Early Peer Research Articles

Criminal Law in Muscovy

Criminal Law in Muscovy George G. Weickhardt Nancy Kollmann, Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Russia. xvi + 488 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. ISBN-13 978-1107025134. $115.00. On the last page of this monumental and important work Nancy Kollmann summarizes some of her principal conclusions: “This research also shows that Russia in the early modern period possessed a defined law and functioning legal system. It was not excessively violent in the European context, nor was it arbitrary in applying the law. Justice could be slow in coming or suborned, but the system was not one of unbridled satrapies, vigilante justice or uncontrolled brutality. Russia was not a despotism” (426). Thirty years ago, the claims that the early modern Russian legal system was not arbitrary and that Russia was not a despotism might have been greeted with disbelief and derision. But scholarship on Russian law in the last three decades has pointed toward Kollmann’s conclusions, which she fully supports with thorough and meticulous research into the actual practice and application of criminal law in the 17th century and Petrine period.1 Kollmann’s principal data base is homicide and serious felony cases from two regions: Beloozero in the north and Arzamas in the Middle Volga. The Beloozero archive consists of the records of 128 “litigations” (“criminal actions” might have been a more suitable term), of which 53 are homicides but only 23 are complete (extending through judgment, sentence, and punishment), including 13 homicides. The Arzamas archive contains records of 100 criminal actions, of which only 12 are complete, including 8 homicides (11). “To counterbalance the dearth of completed cases,” Kollmann also looked at 152 criminal actions from the Military Service Chancellory and [End Page 461] two other archives, which include 72 homicide cases, of which 30 were complete. In sum, her data base consists of 380 total criminal actions, of which 51 are complete homicide cases. Any doubts about how representative this data base is are removed by Kollmann’s inclusion of countless other cases and evidence from published sources, including a register of 158 cases from Tobol´sk listing the crime, social status of the accused, and the punishment (218–22). Kollmann incidentally explains the scarcity of complete case records by the loss of records over time and the possible abandonment of cases by the litigants (128). Although Kollmann’s data base of criminal actions is the largest studied to date, one hopes that future scholarship will locate and analyze more complete cases. It is, of course, difficult to judge how fairly justice was dispensed without knowing the sentence and punishment. One particularly valuable contribution of this superlative work is to compare Russia’s legal system with contemporary systems in states of Western Europe, generally assumed to have been more sophisticated and advanced. Kollmann, however, concludes that “Russia essentially fit into the pattern of statebuilding, local governance and adjudication seen in some of its early modern peers” (425). Russia was so vast and sparsely populated that it, like its early modern peers, had to rely on the local population to support centrally assigned officials. Coopting the local community meant that community norms played an important role in the administration of justice.2 Kollmann’s book is divided into two parts. The first deals with “Judicial Culture.” In this part she describes the various judicial organs or courts, both in Moscow and the provinces, and how they were staffed. She argues that judicial expertise resided in the scribal class (d´iachestvo), who assisted members of the upper service class heading the central chancelleries and serving as governors. The scribes would receive essentially “on-the-job” training in the law throughout their often decades-long service. They would master and follow a uniform model of bureaucratic language and paperwork. That they developed legal expertise is evidenced by the written reports of cases, which generally show familiarity with the Conciliar Law Code (the huge codification completed in 1649) and other statutes. Indeed, this Law Code itself is the best evidence of the vast accumulated expertise of the Muscovite legal system: it was one of the most comprehensive codifications of its time.3 [End Page 462] Kollmann, however, perhaps overstates...

Effects of Early Childhood Peer Relationships on Adolescent Mental Health: A 6- to 8-Year Follow-Up Study in South Korea.

ObjectivePeer relationships are one of the important factors in children's development. The present study examines the relationship between the effects of early peer relationships and adolescent psychological adjustment.MethodsThe first survey took place from 1998 to 2000, and a follow-up assessment obtained data in 2006, as the original participants reached 13–15 years of age. The first assessment used the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL) and simple questions about peer relationships to evaluate the participants. The follow-up assessment administered the Korean Youth Self Report (K-YSR).ResultsChildren's peer relationships have longitudinal effects on mental health and adjustment. Children who had qualitative peer-relation problems were more likely to exhibit internalizing problems as adolescents.ConclusionChildren who have poor peer relationships might become more vulnerable to emotional problems and social adjustment as adolescents.

