John D. Coie

Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective.

Childrens sociometric status was conceptualized in terms of independent dimensions of social preference and social impact. In Experiment 1, peer perceptual correlates of these dimensions were investigated with children in Grades 3, 5, and 8. Social preference was highly positively related to cooperativeness, supportiveness, and physical attractiveness and negatively related to disruptiveness and aggression. Social impact was related to active, salient behaviors of both positive and negative valence. Whereas the correlates were found to be similar at each grade level, greater proportions of the variance in these dimensions could be predicted at the younger ages than at the older ages. In Experiment 2, these dimensions were used to select children into five sociometric status groups, called popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average. Peer perceptions of the behavioral correlates of these groups were solicited and found to reveal distinct profiles. A previously unidentified group of controversial children was perceived as disruptive and aggressive (like the rejected group), but also as social leaders (like popular children). It is suggested that researchers consider controversial children as a distinct group in future behavioral and epidemiological studies.

Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups.

We examined social-information-processing mechanisms (e.g., hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits) in chronic reactive and proactive aggressive behavior in childrens peer groups. In Study 1, a teacher-rating instrument was developed to assess these behaviors in elementary school children (N = 259). Reactive and proactive scales were found to be internally consistent, and factor analyses partially supported convergent and discriminant validities. In Study 2, behavioral correlates of these forms of aggression were examined through assessments by peers (N = 339). Both types of aggression related to social rejection, but only proactively aggressive boys were also viewed as leaders and as having a sense of humor. In Study 3, we hypothesized that reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) would occur as a function of hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits. Four groups of socially rejected boys (reactive aggressive, proactive aggressive, reactive-proactive aggressive, and nonaggressive) and a group of average boys were presented with a series of hypothetical videorecorded vignettes depicting provocations by peers and were asked to interpret the intentions of the provocateur (N = 117). Only the two reactive-aggressive groups displayed biases and deficits in interpretations. In Study 4, attributional biases and deficits were found to be positively correlated with the rate of reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) displayed in free play with peers (N = 127). These studies supported the hypothesis that attributional biases and deficits are related to reactive aggression but not to proactive aggression.

Peer rejection in childhood

Introduction 1. Recent advances in the study of peer rejection S. R. Asher Part I. Behavioural Characteristics of Peer Rejected Children: 2. Peer group behavior and social status J. D. Coie, K. A. Dodge and J. Kupersmidt 3. Childrens entry behavior M. Putallaz and A. Wasserman 4. Preschoolers behavioral orientations and patterns of peer contact: predictive of peer status? G. R. Ladd, J. M. Price and C. H. Hart Part II. Parent-Child Relations and Peer Rejection: 5. Social withdrawal in childhood: developmental pathways to peer rejection K. H. Rubin, L. J. Lemare and S. Lollis 6. Parent-child interaction M. Putallaz and A. H. Heflin Part III. Social-Cognitive Process: 7. Issues in social cognition and sociometric status K. A. Dodge and E. Feldman 8. Reputational bias: view from the peer group S. Hymel, E. Wagner and L. J. Butler Part IV. Consequences of Peer Rejection: 9. Peer rejection and loneliness in childhood S. R. Asher, J. T. Parkhurst, S. Hymell and G. A. Williams 10. The role of poor peer relationships in the development of disorder J. Kupersmidt, J. D. Coie and K. A. Dodge Part V. Issues in Intervention Research: 11. Adapting intervention to the problems of aggressive and disruptive rejected children J. D. Coie and G. K. Koeppl 12. Toward the development of successful social skill training for preschool children J. Mize and G. W. Ladd Conclusion: 13. Toward a theory of peer rejection J. D. Coie.

Predicting early adolescent disorder from childhood aggression and peer rejection.

Two large cohorts of Black 3rd-grade children from low-income families were followed into early adolescence. Adjustment at the end of the 1st year of middle school was assessed by teacher and parent ratings and by adolescent self-reports. Childhood peer social status predicted parent-reported externalized and internalized disorder and self-reported internalized disorder. Childhood aggression predicted self-reported externalized and internalized disorder and parent-reported externalized disorder. Teacher ratings of school adjustment were predicted by aggression, rejection, and sex of the child. Consensus judgments of poor adjustment were predicted by both aggression and peer rejection, with sex moderating the effect of peer rejection. Both childhood aggression and peer rejection appear to be significant predictors of adolescent disorder, with each making a predictive contribution uniquely its own.

Behavior patterns of socially rejected and neglected preadolescents: The roles of social approach and aggression

Sociometric nominations were used to select groups of popular, average, rejected, and neglected third- and fifth-grade children. In two studies, the peer interactive behaviors of these children were naturalistically observed in their classrooms and on the playground. In contrast to popular children, rejected children displayed fewer task-appropriate behaviors and more task inappropriate and aggessive behaviors. Whereas rejected children prosocially approached peers as frequently as did popular children, peer responses to the approaches of rejected children were more likely to be negative. Neglected children, on the other hand, displayed relatively few task-inappropriate and aggressive behaviors, and socially approached peers infrequently. Their approaches also met with frequent rebuff by peers. The findings were discussed in terms of the behavioral bases of sociometric status. Suggestions were made for clinical researchers interested in behavioral change with rejected and neglected children.

