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Previous studies on peer relationships in school transitions neglected individual differences, or did not examine the relation with academic performance in secondary school. This study followed 649 students from their last year of primary school to their first year in secondary school (M age at T1 = 11.6 (SD = 0.6); 53.6% girls). Results revealed that students became more attached to peers, less lonely, and were stable in victimization across the transition. Particularly students with more negative peer experiences in primary school enjoyed a "fresh start" in terms of peer experiences in secondary school. Students who had more co-transitioning peers experienced greater reductions in loneliness. Changes in peer experiences over the transition did not relate to academic performance in secondary school., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

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; M age  = 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., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research on Adolescence.)

This study examined the coevolution of prosocial and aggressive popularity norms with popularity hierarchy (asymmetries in students' popularity). Cross-lagged-panel analyses were conducted on 2,843 secondary school students (N classrooms  = 120; M age  = 13.18; 51.3% girls). Popularity hierarchy predicted relative change in popularity norms over time, but not vice versa. Specifically, classrooms with few highly popular and many unpopular students increased in aggressive popularity norms at the beginning of the school year and decreased in prosocial popularity norms at the end of the year. Also, strong within-classroom asymmetries in popularity predicted relatively higher aggressive popularity norms. These findings may indicate that hierarchical contexts elicit competition for popularity, with high aggression and low prosocial behavior being seen as valuable tools to achieve popularity., (© 2019 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)

This paper examined the association between friendship and academic networks and how the connections these networks have with academic performance and school misconduct differ when comparing three types of classrooms where students were grouped based on their academic ability (i.e., high-, low-, and mixed-ability). The sample was composed of 528 seventh to ninth graders (M age  = 15; 64.1% girls) from 12 classrooms (four in each category of ability grouping) across two waves in five schools in Chile. The effects of academic performance and school misconduct on receiving academic and friendship nominations were examined, as well as the interplay between academic and friendship relationships. Furthermore, the extent to which similarity in adolescents' academic performance and school misconduct contributed to the formation and maintenance of academic and friendship relationships was examined. Sex, socioeconomic status, and structural network features were also taken into account. Longitudinal social network analyses (RSiena) indicated that (1) in high-ability classrooms students chose high-achieving peers as academic partners; (2) in high-ability classrooms students avoided deviant peers (i.e., those high in school misconduct) as academic partners; and (3) academic relationships led to friendships, and vice versa, in both high- and low-ability classrooms. Whereas the interplay of friendship and academic relationships was similar in high- and low-ability classrooms, the formation and maintenance of academic networks unfolded differently in these two types of classrooms., (Copyright © 2019 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aims to test whether adolescent negative social interactions mediate the relation between early adolescent self-regulatory capacities and young adult psychopathology, using a fully prospective mediation model. Data were derived from the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey, a large population cohort of Dutch adolescents (n = 962). At age 11, three indicators of self-regulation were assessed: low frustration, high effortful control, and high response inhibition. Negative social interactions between ages 11 and 22 were captured twice using the Event History Calendar. Psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) was assessed at ages 11 and 22. Findings indicate that adolescents' frustration and effortful control but not response inhibition assessed at age 11 are related to both internalizing and externalizing problems at age 22, after controlling for psychopathology at age 11, sex, and socioeconomic status. These associations were partly (about 22%) mediated by the negative social interactions adolescents experienced. Effect sizes were all modest. This study shows that self-regulation is related to subsequent psychopathology in part through its effect on negative social interactions, providing evidence for sequences of self-regulatory capacities, life experiences, and developmental outcomes.