Social cognition makes an independent contribution to peer relations in children with Specific Language Impairment

BackgroundLanguage is important for developing and maintaining social relationships, and also for understanding others minds. Separate studies have shown that children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) present difficulties in both abilities, although the role of social cognition (SC) on peers’ perception remains unexplored. AimsThe present study aims to assess specific sociometric features of children with SLI through peer nominations of liking and disliking, and also to explore their relationship to the children's SC. Methods and proceduresThirty-five children with SLI attending ordinary schools (3;10 to 8;00 years old) and thirty-five age-matched children (AM) were assessed with language, SC and sociometric measures. ResultsSLI group received more disliked nominations and had lower scores on SC tasks compared to the AM group. After controlling for age and language, SC made an independent contribution to disliked nominations within the SLI group. ConclusionsDifficulties with peers of children with SLI are related to their language level but also with their SC abilities. Consequently, only resolving language impairments will not necessarily improve early peer acceptance in children with SLI. ImplicationThis finding stresses the importance of early intervention programmes aimed at reducing deleterious effects in later development and socialization with peers.

Crime Continuity and Psychological Inertia: Testing the Cognitive Mediation and Additive Postulates with Male Adjudicated Delinquents

Crime continuity is one of the best documented and least understood aspects of criminal behavior. Psychological inertia, the notion that cognitive variables mediate the relationship between earlier and later expressions of the same behavior, was tested as a possible explanation for crime continuity. The cognitive mediation and additive postulates of the psychological inertia theorem were tested in a path analysis using self-report data from 1170 male delinquent members of the Pathways to Desistance study (Mulvey in Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2012). Wave 1 delinquency served as the independent variable, Wave 3 delinquency served as the dependent variable, Wave 2 outcome expectancies for crime, self-efficacy, general criminal thinking, and social capital served as the mediator variables, and 12 different baseline measures from criminological theory served as control variables in this study. General criminal thinking and low self-efficacy successfully mediated the relationship between past and future offending after age, race, early behavioral problems, peer criminality, family criminality, parental knowledge and monitoring, parental hostility, routine activities, measured intelligence, and precursors for each of the mediators were controlled. Social capital (cumulative disadvantage), by comparison, failed to mediate crime continuity in this study. Effective cognitive mediation of the relationship between Wave 1 offending and Wave 3 offending and evidence that the effect may be additive offer preliminary support for the cognitive mediation and additive postulates of the psychological inertia theorem. Practical implications of these results include the need to routinely assess cognitive factors in criminal populations and target these factors for intervention.

A facilitated peer mentoring program for junior faculty to promote professional development and peer networking.

To explore the design, implementation, and efficacy of a faculty development program in a cohort of early career junior faculty. Interested junior faculty members were divided into interdisciplinary small groups led by senior faculty facilitators. The groups met monthly for 1.5 hours to review a modular curriculum from 2011 to 2013. Using a survey at two time points (September 2011 and 2013) and an interim program evaluation, the authors collected data on participants' demographics, faculty interconnectedness, and self-reported knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) in the domains of professional development and scholarship, including the ability to write career goals and align activities with those goals. A total of 104 junior faculty participated in the program. They demonstrated changes in self-reported KSA in the domains of professional development (P = .013, P = .001) and scholarship (P = .038, P = .015) with an increase in ability to write career goals (P < .001), ability to align activities with those goals (P < .001), and number of and amount of time spent pursuing activities related to those goals (P = .022). These changes were more significant among female faculty and were not affected by academic rank or time since last training. Interconnectedness among faculty increased during the period of study-the number of nodes and ties between nodes within the network increased. This facilitated peer mentoring program for junior faculty was effective in improving the KSA necessary to promote early career advancement and peer networking, especially for women.

