The current research examined the bidirectional effects between internalizing problems and peer victimization within a meta-analytic framework. The study also investigated several potential ...moderators of these effects which have not been examined previously in relation to meta-analytic studies. Only longitudinal studies examining the association between internalizing symptoms and peer victimization from five online databases were included and after screening 7,122 articles, 85 studies were included with a total of 117,520 participants. Results supported a bidirectional relationship between internalizing symptoms and peer victimization with small effects for both: victimization to internalizing, r = .18 and internalizing to victimization, r = .19. There were few differences between effects based on moderators. The effects were consistent across youth’s age and sex. Although significant effects in both directions were shown for most forms of victimization, internalizing more strongly predicted cyber victimization than traditional forms of victimization. The results hold implications for theories of the interplay between peer relationships and internalizing psychopathology and may help to improve treatment or early intervention programs.
•Peer victimization predicts higher internalizing symptoms in school-aged children.•Higher internalizing symptoms predict increases in peer victimization.•The bidirectional relationships were consistent across age, sex, and study interval.•Findings hold across all forms of victimization and especially cyberbullying.•Effects were maintained when self-reported and when reported by different informants.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Dynamic social network studies can separate peer influence from selection.•Delinquency and weapon carrying are related to peer influence.•Peer dynamics in direct aggression depend on context and ...person.•Social needs may be driving peer influence in antisocial behavior.
In adolescence, peer influences are important in the development of antisocial behavior. Previous empirical work has often focused on peer similarity to make claims about peer influence. However, peer similarity can be the result of both peer selection and influence, or general social network processes, such as reciprocity (preference for mutual friendships) and transitivity (preference for becoming friends with the friends of one’s friend). Empirically, it is often difficult to separate these processes from each other. Only recently, studies have been able to statistically separate selection from influence, using dynamic social network models. These new models thus allow for a closer study of peer influence on the development of antisocial behavior. The current article presents a review of recent empirical studies that have used dynamic social network analyses to study peer influence effects for different forms of antisocial behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency, externalizing behavior, weapon carrying) as these forms may be differently affected by peer influence. Studies that lump different kinds of antisocial behavior together as “externalizing behavior” show mixed results with regard to peer influence. With regard to the development of delinquency and weapon carrying, peer influences were observed in studies that had six month to one-year measurement intervals, but not in those with shorter intervals. With regard to direct forms of aggression, peer influence was only observed in certain contexts and depended on individual antisocial traits. What is recommended for further advance in the field of peer influence is to avoid container variables of antisocial behavior (such as “externalizing behavior”), to pay close attention to the role of status and belonging needs, and to focus more strongly on a detailed examination of the sequential order of peer selection and influence processes and their moderation by individual and contextual conditions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
After sketching how my own interest and research into bullying problems began, I address a number of potentially controversial issues related to the definition and measurement of such problems. The ...importance of maintaining the distinctions between bullying victimization and general victimization and between bullying perpetration and general aggression is strongly emphasized. There are particular problems with the common method of peer nominations for purposes of prevalence estimation, comparisons of such estimates and mean levels across groups and time, and measurement of change. Two large-scale projects with time series data show that several recent claims about cyber bullying made in the media and by some researchers are greatly exaggerated and lack scientific support. Recent meta-analyses of the long-term outcomes for former bullies and victims provide convincing evidence that being involved in such problems is not just a harmless and passing school problem but something that has serious adjustment and public health consequences that also entail great costs to society. Another section presents my view of why the theme of bullying took quite some time to reach the peer relations research community in the United States and the role of a dominant research tradition focusing on "likeability" in this account. In a final section, I summarize some reasons why it may be considered important and interesting to focus both research and intervention on bully victim problems.
The Teenage Brain: Sensitivity to Social Evaluation Somerville, Leah H.
Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society,
04/2013, Volume:
22, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Relative to childhood, peer relationships take on a heightened importance during adolescence. Might adolescents be highly attuned to information that concerns when and how they are being evaluated ...and what their peers think of them? This review evaluates how continuing brain development—which influences brain function—partially explains and reflects adolescents' attunement to social evaluation. Though preliminary, evidence is mounting to suggest that while processing information relevant to social evaluation and the internal states of other people, adolescents respond with heightened emotional intensity and corresponding nonlinear recruitment of socioaffective brain circuitry. This review highlights research findings that relate trajectories of brain development to social behavior and discusses promising avenues of future research that will inform how brain development might lead adolescents to be sensitized to social evaluation.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Investigators have long recognized that adolescents’ peer experiences provide a crucial context for the acquisition of developmental competencies, as well as potential risks for a range of adjustment ...difficulties. However, recent years have seen an exponential increase in adolescents’ adoption of social media tools, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of adolescent peer interactions. Although research has begun to examine social media use among adolescents, researchers have lacked a unifying framework for understanding the impact of social media on adolescents’ peer experiences. This paper represents Part 1 of a two-part theoretical review, in which we offer a
transformation framework
to integrate interdisciplinary social media scholarship and guide future work on social media use and peer relations from a theory-driven perspective. We draw on prior conceptualizations of social media as a distinct interpersonal context and apply this understanding to adolescents’ peer experiences, outlining features of social media with particular relevance to adolescent peer relations. We argue that social media transforms adolescent peer relationships in five key ways: by changing the frequency or immediacy of experiences, amplifying experiences and demands, altering the qualitative nature of interactions, facilitating new opportunities for compensatory behaviors, and creating entirely novel behaviors. We offer an illustration of the
