Depression is one of the most disabling mental disorders with respect to years living with symptoms and life lost prematurely. Understanding the development of depression symptoms in childhood and adolescence is important considering the increase in prevalence in adolescence and the substantial continuity of depression symptoms over time. Interpersonal perspectives on depression emphasize the interpersonal environment in the development, and remission of symptoms. In the present dissertation, the interpersonal environment focus was peer experiences. Specifically, the conditions under which peer experiences and depression symptoms were associated concurrently and longitudinally were examined in preschool, childhood, and adolescence. Different types of peer experiences were associated with depression symptoms in specific ways. In Study 1, the type of aggression and informant mattered where relational peer victimization and depression symptoms were associated in the presence of relational aggression when data were reported by teachers. In Study 2, informant and type of peer experience mattered such that when examining competing models of directional association of peer experiences and depression symptoms, depression symptoms predicted peer rejection across reporters and depression predicted peer victimization when data were self-reported. In Study 3, the type of aggression mattered again but peer-reported peer victimization was associated with self-reported depression symptoms in the presence of overt aggression for girls concurrently and over time. The effect was stronger for those who transitioned to high school. The conditions under which peer experiences and depression symptoms were associated depended on type of aggression (i.e., relational peer victimization and relational aggression in preschool and overt aggression for girls in late childhood and adolescence), type of relationship disturbance (i.e., peer victimization and peer rejection), informant, and whether individuals transitioned to high school.

The effect of a structured group approach on anxiety, using paraprofessionals, was investigated. The variables of setting (junior high school and youth rehabilitation center) and time (pre-post1 -posttest2) were also manipulated. Besides anxiety, four other variables were measured. Self-concept and anxiety were measured using the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale; peer rejection and peer acceptance were measured using the Peer Perception Questionnaire; teacher rating of student classroom behavior was measured using the Student Behavior: Teacher Rating Form. Sixteen subjects who had been screened with the pretest were randomly assigned to either treatment or control conditions at each institution (two junior highs and two youth rehabilitation centers). Four group leaders used lesson plans for eight sessions over three weeks for treatment and also taught a matched control class on anxiety using lesson plans. Both treatment and control groups were told they would participate in a special class on anxiety. At the end of the treatment period and again after a one-month interval, the measures were readministered. The data were analyzed by means of an analysis of variance for each of the five measures. The results indicate that self-concept, anxiety and teacher rating were affected by the main effect of treatment as well as setting and time. The treatment groups achieved the greatest degree of change during the treatment period (pre-posttest1). However, only the junior high school treatment groups continued to improve over time while the youth rehabilitation center treatment groups regressed. The control groups improved to a lesser extent during the treatment period but also regressed over time. Peer acceptance increased while peer rejection decreased over time regardless of treatment or setting. Implications of the results and limitations of the present study are related to recommendations.

No description available.

Research investigating aggressive behavior among youth is plentiful; however, the field contains mixed findings in terms of risk factors, correlates, sequelae, and treatment response, suggesting that individuals who exhibit aggressive behaviors are heterogeneous. The current project utilized a person-centered perspective to characterize youth who differ in frequency and quality of aggressive behaviors and a variable-centered approach to validate these classes. Specifically, the aims of the current study were (a) to use latent class analysis (LCA) to identify classes of youth that are characterized by qualitatively and quantitatively different types of aggressive behaviors, and (b) to examine the external validity of the identified aggression classes in a large, prospective sample. Participants included 648 children (M = 11.42 + .92 years; 76% Caucasian) assessed at five time points between the ages of 10 and 25 as part of a longitudinal project conducted through the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research at the University of Pittsburgh. Analyses suggest five distinct aggression profiles in the sample; individuals exhibiting (1) primarily reactive aggression, (2) primarily proactive aggression (3) mixed reactive and proactive aggression, (4) loss of control (endorsement of a subset of reactive aggression items), and (5) low reactive and proactive aggression. Classes differed in their levels of executive functioning, peer processes, lack of guilt, internalizing symptoms, and provocation to aggression. Specifically, individuals who engaged in primarily proactive, primarily reactive, or mixed aggression exhibited significantly lower ECF than individuals in the low aggression class. Individuals who engaged in mixed aggression experienced greater peer rejection, associations with deviant peers, internalizing symptoms, and lack of guilt than individuals who exhibited low aggression at specific time points. Of note, individuals who engaged in primarily proactive aggression were more likely to experience internalizing symptoms than individuals who engaged in reactive or low aggression in late childhood and early adolescence and were more likely to report lack of guilt after misbehaving than members of other aggression classes across late childhood and early adulthood. Differences among classes in terms of these variables better characterize and validate the subgroups of aggressive youth identified in the latent class analysis. The study fills gaps in the literature by identifying concurrent and prospective correlates of aggression classes and decreasing the heterogeneity found in aggression-related research by considering the qualitative and quantitative ways in which individuals differ on aggression using a dimensional approach. These findings enhance understanding of risk processes related to aggression and inform interventions that focus specifically on ameliorating deficits displayed by youth with different aggression profiles. / Psychology

