Children's Classroom Peer Relationships and Subsequent Educational Outcomes

Abstract

Used children's peer relationships (social preference, aggression, and withdrawal) to predict educational outcomes in a 10-year longitudinal study of 524 students in Grades 3 to 5. Consistent with prior research, lower social preference and elevated aggression and withdrawal were each associated with lower graduation rates; however, only aggression uniquely predicted outcomes. Ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) predicted educational outcomes and moderated the association between peer acceptance and outcomes. Social preference predicted educational outcomes of Caucasian and middle SES students but not African American and low SES students; when ethnicity and SES were included in the same model, only the moderating effect of SES was a significant predictor of educational outcome. Ethnicity also interacted with social withdrawal such that withdrawal predicted more negative educational outcomes for African American but not Caucasian students. When academic achievement scores and being over-age for grade were included in our model, only peer-rated aggression significantly added to the prediction of educational outcomes.