Early adolescence is a period marked by increases in internalizing problems, particularly depression. In childhood, the rates of depressive symptomatology are between .6% and 1.7%, but by adolescence, rates rise to 8.0%. Two key correlates of adolescent depression are behavioral inhibition and poor peer relations. Yet, it is unclear whether these factors simply co-occur with depressive symptoms or are instrumental across development in regulating them. In this study, using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, we examine whether increases in inhibition in late childhood may undermine peer relationships in predicting increases in adolescent depressive symptoms. Specifically, we test whether inhibition promotes depressive symptoms by undermining two aspects of peer relationships – popularity and friendship quality. Findings revealed that increases in inhibition from childhood to adolescence lead to increases in adolescent depressive symptoms. Decreases in popularity mediated the relation of inhibition, friendship quality and increases in adolescent depressive symptoms. / text

Women remain underrepresented in computer technology careers and university majors, and adolescent girls shy away from high school computer science courses. More information is needed about females who are attracted to computer technology. This study describes the online activities of young adolescent girls ages 12-14 who are high-end users of computer technology. Three developmental tasks of adolescence (search for identity, pursuit of social connections, and desire for a sense of competence and accomplishment) were used to frame explorations of the girls' online activities. Eight girls were interviewed, the personal web sites of six girls were analyzed, and postings on a message board for young girls interested in online activities were reviewed. Patterns and themes that emerged from the data indicated that Internet technology was an effective match for the informants' developmental tasks. Specific inferences included: (1)Online technologies offered the informants multiple ways of negotiating social relationships; (2) Internet use supported the informants' engagement in personalized, self-directed, and self-initiated learning; (3) Support from parents, siblings, and peers provided the environment for each girl to develop confidence and competence in Internet use; and(4) The informants' use of the internet reflected women's ways of knowing. / Ph. D.

The majority of students experience peer victimization at least once during middle school. Existing research has established a strong link between exposure to peer victimization and poor psychosocial outcomes, including, but not limited to, maladaptive coping processes. Although little empirical attention has been devoted to examining how peer victimization impacts the development of social goals, the few existing studies have shown a positive relation between peer victimization and revenge goals. To further advance this research, several concurrent and longitudinal models delineating the relations among peer victimization, physical aggression, parental attitudes toward aggression, peer deviance, and revenge goals were examined in a sample of 5,068 sixth graders in the fall and spring of the academic year. It was hypothesized that the relation between overt victimization and revenge goals would be moderated by: a) physical aggression, b) parental support of aggression, and c) peer deviancy, such that the relation would strengthen as levels of each moderator increased. Hierarchical linear regression models found significant, positive main effects for overt victimization, physical aggression, parental support for aggression, and peer deviancy on revenge goals both concurrently and over time. These effects did not differ by gender. Results indicated that the relation between overt victimization and revenge goals was strongest for students with low to moderate levels of physical aggression, whereas victimization was inversely related to revenge goals for highly aggressive students. In addition, overt victimization was positively related to revenge goals for students with low to moderate numbers of deviant peers, but this relation was no longer significant for students at the highest quartile of peer deviancy. These results have important implications regarding the inclusion of traditionally “low risk” students in violence prevention programs, and also highlight the importance of intervening at the individual, parent, and peer level.