This study examined how classroom peer relations can be described in terms of the network of help relations among students, and the positions students take up in this help network, and whether the structure of adolescent classroom help networks and individual network positions were associated with academic achievement. Help networks were based on the peer nomination question "Who helps you with problems?" Building on previous studies on classroom climate and individual network position, higher academic achievement was expected in classrooms with: a dense help network; no or a few network isolates (referring to students that did not give or receive help at all); less segmentation in help relations; equally distributed help nominations. In addition, higher achievement was expected for individuals with more helpers and a more central position in the help network. Using the Dutch SNARE data (54 classrooms; 1,144 students), the multilevel models suggested that lower achievement was related to an unequal distribution of help relations in a classroom. Moreover, the centrality of individuals in the help network was linked to higher achievement. Classrooms varied strongly on network dimensions, and networks that would theoretically be expected to be most beneficial for achievement (with high density, a few isolates, low segmentation, and high equality) turned out to be highly uncommon. The findings demonstrated that subtle network processes were relevant for academic success, and that classroom network characteristics are associated with classroom-level variation in academic achievement. Descriptive results underlined the complexity of the social context of classrooms, and the absence of 'beneficial' classrooms suggests that researchers should adjust their notion of what is a beneficial or detrimental classroom environment for adolescents., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Previous studies investigating to what extent students in elementary schools defend their victimized classmates typically treated defending as an individual characteristic. Defending should, however, be seen as a directed dyadic relationship between a victim and a defender, who are embedded multiple positive and negative relationships with each other and their classmates. Accordingly, in the present study defending was investigated using social network analysis. More specifically, it was investigated to what extent defending relationships co-occurred with friendship and dislike relationships involving not only the victim and the defender but also other classmates. Bivariate Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) were used to analyze the defending-friendship and defending-dislike relationships in seven grade-three classrooms. As hypothesized, the results indicated that victimized students were likely to be defended by students who they perceive as friends or who perceive them as friends. Moreover, defending was likely to occur when the victim and (potential) defender had the same friends. Victimized students were unlikely to be defended by classmates whom they disliked or who had indicated to dislike them. Finally, defending was likely to occur between students who disliked the same classmates., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Defending is considered important in reducing bullying and victimization in schools. Yet, the prevalence of defending is quite low and there is little insight into aspects that explain why students intervene in bullying situations. The current study used a longitudinal design to simultaneously examine the antecedents and status outcomes of defending behavior. It was expected that affective and social-cognitive factors explain involvement in defending. Moreover, it was proposed that defending would be rewarded with popularity among peers, but only for defenders who were not victimized themselves. Unconflated multilevel path models were used and data came from students in grades 4-6 of Finnish elementary schools (N=4209 students from 210 classrooms and 38 schools; M age 11.25; 50% boys). Affective empathy and students' self-efficacy beliefs were predictive of defending behavior over time, whereas cognitive empathy was not. Additionally, defenders increased their popularity among their peers. No substantial differences between victims and non-victims were found. This pattern of results suggests that, irrespective of victim status, specific children are more likely to defend in bullying situations and are rewarded with increased popularity., (Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We investigated adolescent prosocial relations by examining social networks based on the question "Who helps you (e.g., with homework, with repairing a flat [bicycle] tire, or when you are feeling down?)." The effects of individual characteristics (academic achievement, symptoms of depressive mood, and peer status) on receiving help and giving help were examined, and we investigated the contribution of (dis)similarity between adolescents to the development of prosocial relations. Gender, structural network characteristics, and friendship relations were taken into account. Data were derived from the Social Network Analysis of Risk behavior in Early adolescence (SNARE) study, and contained information on students in 40 secondary school classes across 3 waves (N = 840, M age = 13.4, 49.7% boys). Results from longitudinal social network analyses (RSiena) revealed tendencies toward reciprocation of help and exchange of help within helping groups. Furthermore, boys were less often mentioned as helpers, particularly by girls. Depressed adolescents were less often mentioned as helpers, especially by low-depressed peers. Moreover, lower academic achievers indicated that they received help from their higher achieving peers. Rejected adolescents received help more often, but they less often helped low-rejected peers. Last, low- and high-popular adolescents less often helped each other, and also high-popular adolescents less often helped each other. These findings show that (dis)similarity in these characteristics is an important driving factor underlying the emergence and development of prosocial relations in the peer context, and that prosocial behavior should be defined in terms of benefitting particular others. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

This study investigates the types and behavioral associations of peer status in school-bound young adults in the Netherlands. We argue that adolescent peer popularity and its link with aggressive and norm-breaking behavior result from adolescents' desire to create an image of maturity among their peers. We expect that in young adults who are approaching working life, peer status is defined by affective measures of status and prosociality rather than adverse behaviors. Analyses revealed a three cluster solution of (1) liked, (2) liked-popular and (3) neutral members of the peer group, showing that status is primarily defined by being well-liked, though popularity remains relevant. Status was primarily associated with prosocial behavior, especially for females. Peer status in young males remained associated with overt aggressive behavior., (Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The complex interplay between bullying/victimization and defending was examined using a longitudinal social network approach (stochastic actor-based models). The (co)evolution of these relations within three elementary schools (Grades 2-5 at Time 1, ages 8-11, N = 354 children) was investigated across three time points within a year. Most bullies and defenders were in the same grade as the victims, although a substantial number of bullies and defenders were in other grades (most often one grade higher). Defenders were usually of the same gender as the victims, whereas most bullies were boys, with boys bullying both boys and girls. In line with goal-framing theory, multiplex network analyses provided evidence for the social support hypothesis (victims with the same bullies defended each other over time) as well as the retaliation hypothesis (defenders run the risk of becoming victimized by the bullies of the victims they defend). In addition, the analysis revealed that bullies with the same victims defended each other over time and that defenders of bullies initiated harassment of those bullies' victims. This study can be seen as a starting point in unraveling the relationship dynamics among bullying, victimization, and defending networks in schools.