Do Parenting and Family Characteristics Moderate the Relation between Peer Victimization and Antisocial Behavior? A 5‐year Longitudinal Study

AbstractPast research has demonstrated that relationships with peers and parents play salient roles in various child outcomes. However, little research has examined the confluence of these two factors in the context of peer victimization. In particular, little is known about which family and parental factors mitigate or intensify the impact of adverse peer relations. The current study bridged this gap by testing whether maternal support and family conflict moderated the association between peer victimization and antisocial behavior. Moderation effects were found for girls but not boys. Cross‐lagged path analyses of nationally representative longitudinal data (N = 1046; 53 percent boys; Time 1: Mage = 10.7) showed that, among girls, higher levels of maternal warmth and mother–child communication significantly attenuated the link between early peer victimization and later antisocial outcomes. By contrast, greater family conflict significantly increased antisocial outcomes among girls who experienced peer victimization. For boys, early peer victimization significantly predicted antisocial outcomes, regardless of parenting and family factors. All findings remained significant even after controlling for preexisting antisocial tendencies and demographic factors, as well as for the stability of victimization in the model.

Early Enrollees and Peer Age Effect: First Evidence from INVALSI Data

This paper estimates peer age effect on educational outcomes of Italian pupils attending primary school by exploiting changes in enrollment rules over the last few years. The empirical procedure allows to understand if there is selection in classroom formation, arguing that in the absence of pupils sorting by early age at school entry, it is possible to estimate the “true” peer age effect. Results suggest that the proportion of youngest students “in advance” in the classroom has a positive impact on child’s achievements measured by Normalized and Rasch test scores both in Reading and Mathematics. Additional empirical evidence shows that the effect on individual scores of sharing the classroom with pupils “in advance” differs by students’ age group and it is higher for youngest pupils. Findings do not seem to be invalidated by “cheating” phenomena that may occur during the implementation and evaluation of tests.

Long-term adult outcomes of peer victimization in childhood and adolescence: Pathways to adjustment and maladjustment.

The study of peer victimization has drawn together researchers, parents, teachers, and health professionals around the world in an effort to make change. Research attention has focused on the question of whether peer victimization in childhood and adolescence leads to lasting and serious negative ramifications in the lives of young people. We consider the wealth of information documenting the troubling adjustment that follows peer victimization within childhood and adolescence. Findings from prospective studies tracking children and adolescents into young adulthood are presented and synthesized. Using the construct of "multifinality" as our framework, we explore why it might be that early peer victimization does not have the same impact on all young people by considering factors that place individuals at greater risk or appear to protect them from more lasting harm. In addition to a need for carefully planned prospective studies, the field would benefit from the use of qualitative studies aimed at elucidating possible causal, concurrent, and resultant mechanisms involved with victimization.

Parent, peer, and executive function relationships to early adolescent e-cigarette use: A substance use pathway?

IntroductionLittle is known about influences on e-cigarette use among early adolescents. This study examined influences that have been previously found to be associated with gateway drug use in adolescents: demographic (age, gender, ethnicity, free lunch), social contextual influences of parents and peers, and executive function deficits (EF). MethodsA cross-sectional survey was administered to 410 7th grade students from two diverse school districts in Southern California (M age;=12.4years, 48.3% female, 34.9% on free lunch (low socioeconomic status), 45.1% White, 25.4% Hispanic/Latino, 14.9% Mixed/bi-racial.) Logistic regression analyses examined influences of demographic, parent e-cigarette ownership and peer use, and EF on lifetime e-cigarette, and gateway drug use (cigarette and/or alcohol use). ResultsLifetime use prevalence was 11.0% for e-cigarettes, 6.8% for cigarettes, and 38.1% for alcohol. Free lunch and age were marginally related to e-cigarette use (p<.10). Parent e-cigarette ownership was associated with use of all substances, while peer use was associated with gateway drug use (p's<.05-.001). EF deficits were associated with use of all substances five times more likely than others to use e-cigarettes and over twice as likely to use gateway drugs. ConclusionsE-cigarette and gateway drug use may have common underlying risk factors in early adolescence, including parent and peer modeling of substance use, as well as EF deficits. Future research is needed to examine longitudinal relationships of demographics, parent and peer modeling, and EF deficits to e-cigarette use in larger samples, trajectories of e-cigarette use compared to use of other substances, and the potential of EF skills training programs to prevent e-cigarette use.

Do “Cool Kids” Become Risky Young Adults?

