的不同水平之间(除不适宜社交策略这一变量外)儿童同伴接纳程度存在显著差异;学业成绩、教师接纳、攻击性及提出适宜的社交策略数,对于儿童同伴接纳有较大的预测作用,但在不同性别、不同年级水平上又存在明显不同.     

Childhood peer relationships: social acceptance, friendships, and peer networks

This review addresses several areas of contemporary research in children's peer relationships during the elementary and middle school years, with primary foci on children's peer acceptance, the ability to make and maintain friendships, and their participation in larger peer networks. Particular attention is given to research examining the major developments and individual differences in each of these components of children's peer relations, how these different aspects of peer functioning relate to one another, and how they contribute to development more generally, including school adjustment and achievement. Finally, it is argued that children's psychosocial development may be best informed by an integration of these somewhat independent research traditions.     

儿童同伴信任和同伴接纳的关系:社会行为的中介效应及其性别差异

在金华市和杭州市两所市区普通小学, 选取366名3~6年级儿童为被试, 采用同伴互评、同伴提名法和班级戏剧问卷, 考察了社会行为在小学儿童同伴信任和同伴接纳间的中介效应及其性别差异。结果表明:(1)总体而言, 亲社会行为、退缩行为在儿童同伴信任和同伴接纳间存在显著的中介效应, 而攻击行为的中介效应不显著;(2)社会行为的中介效应存在性别差异。女生的同伴信任对亲社会行为的预测、亲社会行为对同伴接纳的预测作用都显著高于男生, 使得女生亲社会行为的中介效应大于男生。男女生的同伴信任对退缩行为的预测作用没有性别差异, 但是男生的退缩行为对同伴接纳的预测作用显著高于女生, 使得男生退缩行为的中介效应大于女生。     

Relations among peer acceptance,inhibitory control,and math achievement in early adolescence

This study examined relations among peer acceptance, inhibitory control, and math achievement in ninety-nine 4th and 5th grade early adolescents. Teachers rated students on peer acceptance and students completed a computerized executive function task assessing inhibitory control. Math achievement was assessed via end of year math grades. Results indicated that both inhibitory control and peer acceptance were positively and significantly related to math achievement. In addition, peer acceptance significantly mediated the relationship between inhibitory control and math grades when all three variables were entered simultaneously in a linear regression model. These results suggest that peer acceptance is an important indicator of social functioning and plays a significant part in academic success in the classroom. Results also suggest that indicators of social functioning – such as peer acceptance – need to be included in addition to cognitive functioning, when examining academic achievement in early adolescence.     

Modeling social rejection,physiological arousal,and peer influence on risky driving among adolescents and young adults

Peer passengers are a significant risk factor for young drivers to experience adverse driving outcomes. However, few studies have manipulated social evaluation contexts and individual susceptibilities to peer influence, such as physiological arousal, to measure effects on driving. The current study explored whether social evaluation affects driving outcomes and if the type of evaluation affects perception of peer norms. Young drivers (N = 75) were randomized to control, social acceptance, or social rejection conditions and observed risky or risk-averse driving norms. Results indicated that peer passengers and peer driving norms, regardless of the social-evaluative context, affected variability in driving outcomes, particularly in intersections. Physiological arousal and perceptions of social acceptance also predicted more variability in driving outcomes. These findings suggest that passengers increase irregular driving patterns, perhaps due to passengers distracting young drivers from road conditions. Further, social acceptance increases the strength of the relationship between the presence of peer passengers and inconsistent driving patterns, indicating that social rewards may precede risky behavior more often than social threats do.     

Developmentally delayed children's influence attempts with mothers predict interactions with peers over time

We examined whether influence attempts of 4–6 year-old children with mild developmental delays occurring when interacting with their mothers predicted children's interactions with peers two years later. Hierarchical regressions controlling for relevant child characteristics and a measure of direct parental actions to influence their children's peer interactions revealed a consistent association between influence attempts with mothers and four important aspects of children's peer relationships: successful social bids to peers, initiations to peers, extent of involvement with peers, and overall level of peer interactions. Results were consistent with social communicative processes likely to emerge during children's influence attempts with mothers, which are relevant to peer relationships. The fact that influence attempts with mothers were associated with peer interactions over a time period when peers occupy a more dominant role in children's social relationships supports the role of indirect family influences as a potential intervention strategy to further the peer competence of children with delays.     