The quality of adolescents' relationships with peers can have a lasting impact on later psychosocial adjustment, mental health, and behavior. However, the effect of peer relations on later problem behavior is not uniformly strong, and genetic factors might influence this association. This study used four-wave longitudinal (11-19 years) data (n = 1,151) from the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey, a Dutch cohort study into adolescent development to test whether the dopamine receptor D4 polymorphism moderates the impact of negative (i.e., victimization) and positive peer experiences (i.e., social well-being) on later delinquency. Contrary to our expectations, results showed that carriers of the dopamine receptor D4 gene 4-repeat homozygous variant instead of those carrying the 7-repeat allele were more susceptible to the effects of both peer victimization and social well-being on delinquency later in adolescence. Findings of our study are discussed in light of other studies into genetic moderation of peer effects on adolescent development and the possibility that developmental specifics in adolescence, such as maturation processes in brain structure and functioning, may affect the interplay of environmental and genetic factors in this period in life.

Relatively little is known about bullying and defending behaviors of children in early elementary school. However, this period is crucial for children's development as at this age they start to participate in a stable peer group, and difficulties in social interactions can be detected early by professionals. An interactive animated web-based computer program was used in this study to assess peer relationships among young children. The computerized assessment was conducted among 2,135 children in grades 1-2 from 22 elementary schools to examine the association of bullying, victimization, and defending with being accepted or rejected. Same-sex and other-sex peer relations were distinguished using dyadic data. Both boys and girls were more likely to accept same-sex classmates than other-sex classmates, and boys were more often nominated than girls as perpetrators of bullying against both boys and girls. It was found that bullies were rejected by those for whom they posed a potential threat, and that defenders were preferred by those classmates for whom they were a potential source of protection. Bullies chose victims who were rejected by significant others, but contrary to expectations, children who bullied boys scored low on peer affection. It is possible that these bullies were not strategic enough to select the "right" targets. Overall, the current findings provide evidence for strategies involved in bullying and defending at early age., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The generalization of attitudes toward individual outgroup members into attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole can affect intergroup relations. However, little is known about the relative strengths of the generalization of negative and positive interpersonal attitudes into attitudes about the outgroup. The unique contribution of negative (disliking) interpersonal attitudes to intergroup attitudes was examined and its strength was compared with the effect of positive (liking) interpersonal attitudes, using cross-sectional (Study 1; N = 733, age 10-12) and longitudinal data (Study 2; N = 960, age 12-13). Disliking uniquely contributed to respondents' outgroup attitudes. The generalization of interpersonal liking and disliking was about equally strong in both studies. This underpins the importance of examining the effects of both positive and negative intergroup contact experiences on the formation of outgroup attitudes.

Background: Bullying and victimization are widespread phenomena in childhood and can have a serious impact on well-being. Children from families with a low socioeconomic background have an increased risk of this behaviour, but it is unknown whether socioeconomic status (SES) of school neighbourhoods is also related to bullying behaviour. Furthermore, as previous bullying research mainly focused on older children and adolescents, it remains unclear to what extent bullying and victimization affects the lives of younger children. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and socioeconomic disparities in bullying behaviour among young elementary school children., Methods: The study was part of a population-based survey in the Netherlands. Teacher reports of bullying behaviour and indicators of SES of families and schools were available for 6379 children aged 5-6 years., Results: One-third of the children were involved in bullying, most of them as bullies (17%) or bully-victims (13%), and less as pure victims (4%). All indicators of low family SES and poor school neighbourhood SES were associated with an increased risk of being a bully or bully-victim. Parental educational level was the only indicator of SES related with victimization. The influence of school neighbourhood SES on bullying attenuated to statistical non-significance once adjusted for family SES., Conclusions: Bullying and victimization are already common problems in early elementary school. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, rather than children visiting schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, have a particularly high risk of involvement in bullying. These findings suggest the need of timely bullying preventions and interventions that should have a special focus on children of families with a low socioeconomic background. Future studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs.

