Peer Relations of Chinese Adolescent Newcomers: Relations of Peer Group Integration and Friendship Quality to Psychological and School Adjustment

Peer relations researchers have suggested that dyadic and peer group relationship characteristics may interact with each other to affect behavior. Building on prior work that has pitted the relative effects of dyadic and peer group relationship characteristics on susceptibility to peer influence, the present study sought to integrate dyadic and group characteristics into a moderational model by testing whether friendship quality and peer group identification together exacerbate risk for conforming to peer norms for substance use. This longitudinal study included 387 early adolescents assessed annually for 4 years. Participants completed measures of perceived peer delinquency, friendship quality, peer group identification, and substance use frequency. Results indicated that perceived peer delinquency had the strongest association with substance use for adolescents characterized by high friendship quality and high peer group identification. These findings highlight the importance of considering the joint effects of multiple peer relationship characteristics on susceptibility to peer influence.

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Assessing Children's Peer Relationships

Child Psychology and Psychiatry Review ◽

10.1017/s1360641798001737 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 3 (4) ◽

pp. 176-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Debra J. Pepler ◽

Wendy M. Craig

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Present Article ◽

Peer Relationships ◽

Peer Relations ◽

Middle Childhood ◽

Peer Group ◽

Childhood And Adolescence ◽

Group 3 ◽

Adaptive Nature ◽

Interactions With Peers

Peers have both positive and negative influences on children; therefore, considerable attention has focused on assessing peer relationships and friendships through childhood and adolescence. The present article provides an overview of the main methods of assessing peer relationships. The adaptive nature of children's peer relations has been assessed through four main methodologies: (1) asking the children themselves about elements of peer relations and friendships; (2) asking children about their perceptions of others within the peer group; (3) asking adults (i.e. parents and teachers) about the peer relations skills of children in their care; and (4) directly observing children during interactions with peers. Each of these approaches is described, with attention to relative strengths and weaknesses and their suitability for assessing peer relations in early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence.

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School Adjustment and Friendship Quality of First- and Second-Generation Adolescent Immigrants to Spain as a Function of Acculturation

Journal of Adolescent Research ◽

10.1177/0743558415592179 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 750-777 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ibis M. Alvarez Valdivia ◽

Barry H. Schneider ◽

Cecilia Villalobos Carrasco

Keyword(s):

Second Generation ◽

School Adjustment ◽

Friendship Quality ◽

Adolescent Immigrants ◽

First And Second Generation

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School adjustment of first-grade primary school students: Effects of family involvement, externalizing behavior, teacher and peer relations

Children and Youth Services Review ◽

10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 101 ◽

pp. 307-316 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Selen Demirtaş-Zorbaz ◽

Tuncay Ergene

Keyword(s):

Primary School ◽

Family Involvement ◽

Peer Relations ◽

Externalizing Behavior ◽

School Adjustment ◽

First Grade ◽

Primary School Students ◽

School Students

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Relational victimization, friendship, and adolescents' hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis responses to an in vivo social stressor

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579414000261 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 605-618 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Casey D. Calhoun ◽

Sarah W. Helms ◽

Nicole Heilbron ◽

Karen D. Rudolph ◽

Paul D. Hastings ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Peer Relations ◽

Life Stress ◽

Allostatic Load ◽

Friendship Quality ◽

Relational Victimization ◽

Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal ◽

Biological Stress ◽

Wide Range ◽

Social Stressor

AbstractAdolescents' peer experiences may have significant associations with biological stress-response systems, adding to or reducing allostatic load. This study examined relational victimization as a unique contributor to reactive hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis responses as well as friendship quality and behavior as factors that may promote HPA recovery following a stressor. A total of 62 adolescents (ages 12–16; 73% female) presenting with a wide range of life stressors and adjustment difficulties completed survey measures of peer victimization and friendship quality. Cortisol samples were collected before and after a lab-based interpersonally themed social stressor task to provide measures of HPA baseline, reactivity, and recovery. Following the stressor task, adolescents discussed their performance with a close friend; observational coding yielded measures of friends' responsiveness. Adolescents also reported positive and negative friendship qualities. Results suggested that higher levels of adolescents' relational victimization were associated with blunted cortisol reactivity, even after controlling for physical forms of victimization and other known predictors of HPA functioning (i.e., life stress or depressive symptoms). Friendship qualities (i.e., low negative qualities) and specific friendship behaviors (i.e., high levels of responsiveness) contributed to greater HPA regulation; however, consistent with theories of rumination, high friend responsiveness in the context of high levels of positive friendship quality contributed to less cortisol recovery. Findings extend prior work on the importance of relational victimization and dyadic peer relations as unique and salient correlates of adaptation in adolescence.

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Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction.

Developmental Psychology ◽

10.1037/0012-1649.29.4.611 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 611-621 ◽

Cited By ~ 933

Author(s):

Jeffrey G. Parker ◽

Steven R. Asher

Keyword(s):

Middle Childhood ◽

Peer Group ◽

Friendship Quality ◽

Group Acceptance

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The Relationship between Drug and Alcohol Use and Peer Group Associations of College Freshmen as They Transition from High School

Journal of Drug Education ◽

10.2190/dvyx-pux7-ka7t-1x4r ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 177-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Jacqueline Leibsohn

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Alcohol Use ◽

Drug Use ◽

Peer Relations ◽

College Freshmen ◽

Peer Group ◽

Alcoholic Beverages ◽

Drug And Alcohol Use ◽

Transition From High School ◽

Drug And Alcohol

College freshmen responded to a drug and alcohol questionnaire. For drugs other than alcohol and marijuana, the best predictor of drug use at the beginning of college is drug use during a typical month of the senior year of high school. College freshmen, however, use marijuana less frequently than they did in high school and the use of alcoholic beverages increases early in college. While the frequency of alcohol use increases considerably, college freshmen do not increase the number of times they got drunk. It has been hypothesized that the likely change in peer relations between high school and college would alter subsequent rates of drug and alcohol use. However, the data shows that college and high school drug use are very similar and entering freshmen found new friends much like their high school friends to use drugs with and get drunk. Therefore, alcohol and drug use may be important determining factors in the choice of new college friends.

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Longitudinal interplay between peer likeability and youth’s adaptation and psychological well-being: A study of immigrant and nonimmigrant adolescents in the school context

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025419894721 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 (5) ◽

pp. 393-403 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽

Vassilis Pavlopoulos ◽

Stefanos Mastrotheodoros ◽

Jens B. Asendorpf

Keyword(s):

Peer Relations ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

School Adjustment ◽

School Context ◽

Well Being ◽

Immigrant Status ◽

Multiple Sources ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Direction Of Effects ◽

Over Time

The present study examined the direction of effects between peer likeability and youth’s school adjustment and psychological well-being, and the moderation of these effects by students’ immigrant status. One thousand one hundred and eighteen students (63% immigrants) nested in 57 Greek middle-school classrooms took part in the study (Wave 1; age M = 12.6 years). Data were collected from multiple sources and informants. The results reveal complex, in some cases bidirectional effects over time between peer likeability and different indices of school adjustment and psychological well-being. Being liked by Greek, but not by immigrant, classmates influenced students’ well-being over time. In contrast, being liked by either immigrant or Greek classmates predicted changes in students’ school adjustment. The results highlight the importance of supporting positive peer relations among youth in order to promote other adaptation outcomes. In the case of immigrant youth, they suggest that interventions need to promote positive intergroup contact between them and their nonimmigrant classmates in order to support their well-being.

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