Erratum: Childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of stable patterns of adolescent disorder

The significance of childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of adolescent disorder was tested on 1147 children who were followed longitudinally from Grade 3 through Grade 10. Growth curve analyses of parent- and self-reported problems suggested that boys who were both aggressive and rejected in third grade had profiles of increasingly severe internalizing and externalizing problems across three assessment points in adolescence. Other groups showed either decreasing symptom patterns from Grade 6 to 10 or had consistently lower problem profiles. The longitudinal patterns were more complex for the girls. Childhood peer rejection was the only predictor of stable disorder as reported by parents, whereas self-reported externalizing problems were best predicted by childhood aggression.

The Relation between Behavior Problems and Peer Preference in Different Classroom Contexts

This study tested two alternative hypotheses regarding the relations between child behavior and peer preference. The first hypothesis is generated from the person-group similarity model, which predicts that the acceptability of social behaviors will vary as a function of peer group norms. The second hypothesis is generated by the social skill model, which predicts that behavioral skill deficiencies reduce and behavioral competencies enhance peer preference. A total of 2895 children in 134 regular first-grade classrooms participated in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to compare four different behaviors as predictors of peer preference in the context of classrooms with varying levels of these behavior problems. The results of the study supported both predictive models, with the acceptability of aggression and withdrawal varying across classrooms (following a person-group similarity model) and the effects of inattentive/hyperactive behavior (in a negative direction) and prosocial behavior (in a positive direction) following a social skill model and remaining constant in their associations with peer preference across classrooms. Gender differences also emerged, with aggression following the person-group similarity model for boys more strongly than for girls. The effects of both child behaviors and the peer group context on peer preference and on the trajectory of social development are discussed.

Social-Cognitive and Behavioral Correlates of Aggression and Victimization in Boys' Play Groups

A contrived play group procedure was utilized to examine the behavioral and social-cognitive correlates of reactive aggression, proactive aggression, and victimization via peers. Eleven play groups, each of which consisted of six familiar African-American 8-year-old boys, met for 45-min sessions on five consecutive days. Social-cognitive interviews were conducted following the second and fourth sessions. Play group interactions were videotaped and examined by trained observers. High rates of proactive aggression were associated with positive outcome expectancies for aggression/assertion, frequent displays of assertive social behavior, and low rates of submissive behavior. Reactive aggression was associated with hostile attributional tendencies and frequent victimization by peers. Victimization was associated with submissive behavior, hostile attributional bias, reactive aggression, and negative outcome expectations for aggression/assertion. These results demonstrate that there is a theoretically coherent and empirically distinct set of correlates associated with each of the examined aggression subtypes, and with victimization by peers.

Effects of academic tutoring on the social status of low-achieving, socially rejected children

COIE, JOHN D., and KREHBIEL, GINA. Effects of Academic Tutoring on the Social Status of Lowachieving, Socially Rejected Children, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1984, 55, 1465-1478. 40 socially rejected, low-achieving fourth graders were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 clinical intervention conditions: academic skills training (AS), social skills training (SS), combination (AS and SS), and control. Social rejection was defined by low social preference scores on positive and negative sociometric items. Low achievement was defined by lower than 36th percentile standing on the California Achievement Tests in reading or mathematics. Achievement and sociometric scores were obtained at the end of third grade (preintervention), fourth grade (postintervention), and fifth grade (follow-up). Classroom observations were made before and after intervention. The 2 x 2 (AS x SS) analyses ofcovariance revealed that AS training produced significant improvement in reading, math, and social preference scores. All but the math progress was sustained at the time of follow-up. SS training only resulted in significant reading comprehension progress. The AS groups showed significantly reduced off-task behavior and more on-task behavior. The AS groups tended to become less disruptive. They also experienced increases in positive teacher attention. The advantages of focusing on academic competency for this subset of rejected children are discussed in terms of the behavior changes, the enduring quality of the change, and models of interaction between academic and social effectiveness.

Predicting Developmental Outcomes at School Entry Using a Multiple-Risk Model: Four American Communities

The contributions of different risk factors in predicting childrens psychological and academic outcomes at the end of 1st grade were examined. Using a regression model, levels of ecobehavioral risk were assessed in the following order: specific demographics, broad demographics, family psychosocial status, mothers depressive symptoms, and neighborhood quality. Participants were 337 families from 4 American communities. Predictor variables were assessed in kindergarten, and teacher, parent, and child outcomes (behavioral and academic) were assessed at the end of 1st grade. Results indicated that (a) each level of analysis contributed to prediction of most outcomes, (b) 18%-29% of the variance was predicted in outcomes, (c) a common set of predictors predicted numerous outcomes, (d) ethnicity showed little unique prediction, and (e) the quality of the neighborhood showed small but unique prediction to externalizing problems.