Research Article| October 01 2014 Do “Cool Kids” Become Risky Young Adults? AAP Grand Rounds (2014) 32 (4): 39. https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.32-4-39 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Do “Cool Kids” Become Risky Young Adults?. AAP Grand Rounds October 2014; 32 (4): 39. https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.32-4-39 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All PublicationsAll JournalsAAP Grand RoundsPediatricsHospital PediatricsPediatrics In ReviewNeoReviewsAAP NewsAll AAP Sites Search Advanced Search Topics: criminal behavior, ethanol, substance use disorders, young adult, social skills Source: Allen JP, Schad MM, Oudekerk B, et al. What ever happened to the “cool” kids? Long-term sequelae of early adolescent pseudomature behavior [published online ahead of print June 11, 2014]. Child Dev. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12250 Investigators from the University of Virginia conducted a longitudinal study to examine the relationship between early adolescent pseudomature behavior (eg, minor delinquent activity, precocious romantic involvement, focus on physical appearance in friendships) and the following outcomes: adolescent and early adulthood peer relationships, and early adulthood alcohol/substance use and criminal behavior. The researchers followed a racially and socioeconomically diverse community sample of adolescents for a 10-year period. Participating adolescents were assessed annually at ages 13–15 with follow-up at ages 20–23. At each annual assessment between ages 13–15, adolescent participants nominated their closest same-gender friend and 2 other peers from within their extended circle of friends to participate in the assessment of peer attractiveness, closeness of friendships, and social competence and popularity. Measures of pseudomature behavior at ages 13–15 included self-reported minor delinquent activity in the prior 6 months (eg, theft of items costing <$5 or destroying parental property), precocious romantic behavior (number of people “made out” with), and selection of attractive peers (physical attractiveness of peers coded from videotaped observations). Adolescent self-rated valuing of popularity (5-point scale at age 13) and popularity among peers (sociometric procedure where participants’ peers listed their 10 most “liked” peers at ages 13–15) were assessed. Measures assessed in adolescence and early adulthood were social competence (peer-completed scales), alcohol and substance use (self-reported questionnaires), and criminal behavior (interview). After controlling for potentially confounding variables, the associations between pseudomature behaviors and the outcomes were assessed. A total of 184 adolescents participated in the study; follow-up data were collected on 175 (95%). Early adolescent pseudomature behavior was linked to a strong desire for peer approval, as measured through valuing of popularity (P < .05). While pseudomature behavior predicted popularity in the short term (age 13), the elevated popularity of adolescents with psuedomature behavior decreased over time and was no longer present by age 15. Pseudomature behavior in early adolescence predicted lower levels of early adulthood peer-rated social competence (P < .01). Adolescent pseudomature behavior also predicted criminal behavior and future use of and problems with alcohol and marijuana in early adulthood (P < .001 for all outcomes). The investigators conclude that a constellation of pseudomature behaviors in early adolescence predicted difficulties in social functioning in early adulthood and may indicate deviation from healthy psychosocial competence. Dr Wong has disclosed no financial relationship relevant to this commentary. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device. Minor delinquencies, early romantic behavior, and a focus on physical attractiveness when choosing friends are often seen as normal features of adolescence, perhaps not even warranting discussion during most busy adolescent clinical encounters. Teens use these pseudomature behaviors to act older than their age to gain popularity, with the goal of being considered one of the... You do not currently have access to this content.

Moderating effects of group status, cohesion, and ethnic composition on socialization of aggression in children's peer groups.

We explored the effects of 3 group features (i.e., status, cohesion, and ethnic composition) on socialization processes of aggression in early adolescents' natural peer social groups. Gender differences in these effects were also determined. A total of 245 seventh-grade individuals belonging to 65 peer groups were included in the analyses. All 3 group features moderated the strength of group socialization on physical aggression with the exception of group status on girls' physical aggression. Stronger socialization of physical aggression occurred in higher status, more cohesive, or ethnically more homogeneous groups. In contrast, only group cohesion moderated the strength of group socialization on social aggression among girls. These findings suggest that somewhat different processes may be involved in peer group influences on different forms of aggression. Future intervention and prevention efforts for adolescent aggression should consider peer group membership and group features simultaneously.

Early Adolescent Peer Foundations of Late Adolescent and Young Adult Psychological Adjustment.