In this sociometric study, we aimed to investigate the social position of gender-referred children in a naturalistic environment. We used a peer nomination technique to examine their social position in the class and we specifically examined bullying and victimization of gender dysphoric children. A total of 28 children (14 boys and 14 girls), referred to a gender identity clinic, and their classmates (n = 495) were included (M age, 10.5 years). Results showed that the gender-referred children had a peer network of children of the opposite sex. Gender-referred boys had more nominations on peer acceptance from female classmates and less from male classmates as compared to other male classmates. Gender-referred girls were more accepted by male than by female classmates and these girls had significantly more male friends and less female friends. Male classmates rejected gender-referred boys more than other boys, whereas female classmates did not reject the gender-referred girls. For bullying and victimization, we did not find any significant differences between the gender-referred boys and their male classmates nor between the gender-referred girls and their female classmates. In sum, at elementary school age, the relationships of gender dysphoric children with opposite-sex children appeared to be better than with same-sex children. The social position of gender-referred boys was less favorable than that of gender-referred girls. However, the gender-referred children were not more often bullied than other children, despite their gender nonconforming behavior.

In a large sample of early adolescents (T2: n = 1023; M age = 13.51; 55.5% girls) it was investigated whether the effects of parental and peer acceptance and rejection on psychopathology (externalizing and internalizing problems) remain when taking into account both contexts simultaneously. Moreover, we examined whether acceptance in one context can buffer rejection in the other. It was found that when analyzing peer and parent effects simultaneously (1) the protective effect of parental acceptance and the risk effect of peer rejection were diminished; (2) the protective effect of peer acceptance and the risk-effect of parental rejection remained strong; and (3) peer acceptance buffered parental rejection but parental acceptance did not buffer peer rejection. The results imply that the parent and peer contexts are interdependent. Implications and directions for future research are given.

This study examined to what extent bullying behavior of popular adolescents is responsible for whether bullying is more or less likely to be accepted or rejected by peers (popularity-norm effect) rather than the behavior of all peers (class norm). Specifically, the mean level of bullying by the whole class (class norm) was split into behavior of popular adolescents (popularity-norm) and behavior of non-popular adolescents (non-popularity-norm), and examined in its interaction with individual bullying on peer acceptance and peer rejection. The data stem from a peer-nominations subsample of TRAILS, a large population-based sample of adolescent boys and girls (N = 3,312). The findings of multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that the negative impact of individual bullying on peer acceptance and the positive impact on peer rejection were particularly weakened by bullying by popular adolescents. These results place the class-norm effects found in previous person-group dissimilarity studies in a different light, suggesting that particularly bullying by popular adolescents is related to the social status attached to bullying.

The relation between bullying and helping and same-gender and cross-gender peer acceptance and peer rejection was examined in a sample of preadolescents aged 11 and 12 years (N=1,065). The authors tested predictions from a gender-homophily approach vs. predictions from a goal-framing approach in which acceptance and rejection are seen as being generated by approach and avoidance goals, respectively. For preadolescents, both approaches predicted a central role for gender, but the gender-homophily approach predicted symmetrical effects for acceptance and rejection, whereas the goal-framing approach predicted strong asymmetries. The data supported the goal-framing approach. The most important findings were that for preadolescents, acceptance is much more frequent and much more gendered than rejection; the absolute impact of helping on acceptance is much larger than that of bullying (and vice versa for rejection); for acceptance, there is a prototypicality effect (i.e., boys accept bullying girls better than nonbullying girls, and girls accept helping boys better than nonhelping boys); and for acceptance, there is a cross-gender ignorance effect (i.e., boys ignore helping in girls, and girls ignore bullying in boys)., ((c) 2007 APA.)