transformation framework
applied to adolescents’ dyadic friendship processes (i.e., experiences typically occurring between two individuals), reviewing existing evidence and offering theoretical implications. Overall, the
transformation framework
represents a departure from the prevailing approaches of prior peer relations work and a new model for understanding peer relations in the social media context.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Informed by the interaction of person-affect-cognition-execution (I-PACE) theory, the present studies examined the association between peer rejection, peer popularity, and social media addiction ...(SMA) at both between-person and within-person levels. Two distinct processes, the fear-driven/compensation-seeking process and the reward-driven process were explored. In Study 1, using a cross-sectional sample of high school students ( N = 318), both processes were supported via different cognitive mediators. Support for the fear-driven/compensation-seeking process was demonstrated by finding that avoidance expectancy was a significant cognitive mediator between peer-nominated rejection and SMA. In turn, the reward-driven process was supported by the significant mediation of reward expectancy between peer-nominated popularity and SMA. In Study 2, using ecological momentary assessment with college students ( N = 54), we found the fear-driven/compensation-seeking process partially supported through both between-person and within-person mediations. Specifically, negative affect and social media craving were two affective mediators that linked peer rejection and addictive social media use behaviors. On the other hand, the reward-driven process was predominantly supported by within-person mediations, in which positive affect and social media craving were found to be mediators of the relationship between peer popularity and addictive social media use behaviors. The results underscore that adolescents experiencing rejection tend to use social media to avoid negative feelings and compensate for interpersonal deficits, while adolescents experiencing popularity tend to use social media to maintain positive feelings and gain social rewards. Implications for the assessment, case formulation, and treatment of SMA in counseling practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)
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CEKLJ, FFLJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PEFLJ, UPUK
Emotion dysregulation emerges from an interaction between individual factors and environmental factors. Changes in biological, cognitive, and social systems that characterize adolescence create a ...complex array of environmental factors contributing to emotion dysregulation during this developmental period. In particular, peer victimization (PV) has long-term consequences for emotion dysregulation. Yet, previous research has also indicated that emotion dysregulation can be both an antecedent to and outcome of PV. The present study evaluated reciprocal associations between longitudinal changes within repeated measures of PV and emotion dysregulation across adolescence and into young adulthood. The sample included 167 adolescents (53% male,
= 14.07 years at Time 1) who participated in a longitudinal study across five time points, with approximately 1 year between each assessment. Latent change score modeling was used to examine reciprocal associations between PV and emotion dysregulation. Results emphasize bidirectional associations between PV and emotion dysregulation. Consistent with social information processing theory, greater emotion dysregulation predicted greater relational and overt victimization over time. Moreover, higher overt victimization predicted increases in emotion dysregulation. Our results offer insights toward developmentally informed longitudinal, transactional models linking negative social environments, and emotion dysregulation development across adolescence and into young adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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We examined the links of supportive and conflictual peer interactions to mood and self-care via ecological momentary assessment.
Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes (
= 167, 49% female) recruited ...between 2018 and 2021 were prompted 8 times a day for 8 days to complete brief surveys that measured perceived social interactions, affect, and self-care.
Cross-sectional analyses revealed between- and within-person (WP) links of peer support to positive mood and conflict to negative mood. Between-person peer support was linked to healthy self-care, but WP support was not. Lagged analyses showed conflictual interactions were associated with self-care decline. There was some evidence that females did not benefit as much from support and were more bothered by conflict than others.
Results underscore differences in between- and WP links of social interactions to health. Individual differences in support were more influential than conflict, but conflictual interactions had more momentary effects than supportive interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Over the past two decades, a growing body of research has investigated college students’ friendships and how these relationships can both enable and constrain students’ success. I review this body of ...literature, describing the characteristics and processes of college students’ friendships. First, I review work that describes characteristics of students’ friendships, particularly focused on the roles of similarity and proximity in shaping the friendships students make. Second, I focus on what students do with friends that promote college success. Taking a broad view of success, I focus on how friends facilitate a sense of belonging and identity development as well as specific types of support that students provide, emotionally and academically. Third, I discuss processes related to friendships that impede students from success. I conclude by noting some implications for practice and promising areas of future research on friendships and success for postsecondary students.
Adolescent mental health issues are a major public health concern, highlighted by the US Surgeon General as a crisis. Traditional school-based interventions show inconsistent success, creating a ...demand for effective solutions.
This study evaluates the impact of technology-supported cooperative learning (CL) on adolescent mental health, focusing on positive peer relations and peer victimization.
Participants included 813 adolescents (50.2% female; 70.7% White) from 12 middle and high schools in the Pacific Northwest. The study used hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) to assess the effectiveness of CL facilitated via PeerLearning.net.
Implementing CL led to significant improvements in peer relations and reductions in victimization and mental health problems, with moderate-to-large effect sizes observed across different demographics. Positive peer relations significantly predicted lower victimization and improved mental health.
The findings highlight the potential of technology-supported CL in addressing adolescent mental health by enhancing protective factors and reducing risks. Such interventions offer a scalable and sustainable approach for schools to address mental health challenges.
Technology-supported cooperative learning offers a promising strategy for improving adolescent mental health, demonstrating significant benefits in peer relations and reducing victimization. This approach provides schools with an accessible and effective tool to tackle the mental health crisis among students.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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