Audrey L. Zakriski

Probing the Depths of Informant Discrepancies: Contextual Influences on Divergence and Convergence

This study examined how a contextual approach to child assessment can clarify the meaning of informant discrepancies by focusing on childrens social experiences and their if…then reactions to them. In a sample of 123 children (M age = 13.30) referred to a summer program for children with behavior problems, parent–teacher agreement for syndromal measures of aggression and withdrawal was modest. Agreement remained low when informants assessed childrens reactions to specific peer and adult events. The similarity of these events increased consistency within informants but had no effect on agreement between parents and teachers. In contrast, similarity in the pattern of social events children encountered at home and school predicted informant agreement for syndromal aggression and for aggression to aversive events. Our results underscore the robustness of informant discrepancies and illustrate how they can be studied as part of the larger mosaic of person–environment interactions.

Gender similarities and differences in Children's social behavior : Finding personality in contextualized patterns of adaptation

This research examined how a contextualist approach to personality can reveal social interactional patterns that are obscured by gender comparisons of overall behavior rates. For some behaviors (verbal aggression), girls and boys differed both in their responses to social events and in how often they encountered them, yet they did not differ in overall behavior rates. For other behaviors (prosocial), gender differences in overall rates were observed, yet girls and boys differed more in their social environments than in their responses to events. The results question the assumption that meaningful personality differences must be manifested in overall act trends and illustrate how gender differences in personality can be conceptualized as patterns of social adaptation that are complex and context specific.

Child-Focused Versus School-Focused Sociometrics: A Challenge for the Applied Researcher

We explored the feasibility and usefulness of collecting peer sociometric data on a sample of children from across southeastern New England who were being followed in a community-based longitudinal study. Applying what has typically been a school-focused research methodology to this child-focused follow-up highlighted challenges faced by applied researchers wanting to make use of this powerful method for assessing social adjustment in their school-aged participants. It also allowed us to conduct a “real-world” test of the 1998 sociometric sampling study by Terry et al., who concluded that valid sociometric data can be obtained from a small pool of classroom peers. Through presentation of our efforts to obtain sociometric data on 57 target children and the results of these child-focused sociometrics, we illustrate and discuss the methodological and pragmatic issues surrounding the use of child-focused (in contrast to the more typical school-focused) approach to sociometrics. School consent for child-focused sociometrics was the most formidable challenge to successful data collection in this study. In our discussion we present new data from a child-focused sociometric assessment of psychiatrically hospitalized children that demonstrate how emphasizing the clinical relevance of these data can help clinicians and applied researchers better address this particular challenge.

Implementation of the PATHS Curriculum in an Urban Elementary School.

We examined the effectiveness of the PATHS curriculum in a magnet elementary school serving a distressed urban area. Aspects of social-emotional competence were examined for second graders who had, and had not, received the PATHS intervention. The intervention groups differed, with the control group having lower social-emotional competence than the intervention group. The measures that contributed most to this effect were objective ratings of observed social competence, and self-reports of child depression and social rejection. School personnel reported modest enthusiasm and approval of the PATHS curriculum. The importance of school acceptance, and contexts that may enhance such acceptance, are discussed.

Sociometric status of child inpatients in clinical and normative peer groups Is peer status in a clinical setting a useful measure of adjustment

This research examined whether peer sociometric status, a powerful indicator of social maladjustment and psychological risk in normative peer groups, is a meaningful indicator of adjustment when assessed in clinical settings. In Study 1, 92 child psychiatric inpatients participated in unit-based sociometric assessments. Depression, anxiety, hopelessness, self-esteem, and behavioral disturbance were also assessed. Overall, inpatient peer status was related to concurrent adjustment and contributed to increased maladjustment in the hospital setting over time. Study 2 evaluated the extent to which inpatient peer status is related to more traditional assessments of peer status using a smaller sample. Childrens social status on the unit with inpatient peers was compared to their social status at school with school peers at the time of admission. Inpatient peer status was significantly related to school peer status and to teacher-rated adjustment in school. The value of collecting peer sociometric data in treatment settings as an indicator of concurrent adjustment and as a window into adjustment in other contexts is discussed.

Peer-Nominated Deviant Talk Within Residential Treatment: Individual and Group Influences on Treatment Response

This research examined deviant talk during summer residential treatment using peer nominations and extensive field observations. Participants were 239 youth (Mage = 12.62, SD = 2.60; 67% male), nested in 26 treatment groups. Deviant talk was present in this setting, showed individual differences, and increased over time, especially for younger boys. As expected, its relationship to treatment response was moderated by peer behavior. Initial levels of individual deviant talk were related to clinical improvement, but primarily when peer deviant talk was low. Initial levels of peer deviant talk were related to higher than expected end of treatment aggression, especially for youth who were high in deviant talk. Deviant talk effects were observed for staff impressions of change and observations of aggression and adjustment. Initial antisocial behavior affected whether individual or peer levels of deviant talk more heavily influenced treatment response. Implications for clinical assessment and treatment monitoring are discussed.

Grief and Attitudes Toward Suicide in Peers Affected by a Cluster of Suicides as Adolescents

Eighty-five young adults exposed to a cluster of peer suicides as adolescents completed measures of attitudes toward suicide, grief, and social support. Closeness to the peers lost to suicide was positively correlated with grief and the belief that suicide is not preventable, with grief further elevated in close individuals with high social support from friends. Overall, social support was related to healthy attitudes about suicide including preventability, yet it was also related to some stigmatizing beliefs. Compared with 67 young adults who had not been exposed to a suicide cluster, the exposed sample was more likely to think that suicide is normal but more likely to think of it as incomprehensible.