Sociometric Status among Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents in a Residential Treatment Program

Abstract

Positive and negative peer nominations were collected longitudinally for 64 adolescents in a 15-bed residential treatment program, beginning with each adolescent's first week of admission. Prior to admission, parent ratings of social competence and problem behaviors were collected. Behavior observations and clinician ratings of social behavior were also collected. The study goals were to determine if social status could be reliably assessed in this peer group, if it could be predicted from measures of social activity collected prior to admission and whether it correlated with patterns of social behavior. The results indicated good week-to-week stability for acceptance, rejection and social preference. Social impact was not generally reliable. Parent ratings of problematic behavior prior to admission significantly predicted acceptance and social preference established later in the clinical milieu. Preferred social status in the residential milieu was related to more socially competent patterns of behavior. Finally, low social status was associated with a longer hospital stay and with lower IQ. The study provides support for the use of sociometric procedures in the study of social competence and adolescent psychopathology. The clinical relevance of systematically monitoring milieu social relationships is discussed.