Persistent conduct problems, which include aggressive, disruptive, and antisocial behaviors, are associated with a range of negative correlates and sequelae, including school failure and dropout, depression, and substance use. Problematic peer relationships, such as peer rejection and deviant peer affiliation (DPA), have been implicated in both the development and persistence of conduct problems. In particular, the impact of peer rejection has been highlighted in childhood, whereas the effects of DPA have received more attention during adolescence. Conduct problems, peer rejection, and DPA are dynamic processes that change across development, and understanding the relations among these processes is particularly important among contextually disadvantaged youth who are at elevated risk for aggression. Nevertheless, limited research has considered both peer rejection and DPA as they relate to conduct problems in a single study and even less research has looked at potential moderators of the relations among these processes. To address these gaps, I empirically evaluated a developmental model of conduct problems and peer processes, focusing on individual differences across childhood and adolescence. The goal of the present study was to examine continuity and discontinuity of trajectories of conduct problems and problematic peer relations from childhood through adolescence and to identify contextual factors that impact continuity/discontinuity of risk. Participants were 678 urban children recruited in fall of 1st grade for the second generation Prevention Intervention Research Center's Periodic Follow-up of Two Preventative Interventions. Aggression and peer rejection in childhood were modeled separately first, followed by modeling the joint trajectories of aggression and rejection. Four distinct joint trajectories of aggression-rejection in grades 1 to 3 were identified: high decreasing aggression-high stable rejection, low increasing aggression-moderate increasing rejection, moderate decreasing aggression-moderate decreasing rejection, and low stable aggression-low stable rejection. As with the childhood analyses, aggression and DPA in adolescence were modeled separately first, followed by modeling the joint trajectories of aggression and DPA. Three distinct joint trajectories of aggression-deviant peer affiliation in grades 6 to 12 were identified: high decreasing aggression-low stable DPA, moderate stable aggression-high stable DPA, and low stable aggression-low stable DPA. Next, latent transition patterns from high- and low-risk childhood aggression-rejection trajectories to adolescent aggression-DPA trajectories pointed to evidence for both continuity and discontinuity of risk along aggression-DPA trajectories. Introducing contextual variables (i.e., perceived neighborhood adversity, community violence exposure, and poor parental monitoring) into the transition model suggested that higher levels of contextual risk were associated with elevated risk for transition to higher-risk adolescent aggression-DPA classes (i.e., high decreasing aggression-low stable DPA, moderate stable aggression-high stable DPA). / Psychology

The relationship between Executive Functions and Peer Rejection was explored. Thirty-Five students in an urban elementary school, (mean 10.7 years of age (sd=2.8), 34% male, and 88% African American) completed measures of executive functions: KABC-II Rover, The Wisconsin Card Sort and NEPSY-II Statue (below age 9) or The Iowa Gambling Task (age 9 and up). Classmates reported who was not a preferred play mate: a measure of rejection. Executive Functions were not significantly related to Rejection across the sample, but among the children with the lowest Executive Functions, The Wisconsin Card Sort was significantly negatively related to Rejection (-0.61, p = .04) suggesting poor Cognitive Flexibility may be a risk factor for Rejection. Performance on the Iowa Gambling Task was found to be positively correlated with Rejection (0.4, p = .008) suggesting that high impulse control may also be a risk factor for rejection among adolescents. This was consistent with a finding of a positive correlation between Office Discipline Referrals and popularity (.4, p = .008) among the sample. Implications for practice are also discussed including the difficulty of managing behavior when bad behavior is related to popularity. Keywords: Iowa Gambling Task, Wisconsin Card Sort, Peer Rejection, Executive Functions, Urban children. / School Psychology