Previous research has shown that leadership is associated not only with positive but also with negative characteristics and behaviors; knowledge of the similarities and differences between positive and negative leaders remains insufficient. This study aimed to examine (1) the existence of different subtypes of leaders and (2) to what extent these leaders differed on individual and interpersonal characteristics. The sample contained 9213 students in grades 3–6 (Dutch grades 5–8), from 392 classrooms in 98 schools (50.3% girls, Mage = 10.13 ± 1.23 years). Latent profile analysis identified three leader profiles and four non-leader profiles based on peer nominations received for leadership, popularity, and positive (defending) and negative (bullying) behavior: (1) positive leaders, (2) negative leaders, (3) non-popular leaders, (4) popular children, (5) bullies, (6) extreme bullies, and (7) modal children. Multinomial logistic regression showed similarities and differences between positive and negative leaders, as well as between each of these and the other five profiles. Positive leaders were more accepted and less rejected and had more friendships than negative leaders, but the differences in individual characteristics (self-esteem, self-control, and social goals) were less clear. This study demonstrated that 10–15% of the children were perceived as leaders, and that positive leadership became more prevalent in the higher grades. Nevertheless, negative leadership occurred also in the higher grades. Interventions aimed at turning negative leaders into positive leaders may work, because positive and negative leaders do not differ greatly in individual characteristics. Such interventions may improve the relationships of negative leaders with their classmates, which may be good for their likeability (but not at the expense of their popularity) as well as for the social atmosphere in the class as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined to what extent bullying behavior of popular adolescents is responsible for whether bullying is more or less likely to be accepted or rejected by peers (popularity-norm effect) rather than the behavior of all peers (class norm). Specifically, the mean level of bullying by the whole class (class norm) was split into behavior of popular adolescents (popularity-norm) and behavior of non-popular adolescents (non-popularity-norm), and examined in its interaction with individual bullying on peer acceptance and peer rejection. The data stem from a peer-nominations subsample of TRAILS, a large population-based sample of adolescent boys and girls (N = 3,312). The findings of multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that the negative impact of individual bullying on peer acceptance and the positive impact on peer rejection were particularly weakened by bullying by popular adolescents. These results place the class-norm effects found in previous person-group dissimilarity studies in a different light, suggesting that particularly bullying by popular adolescents is related to the social status attached to bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal, population-based study: (1) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are associated with peer dislike and victimisation; (2) Peer dislike and victimisation increase the risk for subsequent depression; and (3) The effect of ADHD symptoms on depression is partly mediated through peer dislike and victimisation. Gender differences in mediating pathways through peer dislike and victimisation to depression were additionally explored. The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), Youth Self Report (YSR) and Teacher's Checklist of Pathology (TCP) assessed ADHD symptoms in 728 adolescents. Peer nominations were used to assess peer dislike and victimisation. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used to assess depression. Effects of peer dislike, victimisation, and ADHD symptoms on depression were modelled using Cox regression. ADHD symptoms were associated with peer dislike (rs = 0.17, p < 0.001) and victimisation (rs = 0.11, p = 0.001). Dislike, victimisation, and ADHD symptoms increased risk for depression. Risk for depression associated with victimisation and ADHD symptoms reduced with time. Dislike and victimisation mediated 7 % of the effect of ADHD symptoms on depression. Pathways through dislike and victimisation were present in girls but not in boys. Peer dislike and victimisation explain, to a limited extent, the prospective association between ADHD and depression, particularly in girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on how temperament, pubertal maturation, and perception of parenting behaviors affect the propensity to date in early adolescence (mean age = 13.55). Hypotheses are tested with a representative sample of 2,230 Dutch adolescents, the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). The results suggest that adolescents are more likely to have experience with dating when they score higher on the need for high-intensity pleasure, pubertal maturation, and perceived parental rejection. Shyness, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. In addition, a moderation effect is observed such that the more rejecting the parents are perceived to be, the less effect the temperament characteristic of high-intensity pleasure has on dating. Future research should investigate in further detail whether dating could be seen as a way for early adolescents to establish their grown-up status or as a way to compensate for heightened parental rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The literature suggests that status goals are one of the driving motivations behind bullying behavior, yet this conjecture has rarely if ever been examined empirically. This study assessed status goals in three ways, using dyadic network analysis to analyze the relations and goals among 10–11 and 14–15 year olds in 22 school classes (N boys=225; N girls=277). As a validation bullies were contrasted with victims. Bullies had direct status goals (measured with the Interpersonal Goal Inventory for Children) and showed dominance as measured with proactive aggression. Moreover, as predicted from a goal perspective, bullying behavior was related to prestige in terms of perceived popularity. In contrast, victims lacked status goals, were only reactively aggressive, and low on prestige. That being popular is not the same as being liked could be shown by the fact that bullies were just as rejected as victims by their classmates. Eighth-grade bullies had more direct status goals than fourth-grade bullies, possibly indicating that striving for the popularity component of status increases in early adolescence. Aggr. Behav. 