Choosing or being chosen by aggressive-disruptive peers: do they contribute to children's externalizing and internalizing problems?
The goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which aggressive-disruptive peers contribute to the development of externalizing and internalizing problems in children, while controlling for children's own behavior. We examined 2 sets of peers: (1) those that the child nominated as friends, and (2) those that nominated the child as a friend. The participants were 236 boys and girls attending 3rd to 5th grade at the beginning of the study, who were followed over a period of 2 years. Results showed that choosing more aggressive peers on the nomination procedure was associated with more externalizing problems and self-reported depressive symptomatology over time. On the other hand, being liked by more aggressive children generally was not associated with elevated externalizing or internalizing problems.
Mrug
Sylvie
S
Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2004, USA. sylva@psych.purdue.edu
Hoza
Betsy
B
Bukowski
William M
WM
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009511:New England; D010379:Peer Group; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012928:Social Desirability