The literature demonstrates that children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience peer rejection as a result of their difficulties with interpersonal interactions. The manner in which children with ADHD process social information and the extent to which social difficulties may adversely impact these children has remained unclear. In the first part of the study, the perceptions of social support between boys (ages 7 to 11 years) with and without ADHD were compared. An analysis of variance procedure (ANOVA) was performed and children with ADHD were found to perceive significantly lower levels of social support from their classmates than normal peers at pretreatment. The groups did not differ significantly with regard to perceptions of parent, teacher, and close friend support. In the second part of the study, the role of ADHD parent training and its effectiveness in decreasing problem-behaviors, ameliorating social problems, and enhancing perceptions of social support was examined. Repeated measures MANOVAs revealed a significant rater (mother and teacher) by time (pretreatment and posttreatment) interaction effect for total behavior problems, externalizing behavior problems, internalizing behavior problems, and social problems. On each scale, mothers reported more behavior problems than teachers at pretreatment, but fewer problems than teachers at posttreatment assessment. Main effects were not detected. ANOVAs performed on social support ratings by children with ADHD demonstrated a significant increase in their perceptions of parental support between pretreatment and posttreatment. Children's ratings of teacher, close friend, and classmate support did not differ significantly between pretreatment and posttreatment. The findings suggest that children with ADHD are socially perspicacious and sensitive to subtle changes within their social support systems. The parent training program appeared to help with the amelioration of problem behaviors in the home, but results did not indicate generalization of improvements to the classroom. Implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions were made for providing assistance to children with ADHD.

Adolescent depression is a major public health problem, which is associated with educational problems, long-term psychiatric illness and suicide. One major source of stress during adolescence is peer rejection. In this thesis, I investigate the nature of the relationship between peer rejection and adolescent depression. In a review of longitudinal and experimental studies, I describe a bi-directional relationship between peer rejection and depressive symptoms. I then outline how genetic, cognitive and neural vulnerability may modify the effects of peer rejection on adolescent depression. Finally, I introduce five empirical chapters which test these hypotheses using different methodological approaches. The first study is a molecular genetic analysis of a sample of adolescents with and without a diagnosis of mood disorder. I report an interaction between diagnostic group, environmental stress (though not peer rejection specifically) and 5HTTLPR genotype on symptoms of anxiety, which supports the role of genetic factors in modifying the relationship between environmental stress and adolescent mood disorder. The second study is a behavioural study of negative attention biases in a typically developing sample of adolescents. I report a negative attention bias in adolescents with low (versus high) self-esteem. Although the data do not support a causal role for attention biases in adolescent depression, such biased cognitions could also moderate responses to peer rejection, maintaining affective symptoms. A final set of three fMRI datasets investigates how neural circuitry may influence depressed adolescents’ responses to peer rejection at three distinct stages: i) expectation of peer feedback, ii) the receipt of peer rejection, iii) emotion regulation of peer rejection. Data show distinct behavioural and neural differences between depressed patients and healthy controls during expectation and reappraisal of peer rejection, although heightened emotional reactivity immediately following the receipt of peer rejection did not differentiate behavioural or neural responses in adolescents with and without depression.

No description available.

Cette étude s’intéresse aux relations d’amitié et aux caractéristiques des amis comme facteurs de risque interpersonnels susceptibles de prédire les changements à travers le temps, de la victimisation par les pairs au début du secondaire. L’échantillon est composé de 524 élèves de secondaire I et II pour lesquels le niveau de victimisation a été mesuré par les pairs lors de deux années consécutives. Les facteurs de risque individuel associés à la victimisation par les pairs (i.e. les comportements agressifs, les comportements de retrait social et le rejet par les pairs) ainsi que les caractéristiques des amis (i.e. agressivité, retrait social et victimisation des amis) ont également été évalués par les pairs lors du premier temps de mesure. Les résultats démontrent qu’au-delà des facteurs de risque individuels, un plus grand nombre d’amis prédit une diminution de la victimisation par les pairs sur une période d’un an. De plus, pour les élèves rejetés socialement, la victimisation des amis permet de rendre compte d’une augmentation de la victimisation dans le temps. Contrairement aux résultats obtenus par d’autres études, l’agressivité des amis permet de prédire une diminution de la victimisation seulement pour les élèves bien acceptés socialement. Pour les jeunes qui sont rejetés socialement, l’agressivité des amis permet de prédire une augmentation de la victimisation par les pairs. Ces résultats apportent un regard nouveau sur l’inter influence entre l’identité des amis et le contexte social dans lequel les adolescents évoluent. / This study examined the association between friend’s characteristics and the pattern of changes in peer victimization in the first years of middle school. The sample was composed of 524 grade 7 and 8 French-Canadian students from two middle schools. Student’s level of victimization as perceived by their peers was evaluated during two consecutive school years. Individual risk factors (i.e. aggressive behaviors, social withdrawal and peer rejection) and friend’s characteristics (i.e. friend’s aggression, social withdrawal and victimization) were also measured with peer nominations during the first year of the study. Results show that beyond individual risk factors, the number of friends was associated with a decrease over time in peer victimization. Moreover, for socially rejected students, having friends who are victimized within the peer group was associated with an increase in peer victimization. Results also show that having aggressive friends lead to a decrease in peer victimization, but only for popular students. However, for socially-rejected students, having aggressive friends was associated with an increase over time in peer victimization. This study brings a new light on the dynamic influences between friends’ identity and the social context in which adolescents evolve.