35:57–67, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been recent emphasis on the importance of investigating prosocial and antisocial behavior simultaneously owing to doubts about whether examining one automatically gives information about the other. However, there has been little empirical research into this question. The present study (based on a large population sample of preadolescents, N = 2,230) simultaneously examines prosocial and antisocial behavior, explicitly including the possibility that children might show prosocial behavior according to one informant and antisocial behavior according to another. When parents and teachers agreed in their judgments, children were distinctly profiled and differed clearly in effortful control, intelligence, academic performance, and several peer nominations and family characteristics. The correlates were more rater-specific for children that were prosocial according to one informant and antisocial according to the other informant. Teachers and parents used different context-dependent criteria for judging children to be prosocial or antisocial. Academic performance and peer relations were related to the teacher's judgment of prosocial and antisocial behavior. By contrast, children's being problematic at home (and thus causing stress for the parents) was related to the parents' judgment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For this study, information on Who Bullies Who was collected from 54 school classes with 918 children ( M age = 11) and 13,606 dyadic relations. Bullying and victimization were viewed separately from the point of view of the bully and the victim. The two perspectives were highly complementary. The probability of a bully–victim relationship was higher if the bully was more dominant than the victim, and if the victim was more vulnerable than the bully and more rejected by the class. In a bully–victim dyad, boys were more often the bullies. There was no finding of sex effect for victimization. Liking reduced and disliking increased the probability of a bully–victim relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates associations between depressive problems and classroom social status in a large population cohort of Dutch early adolescents ( N = 1046, age 13.52 ± 0.51, 52.4% girls). Depressive problems were assessed by parent and self-reports and classroom status by peer nominations. We assessed peer status with respect to both achievement-related (being a good learner, being good at sports, being good-looking) and affection-related (being liked, being disliked, being best friend) areas. In boys, depressive problems were most strongly associated with not being good at sports, while in girls the association was strongest for not being liked. The risk of a low status in one area could largely be compensated by a high status in another area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social ties between members of in- and outgroups are theorized to reduce individual levels of prejudice. However, instances of intergroup contact are not isolated events; cross-group interactions are embedded in broader networks defined by various social processes that guide the formation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships. This project reconsiders the potential benefits of intergroup contact by applying a network perspective to examine whether friendships between youth of different sexualities can shape individuals' homophobic attitudes. The impact of cross-sexuality ties is evaluated through the application of stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) to a two-wave sample of Dutch adolescents. Results indicate that the benefits of cross-sexuality connections become negligible when we account for how patterns of network connectivity and segregation are informed by other individual-level traits, such as age, religious background, ethnicity, and gender. In other words, heterosexual adolescents who are situated in network positions that provide opportunities to form cross-sexuality friendships would be expected to report less homophobic attitudes even in the absence of this intergroup contact. These findings suggest that the cross-sexuality contact observed in the social world often represents instances of "preaching to the choir," limiting the potential for intergroup connections to challenge systems of social inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene-environment studies on adolescents' peer contexts are important for understanding the interplay between biological and social antecedents of adolescent psychopathology. To this end, this study examined the roles of serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and preadolescent and early adolescent peer rejection and acceptance, as well as the interaction between genotype and environment as predictors of antisocial behavior. Longitudinal data from TRAILS (TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey), a Dutch cohort study into adolescent development that includes peer reports of rejection and acceptance assessed at 11.1 and 13.6 years and self-reported antisocial behavior at 19.1 years was used. The interaction between 5-HTTLPR and preadolescent peer rejection predicted antisocial behavior with carriers of the 5-HTTLPR short-short variant most strongly affected. No main or interaction effects were found for early adolescent rejection or interactions involving peer acceptance. Our results extend the gene-environment interaction literature by focusing on peer relationship experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential effect of parental separation during early adolescence on adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems was investigated in a longitudinal sample of adolescents (n = 1274; mean age = 16.27; 52.3% girls). Pre-separation mental health problems were controlled for. Building on a large number of studies that overall showed a small effect of parental separation, it was argued that separation may only or especially have an effect under certain conditions. It was examined whether child temperament (effortful control and fearfulness) moderates the impact of parental separation on specific mental health domains. Hypotheses were derived from a goal- framing theory, with a focus on goals related to satisfying the need for autonomy and the need to belong. Controlling for the overlap between the outcome domains, we found that parental separation led to an increase in externalizing problems but not internalizing problems when interactions with child temperament were ignored. Moreover, child temperament moderated the impact of parental separation, in that it was only related to increased externalizing problems for children low on effortful control, whereas it was only related to increased internalizing problems for children high on fearfulness. The results indicate that person-environment interactions are important for understanding the development of mental health problems and that these interactions can be domain-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]