Abstract
Parent, teacher, and peer ratings were collected for 75 grade school boys to test the hypothesis that certain family interaction patterns would be associated with poor peer relations. Path analyses provided support for a mediational model, in which punitive and ineffective discipline was related to child conduct problems in home and school settings which, in turn, predicted poor peer relations. Further analyses suggested that distinct subgroups of boys could be identified who exhibited conduct problems at home only, at school only, in both settings, or in neither setting. Boys who exhibited cross-situational conduct problems were more likely to experience multiple concurrent problems (e.g., in both home and school settings) and were more likely than any other group to experience poor peer relations. However, only about onethird of the boys with poor peer relations in this sample exhibited problem profiles consistent with the proposed model (e.g., experienced high rates of punitive/ineffective home discipline and exhibited conduct problems in home and school settings), suggesting that the proposed model reflects one common (but not exclusive) pathway to poor peer relations.
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This research was supported in part by a Scholars in Mental Health of Children grant awarded by the W. T. Grant Foundation to the first author.
We are indebted to Julian F. Thayer for his statistical consultation and insightful comments and to Timothy G. Swensen for his helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this manuscript.
Appreciation is also expressed to Rossana D'Alessio, Chris Doran, Julie Hood, Paul Lamon, and Kathryn McPherson for their assistance in data collection and sorting. Finally, we are extremely grateful to the participating boys and their parents and to the faculty and staff at Corl Street, Easterly Parkway, and Park Forest Elementary Schools in State College, Pennsylvania, and Bellefonte Elementary School in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, for their help with and support of this project.
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Bierman, K.L., Smoot, D.L. Linking family characteristics with poor peer relations: The mediating role of conduct problems. J Abnorm Child Psychol 19, 341–356 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00911236
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00911236