Research and interventions concerning anti-social behaviour have neglected the bad behaviour of “good” people or those who typically behave pro-socially. Additionally, past and current research and practice in this area have often neglected how factors in one’s current environment influence behaviour. Instead, the focus has been on how individual characteristics—borne of the interplay of genetic composition and environmental influences over time—result in anti-social behaviour. However, evidence suggests immediate contexts can foster even atypical behaviour, behavior not correlated with genetic and long-term environmental influences. The thesis is presented in four parts. Part One introduces the idea that immediate group context can have a significant effect on anti-social behaviour, particularly that of “good” people. Part Two reviews research on the impact of social dynamics on behaviour. Part Three presents the empirical study on the role of a particular group dynamic, social dilemmas, in relation to a specific type of anti-social behaviour, bullying. Finally, Part Four considers the implications of the thesis for future research and practice. Social dilemmas are situations in which individual motives are at odds with the best interests of the group and help to explain why individuals sometimes make anti-social decisions. The study at the core of this thesis tested two hypotheses: 1) both individual and group factors are associated with behaviour in bullying situations; and 2) attitudes, group norms, and social dilemmas each have a unique contribution to predicting behaviour in bullying situations. Participants were 292 middle school students at a residential school in the U.S., and data were analysed using multi-level modelling. The primary findings were, in general, consistent with the two hypotheses. The research suggests that social dilemma dynamics might be an important group factor in predicting behaviour in bullying situations.

This study investigated the relations between teacher-rated reactive and proactive aggression and self-ratings of peer intimacy, peer group integration, inhibition of anger and coping with anger in children in grade 4 to grade 6 (n = 519). Grade and gender differences in the study variables were also examined. Although not significant, as predicted, there was a trend towards significance where proactive aggression increased by grade; however, contrary to predictions, the occurrence of reactive aggression did not decrease by grade. The two functions of aggression were strongly correlated with one another. Males were reported more aggressive than females and self-reported lower anger management and less peer group intimacy than females. Further, females who were rated as more reactively aggressive reported less peer group integration and peer intimacy. Males who were reported as reactively aggressive also reported less peer group integration. Reactive and proactive aggression in males was related to coping with anger.

<p>The current project is the first study to investigate the competence of academically gifted youth across multiple dimensions of the peer system. To date, there is no comprehensive examination of the social functioning of gifted youth, severely limiting what is known about the overall social world of gifted youth and the extent to which the subset of gifted youth with peer problems experience the same adjustment difficulties related to negative peer interactions. By examining how aspects of sociometric status, friendship and social network centrality relate to a myriad of outcome variables, the current study permits a comprehensive investigation of the risk profile associated with problematic peer relations among gifted youth within the adjustment domains (behavioral, academic and psychological functioning). Participants included 327 adolescents, 149 identified as gifted, who were initially assessed in the 7th grade and were then reassessed 2 years later. </p><p>Consistent with prior research, findings from the current student provided evidence that academic giftedness was generally associated with more positive peer relations as well as more positive functioning across behavioral, academic and adjustment domains when compared to non-gifted adolescents. However, findings from the current study did not find evidence suggesting that gifted youth experience significantly less peer problems than their non-gifted peers. As such, the current study substantiates predictions that there are indeed subgroups of gifted youth who experience peer problems and they were found to be similarly at risk as non-gifted adolescents with peer problems regarding negative behavioral, academic and psychological adjustment. However, the most alarming finding revealed that the negative effects of being rejected were more pronounced for gifted students, who were the most victimized students in the entire sample, even more than non-gifted peers who were rejected. Findings from the current study highlight the complexity of the social world of gifted adolescents and underscore the importance for future research to continue examining the social difficulties of gifted youth. Limitations and implications of these results are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

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Previous research in the area of social skills of children and adolescents has resulted in confusion over the number and name of empirically derived dimensions. While much work has been done to derive empirically based taxonomies of child and adolescent problem behaviors, such is not the case for positive social behaviors. The present study conducted an extensive review, analysis, and synthesis of over two decades of factor analytic research on child and adolescent social skills to derive an empirically based taxonomy. Results suggest five dimensions that occurred in over one third of the studies: Peer Relations, Self-Management, Academic, Cooperation, and Assertion. The most common social skills associated with these dimensions are presented. It is advised that clinicians and researchers begin employing this taxonomy to: (a) provide a nomenclature by which to refer to the five positive social skill patterns, (b) identify dimensions on which children or adolescents may have deficits, (c) design interventions to increase the occurrence of these skills, all of which have been empirically related to important social outcomes, (d) measure the effects of interventions, and (e) aid in theory development.

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