Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T16:23:02.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

From boys to men: Predicting adult adaptation from middle childhood sociometric status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2004

SARAH E. NELSON
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School Child and Family Center, University of Oregon
THOMAS J. DISHION
Affiliation:
Child and Family Center, University of Oregon

Abstract

This report examines the predictive validity of sociometric status at age 9–10 to young adult (age 23–24) antisocial behavior, work and school engagement, and arrests using Oregon Youth Study males (N = 206). A variety of analytic strategies included (a) multivariate analyses to examine the variation in adult adaptation as a function of sociometric classification at age 9–10, (b) regression analyses to evaluate the relative contribution of “liked most” and “liked least” peer nominations, and (c) structural equation modeling to predict the young adult outcome constructs from social preference at age 9–10. Contrary to expectation, when controlling for early antisocial behavior and academic skills, boys' social preference scores still predicted young adult outcomes. Longitudinal findings are discussed with respect to the salience of male peer rejection in middle childhood and the social developmental processes that may account for the predictive validity of peer rejection.This project was supported by a grant (MH 37940) from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) to Deborah Capaldi, PhD, Oregon Social Learning Center, and by grants (DA 05304 and DA 16110) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) to the second author (T.J.D.). Thanks to Ann Simas for editing and graphics preparation on this manuscript.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1981). Behavioral problems and competencies reported by parents of normal and disturbed children aged four through sixteen. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 46, 82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brendgen, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (2000). Deviant friends and early adolescents' emotional and behavioral adjustment. Journal of Research on Adolescence 10, 173189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cairns, R. B., Cairns, B. D., Neckerman, H. J., Gest, S. D., & Gariépy, J. L. (1988). Social networks and aggressive behavior: Peer support or peer rejection. Developmental Psychology 24, 815823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capaldi, D., & Patterson, G. R. (1987). An approach to the problem of recruitment and retention rates for longitudinal research. Behavioral Assessment 9, 169177.Google Scholar
Coie, J. D., & Cillessen, A. H. (1993). Peer rejection: Origins and effects on children's development. Current Directions in Psychological Science 2, 8992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1988). Multiple sources of data on social behavior and social status in the school: A cross-age comparison. Child Development 59, 815829.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology 18, 557570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coie, J. D., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (1983). A behavioral analysis of emerging social status in boys' groups. Child Development 54, 14001416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, K. P., & McCord, J. (2002). A longitudinal examination of the relation between co-offending with violent accomplices and violent crime. Aggressive Behavior 28, 97108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowen, E. L., Pederson, A., Babigian, H., Izzo, L. D., & Trost, M. A. (1973). Long-term follow-up of early detected vulnerable children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 41, 438446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J. (1990). The family ecology of boys' peer relations in middle childhood. Child Development 61, 874892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Capaldi, D. M., Spracklen, K. M., & Li, F. (1995). Peer ecology of male adolescent drug use. Development and Psychopathology 7, 803824.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Eddy, J. M., Haas, E., Li, F., & Spracklen, K. (1997). Friendships and violent behavior during adolescence. Social Development 6, 207223.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., French, D. C., & Patterson, G. R. (1995). The development and ecology of antisocial behavior. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 421471). New York: Wiley.
Dishion, T. J., Nelson, S. E., Winter, C. E., & Bullock, B. M. (in press). Friendship interactions in the development and course of antisocial behavior: Entropy as a dynamic index of self-organized deviance. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., & Griesler, P. C. (1994). Peer adaptations in the development of antisocial behavior: A confluence model. In L. R. Huesmann (Ed.), Aggressive behavior: Current perspectives (pp. 6195). New York: Plenum Press.
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., Stoolmiller, M., & Skinner, M. S. (1991). Family, school, and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers. Developmental Psychology 27, 172180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Spracklen, K. M., Andrews, D. W., & Patterson, G. R. (1996). Deviancy training in male adolescents friendships. Behavior Therapy 27, 373390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A. (1983). Behavioral antecedents of peer social status. Child Development 54, 13861399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Burks, V. S., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., Fontaine, R., & Price, J. M. (2003). Peer rejection and social-information processing factors in the development of aggressive behavior problems in children. Child Development, 374393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelbrock, C. S., & Achenbach, T. M. (1984). The teacher version of the Child Behavior Profile: I. Boys aged 6–11. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 52, 207217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, D. S., Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S. S. (1985). Explaining delinquency and drug use. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Eron, L. D. (1987). The development of aggressive behavior from the perspective of a developing behaviorism. American Psychologist 42, 435442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fast Track Research Group (2002). Evaluation of the first 3 years of the Fast Track prevention trial with children at high risk for adolescent conduct problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 30, 1935.Google Scholar
Fergusson, D. M., Woodward, L. J., & Horwood, L. J. (1999). Childhood peer relationship problems and young people's involvement with deviant peers in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 27, 357369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giordano, P. C., Cernkovich, S. A., & Pugh, M. D. (1986). Friendships and delinquency. American Journal of Sociology 91, 11701202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartup, W. W. (1983). Peer relations. In P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.), E. M. Hetherington (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality and social development (pp. 103196). New York: Wiley.
Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development 67, 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huesmann, L. R., Eron, L. D., Lefkowitz, M. M., & Walder, L. O. (1984). Stability of aggression over time and generations. Developmental Psychology 20, 11201134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kandel, D. B. (1978). Similarity in real-life adolescent friendship pairs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36, 306312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupersmidt, J. B., & Coie, J. D. (1990). Preadolescent peer status, aggression, and school adjustment as predictors of externalizing problems in adolescence. Child Development 61, 13501362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupersmidt, J. B., DeRosier, M. E., & Patterson, C. P. (1995). Similarity as the basis for children's friendships: The roles of sociometric status, aggressive and withdrawn behavior, academic achievement and demographic characteristics. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 12, 439452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupersmidt, J. B., & Patterson, G. R. (1991). Childhood peer rejection, aggression, withdrawal, and perceived competence as predictors of self-reported behavior problems in preadolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 19, 427449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, A. K. (1985). Early rejected status and later social adjustment: A 3-year follow-up. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 13, 567577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and lifecourse-persistent anti-social behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review 100, 674701.Google Scholar
Muthén, B. O., & Muthén, L. (2001). MPlus Users' Guide (Version 2.02) [Computer software]. Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin 102, 357389.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). A social learning approach: IV. Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Peery, C. J. (1979). Popular, amiable, isolated, rejected: A reconceptualization of sociometric status in preschool children. Child Development 50, 12311234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child. New York: Basic Books.CrossRef
Roff, M., & Sells, S. B. (1970). Juvenile delinquency in relation to peer acceptance–rejection and socio-economic status. Psychology in the Schools 5, 318.Google Scholar
Rowe, D. C., & Osgood, D. W. (1984). Heredity and sociology theories of delinquency: A reconsideration. American Sociological Review 49, 526540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoolmiller, M., Eddy, J. M., & Reid, J. B. (2000). Detecting and describing preventive intervention effects in a universal school-based randomized trial targeting delinquent and violent behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68, 296306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: Norton.
Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R. E., Kerr, M., Pagani, L., & Bukowski, W. M. (1997). Disruptiveness, friends' characteristics, and delinquency in early adolescence: A test of two competing models of development. Child Development 68, 676689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar