Friends are assumed to be particularly influential at the onset of adolescence, as adult oversight declines and the salience of peers increases. The present longitudinal study tests this claim, comparing the strength of friend influence over academic achievement during late childhood (grades 4–5, ages 8 to 11) to that in early adolescence (grades 6–7, ages 11 to 14) in youth from Florida (USA) and Lithuania. Participants included 278 children (151 girls, 127 boys) in 139 stable reciprocated best friend dyads and 266 young adolescents (133 girls, 133 boys) in 133 stable reciprocated best friend dyads. Three measures of academic achievement were collected at the beginning and end of a single school year: Peer-nominations and self-reports of school performance, and academic grades from school records. Results from longitudinal dyadic analyses revealed age group differences in all three indices of academic achievement. In both groups, friends influenced one another, becoming more similar on peer-, self-, and school reports of academic achievement over time. In each case, however, the magnitude of friend influence was greater in the early adolescent sample than in the late childhood sample. Replication is a strength of the study: Similar results emerged across locations, suggesting that the findings are robust and generalize across different contemporary Western contexts.

This study examines whether selection, deselection, and influence processes contribute to political homogeneity in young adults. Political similarity in newly formed friendships and enduring friendships is distinguished. Using two cohorts from Swiss StudentLife Study (N=921; M age at baseline = 20.1 (SD = 3.6); 18.4% female; 29.0% Non-Swiss) and applying stochastic actor-oriented models, the co-evolution of friendships, defined as an outgoing friendship nomination, and political attitudes was examined. The results provided no evidence that political attitudes significantly affect the formation or maintenance of friendships, nor do influence mechanisms shape political homogeneity. No evidence was found that relationship duration strengthened the influence process. These findings suggest that in contexts of relatively low political engagement and polarization, such as among Swiss students, political attitudes are not a significant factor in the formation or maintenance of social relationships, and peers do not affect each other’s political attitudes.

Although sport participation can have positive benefits for athletes, there are also unique risks for receipt of aggression. Bullying and hazing occurs across teammates in this setting and can have detrimental physical and psychological effects on athletes. This systematic review was designed to explore the sport literature to (1) uncover conceptualizations and associated prevalence of bullying and hazing and (2) elucidate factors related to bullying and hazing. PRISMA guidelines were followed when completing the review, and 38 studies were included. Prevalence rates vary from less than 10% to over 70% across studies, and most studies sampled athletes from the United States or Canada. Factors associated with bullying or hazing experiences included younger athlete ages, newcomer status on team, increased Machiavellianism, aggressive-coercive personality styles, male gender, lower ability or skill level, and social norms for aggression. To strengthen future research in this area, scholars should more intentionally follow American Psychological Association’s Journal Article Reporting Standards and should ensure that chosen definitions and measures of bullying and hazing are reliable and valid in selected samples. Furthermore, it is impossible to consistently understand prevention and intervention efficacies related to bullying and hazing until researchers can define and delineate between varied forms of teammate-to-teammate aggression.

This study examined the bidirectional, longitudinal relationship between loneliness and affective peer status (positive and negative) during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence, also focusing on potential sex differences in these dynamics. Using data from a representative sample of 4,462 Polish students (Mage = 9.9, SD = 0.33; 51.0% girls at Wave 1), a two-wave cross-lagged panel model was applied to assess these associations over 1.5 years. The results confirmed the hypothesis of a reciprocal relationship between loneliness and peer status over time: a higher level of loneliness predicted lower positive peer status and higher negative peer status and vice versa. In turn, the findings challenged the asymmetry hypothesis, which posited that negative peer status was more strongly associated with loneliness than positive peer status, indicating instead that both types of peer status predict loneliness to a similar extent. However, sex differences emerged: loneliness in girls was more strongly linked to positive peer status, while boys’ loneliness was more affected by negative peer status. Moreover, negative peer status demonstrated greater stability over time compared to positive peer status. This study supported the reciprocal nature of loneliness and peer status, highlighting their dynamic interplay rather than a unidirectional effect. Additionally, while the asymmetry hypothesis was not supported, it was observed that the effects may differ between sexes. Therefore, future research should refine theoretical models by considering sex-specific patterns and their implications for interventions aimed at improving peer relationships and reducing loneliness during the transition into early adolescence.

Abstract: Friends are assumed to be particularly influential at the onset of adolescence, as adult oversight declines and the salience of peers increases. The present longitudinal study tested this claim, comparing the strength of friend influence over academic achievement during late childhood (grades 4–5, ages 8 to 11) to that in early adolescence (grades 6–7, ages 11 to 14) in youths from the United States (Florida) and Lithuania. Participants included 278 children (151 girls, 127 boys) in 139 stable reciprocated best friend dyads and 266 young adolescents (133 girls, 133 boys) in 133 stable reciprocated best friend dyads. Three measures of academic achievement were collected at the beginning and end of a single school year: peer nominations and self-reports of school performance and academic grades from school records. Results from longitudinal dyadic analyses revealed age group differences in all three indices of academic achievement. In both groups, friends influenced one another, becoming more similar on peer, self-, and school reports of academic achievement over time. In each case, however, the magnitude of friend influence was greater in the early adolescent sample than in the late childhood sample. Replication is a strength of the study: Similar results emerged across locations, suggesting that the findings are robust and generalize across different contemporary Western contexts.

The Theory of Successful Intelligence defines intelligence as the integrated set of abilities and competencies in specific domains needed to attain success in life. Informed by this theory, we examined the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of an augmented intelligence test, Aurora- a , a 17-subtest assessment of analytical, practical, and creative abilities and figural, numerical, and verbal competencies in middle childhood and early adolescence. Using data from 3470 students (1808, or 52.1%, identified as male) from the United Kingdom and the United States, we found support for the unidimensionality and adequate reliability of the 17 subtests. An exploratory structural equation model outperformed confirmatory factor analysis on goodness-of-fit, theory alignment, model parsimony, and interpretability, illustrating the multifaceted nature of items assessing analytical, practical, and creative abilities. Weak to strong correlations (ranging r = .20 to .72) with criterion assessments of academic performance corroborated the validity of Aurora- a .

Abstract: This study examined the bidirectional, longitudinal relationship between loneliness and affective peer status (positive and negative) during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence, also focusing on potential sex differences in these dynamics. Using data from a representative sample of 4,462 Polish students ( Mage = 9.9, SD = 0.33; 51.0% girls at Wave 1), a two-wave cross-lagged panel model was applied to assess these associations over 1.5 years. The results confirmed the hypothesis of a reciprocal relationship between loneliness and peer status over time: A higher level of loneliness predicted lower positive peer status and higher negative peer status, and vice versa. In turn, the findings challenged the asymmetry hypothesis, which posits that negative peer status is more strongly associated with loneliness than positive peer status, indicating instead that both types of peer status predict loneliness to a similar extent. However, sex differences emerged: Loneliness in girls was more strongly linked to positive peer status, while boys' loneliness was more affected by negative peer status. Moreover, negative peer status demonstrated greater stability over time compared with positive peer status. This study supported the reciprocal nature of loneliness and peer status, highlighting their dynamic interplay rather than a unidirectional effect. Additionally, while the asymmetry hypothesis was not supported, it was observed that the effects may differ between sexes. Therefore, future research should refine theoretical models by considering sex-specific patterns and their implications for interventions aimed at improving peer relationships and reducing loneliness during the transition into early adolescence.

Abstract: This study examined associations of aggressive and prosocial behaviors with perceived support and negativity in children’s best friendships before and after the transition to secondary school ( N = 1, 073; 49.2% girls). Teachers rated children’s aggressive and prosocial behaviors in grades 1, 3, 4, and 6 of primary school. In grade 6 and the first 2 years of secondary school, children rated perceived support and negativity with their best friend. Growth curve analyses showed that increasing aggression combined with infrequent prosocial behavior predicted lower perceived support at the end of primary school and beyond, albeit only for girls. In contrast, high aggression combined with frequent pro-social behavior was unrelated to perceived support and conflict for both sexes. These results suggest that prosocial behaviors may be beneficial to buffer the effects of aggression on perceived support and conflict with the best friend, particularly for girls.