Peer Relationships and Their Dysfunction: Considering the Child's Perspective

Abstract

Although numerous studies have examined the behavioral and social-cognitive characteristics of children experiencing peer difficulties, the importance of children's own thoughts, feelings, and pen options have been relatively neglected. In extending this literature, our own reset research is derived in part from social-psychological research on loneliness and from clinical research on social anxiety in adults. Results indicated that the negative patterns of self-perceptions associated with loneliness in adults are also evident in lonely children and may indeed contribute to maladaptive social relationships Subsequent research examining the role of social anxiety indicated that this affective state may be a more important variable in understanding peer difficulties in girls than in boys. These initial results clearly suggest that self-perception variables may be critical in understanding the complexities of interpersonal difficulties, and that greater integration of clinical, social, and developmental rese...