中国儿童的亲子关系、社会行为及同伴接受性的研究

追踪考察亲子关系、儿童社会行为及同伴接受性之间的关系。结果表明,在儿童社会性发展过程中,儿童社会行为和同伴接受性相互影响。亲子关系与儿童攻击性之间也具有相互作用。此外,儿童的社会行为具有高度的稳定性,亲子关系呈现中等程度的稳定性,而同伴接受性的稳定性取决于社会行为的维持效用。     

Peer acceptance among Chinese adolescents: The role of emotional empathy,cognitive empathy and gender

Previous studies have found mixed results on the relationship between empathy and peer acceptance. Emotional and cognitive components of empathy were hypothesised to play different roles in peer acceptance, and the relationship between empathy and peer acceptance differed across genders. In this study, 375 Chinese adolescents completed self‐report measures of emotional and cognitive empathy. They also provided peer nominations that allowed for the determination of social preference and social impact scores. The results showed that a boy's cognitive empathy positively correlated with the extent to which he was liked by his male classmates, whereas a girl's cognitive empathy positively correlated with her social impact among her female classmates. This study suggests that empathy does not affect peer acceptance among adolescents uniformly; instead, gender plays a determinative role in the dialectics between social acceptance and empathy.     

小学生同伴接纳对其人格发展的影响：友谊质量的多层级中介效应

以班级为单位选取1-6年级23个班级的小学生,通过最好朋友提名法,得到有互选朋友有效被试700人,采用同伴提名法、小学生友谊质量问卷、小学生人格发展教师评定问卷,运用多层线性模型（HLM）考察个体和班级两个水平上的同伴接纳、友谊质量对人格的影响,并在两个水平上检验友谊质量在同伴接纳对人格的影响上的多层中介效应。结果表明：（1）班级水平：班级平均友谊质量对外倾性、亲社会性、认真自控、情绪稳定性有预测作用;班级平均同伴接纳对情绪稳定性有预测作用。（2）个体水平：同伴接纳对人格5个维度均有直接影响;除情绪稳定性,友谊质量分别在同伴接纳对智能特征、外倾性、亲社会性、认真自控影响上有部分中介效应。     

同伴接纳、家庭因素与儿童心理理论的关系

以56名幼儿园大班儿童为被试,考察了同伴接纳和家庭因素与儿童心理理论的关系。结果发现:(1)6～7岁儿童的同伴接纳类型、家庭功能和其心理理论能力之间存在显著相关。同伴接纳程度高的儿童和家庭功能类型属于平衡型的儿童,心理理论能力较高。(2)家庭亲密度与儿童心理理论能力存在显著相关;(3)母亲的文化水平对儿童心理理论能力存在显著影响;(4)儿童性别、同伴接纳类型、家庭亲密度和母亲文化程度可以预测儿童心理理论发展水平。     

幼儿情绪理解、亲社会行为与同伴接纳之间的关系

以131名3~6岁的儿童为被试,探讨了不同层次情绪理解能力的发展及其与儿童的亲社会行为、同伴接纳之间的关系。结果表明,儿童的表情识别、情绪解码和二级情绪理解能力表现出了不同的发展趋势;在总体上,儿童的情绪解码能力和亲社会行为能显著地预测其同伴接纳;情绪理解和亲社会行为对儿童同伴接纳的影响存在一定的年龄效应,情绪解码能力是年幼儿童同伴接纳的最佳预测变量,亲社会行为则是年长儿童同伴接纳的最佳预测变量。     

Joint Contributions of Peer Acceptance and Peer Academic Reputation to Achievement in Academically At Risk Children: Mediating Processes

The longitudinal relationships between two dimensions of peer relationships and subsequent academic adjustment were investigated in a sample of 543 relatively low achieving children (M = 6.57 years at Year 1, 1(st) grade). Latent variable SEM was used to test a four stage model positing indirect effects of peer acceptance and peer academic reputation (PAR) assessed in Year 2 on academic achievement in Year 5, via the effects of the peer relationships variables on perceived academic competence in Year 3 and effortful engagement in Year 4. As expected, the effect of PAR on engagement was partially mediated by perceived academic competence, and the effect of perceived academic competence on achievement was partially mediated by engagement. In the context of PAR, peer acceptance did not contribute to the mediating variables or to achievement. Findings provide a clearer understanding of the processes by which early peer-relationships influence concurrent and future school-related outcomes. Implications for educational practice and future research are discussed.