Doran C. French

Predictors of Early Initiation of Sexual Intercourse among High-Risk Adolescents:

This longitudinal study assessed the characteristics that predicted the timing of first sexual intercourse in a high-risk sample of adolescents between the ages of 11 and 14 years. The analyses were conducted with 162 adolescents (total sample of 215) who were virgins at baseline and for whom it was possible to determine the date of first sexual intercourse. Event history analyses were employed and predictor variables were defined using multimethod and multiagent assessments. The modal age of first intercourse was 14 years. Pubertal status, externalizing ratings, delinquency, substance use, monitoring, and deviant-peer involvement were univariate predictors of age of first sexual intercourse, whereas deviant-peer involvement was the sole predictor in the multivariate analysis. These results suggest that precocious sexual initiation can be understood using models of the etiology of other problem behavior and that deviant-peer involvement is a particularly salient dimension of this trajectory.

School Dropout as Predicted by Peer Rejection and Antisocial Behavior

This longitudinal study assessed the prediction of school dropout from measures of antisocial behavior, social preference, and achievement. The sample was assessed at 8th grade (n= 516) and was expanded at 10th grade (n= 1157). In the 8th, but not 10th grade, rejected–antisocial students had higher dropout rates than those in other groups. Seperate logistic regression analyses were then conducted using the 8th- and 10th-grade data. Across both sets of analyses, aggression and achievement, but not social preference, predicted subsequent dropout. These results, in conjunction with those of others, suggests that social preference does not uniquely predict school dropout. The possibility exists, however, that youth who are both antisocial and rejected may be at heightened risk for school dropout.

United States and Indonesian Children’s and Adolescents’ Reports of Relational Aggression by Disliked Peers

Descriptions of disliked peers provided by U.S. (N = 104) and Indonesian (N = 120) 11- and 14-year-old children were coded for references to physical, verbaL and three types of relational aggression (i.e., relationship manipulation, social ostracism, and malicious rumors). Physical aggression was mentioned more frequently by boys, adolescents, and Indonesians, whereas no significant differences emerged for verbal aggression. Girls in both countries described peers as engaging in the three types of relational aggression more frequently than did boys. Findings that relational aggression was spontaneously mentioned suggests that this is a salient feature of childrens lives and its emergence is not attributable to the use of questionnaires and imposed category systems. The widespread existence of this gender difference is suggested by its prominence in two cultures that differ in individualism and collectivism, gender roles, and attitudes toward aggression.

Behavior Problems of Peer-Neglected and Peer-Rejected Elementary-Age Children: Parent and Teacher Perspectives.

Rejected, neglected, popular, and average-status children were selected on the basis of positive and negative sociometric measures from a total sample of 870 8- and 11-year-old children. Teachers completed the School Behavior Checklist and parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist for selected children. No age or sex differences were found. On both scales, rejected children were found to exhibit more behavior problems than neglected, popular, or average children. Neglected children did not exhibit more behavior problems than children of average status.

Peer Interaction in Same- and Mixed-Age Triads in Relation to Chronological Age and Incentive Condition.

GRAZIANO, WILLIAM; FRENCH, DORAN; BROWNELL, CELIA A.; and H.ARTUP, WILLARD W. Peer Interaction in Sameand Mixed-Age Triads in Relation to Chronological Age and Incentive Condition. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 707-714. Task performance was compared in sameand mixed-age triads of firstand third-grade children. Half the triads worked for individual rewards, while the remainder worked for group rewards. Considered as units, the mixed-age triads performed as well as the same-age triads, although there was more conversation in the latter. Considered in terms of individual performance, mixed-age conditions produced different effects at the 2 grade levels. Mixed-age conditions stimulated greater task activity than same-age conditions among the third graders, but not among the first graders. Performance was better with group than with individual rewards, but the effects of age mixture did not depend on incentive condition.

Religious Involvement and the Social Competence and Adjustment of Indonesian Muslim Adolescents

This study assessed the relation between religious involvement and multiple indices of competence in 183 eighth- and ninth-grade Indonesian Muslim adolescents (M = 13.3 years). The authors assessed spirituality and religiosity using both parent and adolescent reports, and social competence and adjustment using multiple measures and data sources. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that parent and adolescent reports of religiosity and spirituality yielded a single religious involvement latent variable that was related to peer group status, academic achievement, emotional regulation, prosocial behavior, antisocial/problem behavior, internalizing behavior, and self-esteem. The consistency of relations between religious involvement and competence may be in part attributable to the collectivist context of religion in West Java, Indonesia, within which people exhibit strong beliefs in Islam and religion permeates daily life.