The long-term impacts of failing to establish autonomy and relatedness within close friendships are poorly understood. Adolescent behaviors undermining autonomy and relatedness in friendships at 13 were examined as predictors of friendship competence at 18 and depressive symptoms and social withdrawal at 21. A diverse community sample of 184 adolescents participated in self, peer, and observational assessments. Teens' inability to establish autonomy and connection with friends at 13 predicted decreases in friendship competence at 18 (ß=-.20, p=.02). Direct links to increases in depressive symptoms (ß=.34, p<.001) and social withdrawal (ß=.18, p=.03) were observed, with friendship competence partially mediating these relations. Results highlight the importance of problematic adolescent peer relationships as risk factors for the development of young adult internalizing symptoms.

Educators’ understandings of, and support for, infant peer relationships in early childhood settings

This research adopted a qualitative methodology to investigate the reported beliefs and pedagogical practices relating to infant peer relationships held by three early childhood infant educators. Thematic analysis was used to derive commonalties and differences that reflected these educators’ views and practices about children’s early peer relationships. Results indicate in-depth understandings about children’s capacities that did not, however, appear to be translated into their reported practice. This research has implications for planning and programming experiences designed for social interactions, along with the significant role of the early childhood educator in recognising and fostering young children’s early peer relationships.

It gets better: future orientation buffers the development of hopelessness and depressive symptoms following emotional victimization during early adolescence.

Research consistently has linked hopelessness to a range of negative outcomes, including depression, during adolescence. Although interpersonal stressors such as familial and peer emotional victimization have been found to contribute to hopelessness, less research has examined whether adolescents with a greater tendency to think about and plan for the future (i.e., future orientation) are protected against the development of hopelessness, particularly in the context of negative events. Thus, the current study evaluated whether peer and familial emotional victimization predicted increases in hopelessness more strongly among adolescents with a weaker future orientation than those with a stronger orientation towards the future, and whether hopelessness in turn predicted increases in depression. In a diverse sample of 259 early adolescents (54% female; 51% African American; Mage = 12.86 years), both peer and familial emotional victimization predicted increases in hopelessness more strongly among adolescents with weaker future orientations than among those with stronger future orientations. Further, moderated mediation analyses revealed that hopelessness significantly mediated the relationship between emotional victimization and increases in depressive symptoms more strongly among adolescents with weaker orientations towards the future compared to those with stronger future orientations. These findings indicate that adolescents' tendency to think about the future may impact whether emotional victimization induces hopelessness and ultimately depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Results have important implications regarding intervention and prevention of depression during the critical developmental period of adolescence.

Modified Delphi Investigation of Motor Development and Learning in Physical Education Teacher Education

Purpose: As the scope of motor development and learning knowledge has successfully broadened over the years, there is an increased need to identify the content and learning experiences that are essential in preparing preservice physical educators. The purpose of this study was to generate expert consensus regarding the most critical motor development and learning competencies that prospective physical educators need to learn within the physical education teacher education (PETE) curriculum and to identify learning environments and instructional methods for delivering core knowledge. Method: The study employed a 2-round, modified Delphi procedure involving the repeated circulation of a questionnaire to a panel of motor development specialists, motor learning specialists, teacher educators, and K–12 physical education teachers. Panel members rated an initial list of theoretical and applied motor development and learning competencies derived from various curricular guidelines and textbook sources. An open-response question was incorporated into the 2nd round asking panel members to recommend specific instructional methods and settings for delivering core motor development and learning content to prospective physical educators within the PETE curriculum. Results: Expert consensus determined that 64 out of the initial 159 motor development and learning competencies were critical in preparing preservice physical educators. Early field experiences and peer practice in a variety of settings were recommended by panelists for delivering the identified competencies. Conclusions: The Discussion section represents an important link between the motor development and learning body of knowledge and physical education teachers' role in promoting skillful movement, physical activity, and fitness among youth in the school setting.

Ringing Up about Breastfeeding: a randomised controlled trial exploring early telephone peer support for breastfeeding (RUBY) - trial protocol.

