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Recent work on bullying perpetration includes the hypothesis that bullying carries an evolutionary advantage for perpetrators in terms of health and reproductive success. We tested this hypothesis in the National Child Development Study (n = 4998 male, n = 4831 female), British Cohort Study 1970 (n = 4261 male, n = 4432 female), and TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (n = 486 male, n = 521 female), where bullying was assessed in adolescence (NCDS, BCS70: age 16, TRAILS: age 14) and outcomes in adulthood. Partial support for the evolutionary hypothesis was found as bullies had more children in NCDS and engaged in sexual intercourse earlier in TRAILS. In contrast, bullies reported worse health in NCDS and BCS70. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compelling evidence demonstrates that peer influence is a pervasive force during adolescence, one that shapes adaptive and maladaptive attitudes and behaviors. This literature review focuses on factors that make adolescence a period of special vulnerability to peer influence. Herein, we advance the Influence‐Compatibility Model, which integrates converging views about early adolescence as a period of increased conformity with evidence that peer influence functions to increase affiliate similarity. Together, these developmental forces smooth the establishment of friendships and integration into the peer group, promote interpersonal and intragroup compatibility, and eliminate differences that might result in social exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to unravel the interrelatedness of friendship and help, and to examine the characteristics of friendship and help networks. The effects of mutual versus one‐sided help relations on friendship initiation and maintenance, and vice versa, were examined. Friendship and help networks were analyzed (N = 953 students; 41 classrooms; Mage = 12.7). The results illustrate that friendship and help networks show some similarities, but only partly overlap and have distinct characteristics. Longitudinal multiplex social network analyses showed that mutual help was important for the maintenance of friendship, but not for the initiation of friendship. Further, particularly mutual friendships provided a context in which help took place. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents were at higher risk for persistent victimization of bullying compared to heterosexual adolescents, and how victimization trajectories were associated with internalizing symptom development across LGB and heterosexual adolescents. Data came from a five‐wave study (MageT1 = 11.1 to MageT5 = 22.3; n = 151 LGB; n = 1,275 heterosexual) and informants were adolescents and their parents. Adolescents were classified in three victimization trajectories: persistent (5.6%), decreasing (28.1%) or low (66.3%) victimization. LGB adolescents reported more persistent victimization, relative to no (OR = 6.79, 95% CI [3.52, 13.13]) or decreasing victimization (OR = 3.09, 95% CI [1.53, 6.24]), compared to heterosexual peers. Further, persistent victimization was more strongly associated with anxiety among LGB than among heterosexual adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents' peer experiences embrace behavior, relationship quality, status, and victimization, but studies that account for multiple dimensions are rare. Using latent profile modeling and measures of peer behavior, relationship quality, peer status, and victimization assessed from 1,677 adolescents, four profiles were identified: High Quality, Low Quality, Low Quality Victimized, and Deviant Peers. Multinomial logistic regressions showed that negative parent-child relationships in preadolescence reduced the likelihood of High Quality peer relations in mid-adolescence but only partly differentiated between the other three profiles. Moderation by gender was partly found with girls showing greater sensitivity to parent-child relationship quality with respect to peer experiences. Results underline the multifaceted nature of peer experiences, and practical and theoretical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have become increasingly interested in disentangling selection and influence processes. This literature review provides context for the special issue on network-behavior dynamics. It brings together important conceptual, methodological, and empirical contributions focusing on longitudinal social network modeling. First, an overview of mechanisms underlying selection and influence is given. After a description of the shortcomings of previous studies in this area, the stochastic actor-based model is sketched; this is used in this special issue to examine network-behavior dynamics. The preconditions for such analyses are discussed, as are common model specification issues. Next, recent empirical advances in research on adolescence are discussed, focusing on new insights into moderating effects, initiation of behaviors, time heterogeneity, mediation effects, and negative ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of parental divorce on the time it took adolescents to initiate their first romantic relationships. Individual differences in temperament and pubertal development and the age of the adolescent at the time of divorce were also taken into account. Hypotheses were tested using event history analysis with a sample of 1,487 Dutch adolescents. Results indicated that divorce sped up the transition to first relationship only when experienced in early adolescence. Findings are discussed in light of research on the heightened sensitivity to stress during transition periods such as the entry into adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to examine whether popularity and likability were related to associating with popular peers in adolescence. Participants were 3,312 adolescents ( M age=13.60 years) from 172 classrooms in 32 schools. Four types of peer affiliations of the participants with the popular peers in their classrooms were distinguished: 'best friends,''respected,''wannabes,' and 'unrelated.' Two types of benefits of affiliating with high-status peers were identified: achieving high status or popularity for oneself and becoming liked by others. The results showed that popularity was associated with being closely affiliated with popular peers, whereas likability was more strongly predicted by a more distant relation with popular peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between partying and antisocial behavior was investigated using a sample of Dutch early adolescents (T2: N=1,076; M age=13.52). Antisocial behavior was divided into rule-breaking and aggressive behavior. Using a goal-framing approach, it was argued that the relation of partying to antisocial behavior depends on the way the need to belong is realized. Girls, in early adolescence often physically more mature than boys, are likely to seek older and, thus, often more antisocial boys for partying. Unpopular adolescents are likely to be among themselves when partying, and their feeling of exclusion is likely to lead to antisocial behavior. The findings show that girls who party are indeed at a greater risk of engaging in antisocial behavior, as are unpopular girls and boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the relations between popularity and different types of aggressive, destructive, and norm-breaking behaviors in a large cross-sectional sample of adolescents ( N=3,312, M age=13.60). We were interested in the extent to which the relations of these behaviors with popularity were moderated by positive features (i.e., athletic abilities, physical attractiveness, and prosociality). From a goal-framing perspective, it was argued that positive features evoke positive affect, which in turn enhances the positive impact of aggressive, destructive, and norm-breaking behaviors on popularity. The results supported our notion that these latter behaviors are especially related to popularity in adolescents who also exhibit positive features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested to what extent the relation between bullying victimization and future symptoms of depression could be explained by victims being more hostile and less assertive than non‐involved individuals. Data came from waves 2–4 of the Dutch TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Participants' bullying experiences were assessed at age 13, interpersonal style at age 16, and depression symptoms at age 19. Mediation analyses were performed primarily on 274 self‐reported victims and 1498 non‐involved peers. Self‐reported victims had an increased risk for depression symptoms. About a third of that risk could be explained by victims' hostile style, which was also higher than those of non‐involved peers. Although victims also reported lower levels of assertiveness than non‐involved peers, this interpersonal style did not mediate the link between bullying victimization and depression. Our findings suggest that high hostility, but not low assertiveness, partly explains the increased depression risk of self‐reported victims. Therefore, interventions could focus on addressing hostility, to help reduce the likelihood that adolescents who have experienced bullying victimization will have more interpersonal conflicts and mental health problems in the future. Supplementary materials also include analyses for bullies and bully‐victims, and for peer‐reported measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]