Adjustment of antisocial and nonantisocial rejected adolescents.

This study was designed to expand the investigation of peer-rejected subgroup differences to adolescence. A sample of 501 eighth-grade adolescents (age 13–14 years) were assessed. These students and their classmates (1,082 15–16-year-olds) were assessed at 10th grade. Rejected-antisocial and rejected-nonantisocial subgroups were identified at both time periods using peer ratings of social status and antisocial behavior. They were compared with accepted, accepted-antisocial, and accepted-nonantisocial subgroups. Results are consistent with past research indicating significant heterogeneity within the rejected population. Rejected-antisocial adolescents exhibited elevated problem behavior (substance use and deviant peer involvement), depression, and school adjustment difficulties (low attendance, low achievement, and school discipline problems). Rejected-nonantisocial students in contrast exhibited little problem behavior, but were characterized by low physical attractiveness and lower involvement in athletics. Discussions of psychopathological risk associated with peer rejection must account for the heterogeneity and extreme differences between antisocial and nonantisocial-rejected adolescents. Comparison of antisocial and nonantisocial-rejected children with their respective antisocial and nonantisocial-accepted comparison groups revealed few differences. This calls into question the unique contribution of rejection in the development of psychopathology.

Friendships of Indonesian and United States youth

Issues in the study of friendship across cultures were explored by reviewing a set of studies focusing on the friendships of Indonesian and United States youth. Four topics are considered: similarity of friendships across cultures, dimensions of friendships that vary across cultures, the utility of the individualism/collectivism dimension for explaining cultural differences in friendship, and methodological issues in the study of culture and friendship. Two studies are presented that address some of these issues. Although friendships of US and Indonesian youth are similar across many dimensions, the friendships of Indonesian youth appear somewhat less close, more centred on instrumental aid, less focused on enhancement of worth, and more extensive and less exclusive than those of US youth. These patterns are opposite to those that have emerged in the comparison of those in the US and other collectivist cultures, suggesting the need to modify models of collectivism and friendship. Finally, the authors advocate the use of multimethod and multiagent assessments, addressing issues of social class in cross-cultural comparison, and using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to study culture and friendship.

A Comparison Of The Social Competencies Of Learning Disabled And Low Achieving Elementary-Aged Children

The social competencies of learning disabled (LD) and non-LD low achieving (LA) children were investigated in two studies. First, the social status of 101 LD, 156 LA, and 608 normally achieving children were assessed using peer sociometric ratings. LD and LA children received statistically significant lower ratings than normally achieving students. LD children were lower in social status than non-LD children, but did not differ significantly from LA children. Furthermore, approximately 70% of the LD children did not experience social rejection. In Study 2, parent and teacher behavior ratings were obtained for rejected and accepted LD and LA children to assess the comparability of these populations. Both LD and LA rejected children exhibited lower social competence and a greater incidence of behavior problems than did accepted children. Contrary to predictions, no differences between LD boys and girls were found in either study. Findings of significant heterogeneity in social status and the failure to find specific behavioral qualities associated with the presence of learning disabilities contradict arguments that social skill deficits constitute a major defining characteristic of the LD population.

Peer Relationships in Cultural Context: Culture and Peer Relationships

Cultural context plays an important role in the development of individual social and behavioral characteristics and peer relationships (e.g., Hinde, 1987). As a result, children in different cultures may engage in different types of social interactions and develop different types of relationships. Moreover, cultural values and beliefs, particularly those pertaining to developmental goals and socialization practices, may affect the function and organization of peer relationships. Specifically, cultural norms and values may serve as a basis for the interpretation of particular behaviors (e.g., aggression, sociability, shyness–inhibition) and for the judgment about the appropriateness of these behaviors. The interpretation and evaluation of social behaviors in turn may have pervasive implications for the processes of peer interactions and the formation of dyadic and group relationships. Finally, the cultural aspects of childrens peer experiences are reflected in how they affect developmental pathways and outcomes. For example, the extent to which childrens interactions with each other do or do not include responsibility for younger children in a culture (see Gaskins, this volume) may be associated with the later display of nurturance and prosocial behavior. Despite the importance of cultural context for individual social functioning and peer interactions, the research on peer relationships has traditionally focused on Western, particularly North American, cultures. In the past decade, researchers have expanded their work considerably in non-Western regions of the world (e.g., Brown, Larson, & Saraswathi, 2002).