BackgroundThe risks of not breastfeeding for mother and infant are well established, yet in Australia, although most women initiate breastfeeding many discontinue breastfeeding altogether and few women exclusively breastfeed to six months as recommended by the World Health Organization and Australian health authorities. We aim to determine whether proactive telephone peer support during the postnatal period increases the proportion of infants who are breastfed at six months, replicating a trial previously found to be effective in Canada.Design/MethodsA two arm randomised controlled trial will be conducted, recruiting primiparous women who have recently given birth to a live baby, are proficient in English and are breastfeeding or intending to breastfeed. Women will be recruited in the postnatal wards of three hospitals in Melbourne, Australia and will be randomised to peer support or to ‘usual’ care. All women recruited to the trial will receive usual hospital postnatal care and infant feeding support. For the intervention group, peers will make two telephone calls within the first ten days postpartum, then weekly telephone calls until week twelve, with continued contact until six months postpartum. Primary aim: to determine whether postnatal telephone peer support increases the proportion of infants who are breastfed for at least six months. Hypothesis: that telephone peer support in the postnatal period will increase the proportion of infants receiving any breast milk at six months by 10% compared with usual care (from 46% to 56%).Outcome data will be analysed by intention to treat. A supplementary multivariate analysis will be undertaken if there are any baseline differences in the characteristics of women in the two groups which might be associated with the primary outcomes.DiscussionThe costs and health burdens of not breastfeeding fall disproportionately and increasingly on disadvantaged groups. We have therefore deliberately chosen trial sites which have a high proportion of women from disadvantaged backgrounds. This will be the first Australian randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of proactive peer telephone support for breastfeeding.Trial registrationAustralian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612001024831.

Peer victimization and internalizing symptoms among post-institutionalized, internationally adopted youth.

Early institutional or orphanage rearing, typically characterized by profound psychosocial deprivation, has been associated with adjustment difficulties that may persist long after adoption (for a review, see Gunnar 2001). In particular, post-institutionalized (PI) youth, especially those having experienced longer durations of adverse care, are more likely to show deficits in social cognition (e.g., Theory of Mind, Colvert et al. 2008b; Tarullo et al. 2007; emotion processing, Parker and Nelson 2005; Wismer Fries and Pollak 2004). These difficulties in recognizing and understanding others’ thoughts and feelings are likely to hinder PI youths’ ability to navigate social interactions with peers, which become increasingly complex in adolescence (Steinberg and Morris 2001). As such, PI youth may become targets of peers’ rebuffs and abuse, common sequelae of social cognitive deficits in normative samples (e.g., Kaukiainen et al. 2002). Indeed, early institutional deprivation has been linked to elevated social problems in broad-based functional assessments (Groze and Ileana 1996; Gunnar et al. 2007; Hawk and McCall 2011), and several studies have described lower peer acceptance and difficulties forming and maintaining intimate friendships years after adoption (e.g., Hodges and Tizard 1989; Tizard and Hodges 1978). Little research to date has examined distinct aspects of peer relations in PI populations. Often, numerous aspects of peer problems such as peer acceptance, isolation, and verbal and physical bullying have been combined into one scale for analysis (e.g., Rutter et al. 2001). Furthermore, because the focus has often been on youths’ behavior (e.g., is she aggressive?) and not treatment by peers (e.g., is she victimized?), our understanding of PI children and adolescents’ peer relations is somewhat one-sided. In one exception, Raaska et al. (2012) assessed self-reported experiences of bullying in 9- to 15-year-old internationally adopted youth, some of whom had experienced institutional care prior to adoption. Compared to youth raised in their natal families, younger adoptees were more likely to be victimized, while older adoptees were less likely to bully others. In turn, rejection and victimization by peers may promote emotional difficulties in PI children and adolescents. In normative samples, peer maltreatment has been associated with increases in internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression, loneliness; for a review, see Hawker and Boulton 2000). However, the relationship between peer victimization and emotional problems has not been examined in PI youth, despite research documenting heightened levels of internalizing problems in this population in adolescence (Colvert et al. 2008a; Tieman et al. 2005). Thus, the present study examined multiple aspects of peer relationships, including peer aggression, victimization and rejection, in PI youth adopted as infants or young children compared to youth who were raised in their families of origin. This comparison group was selected to allow for an approximate match to PI participants on the basis of parent education and family socio-economic status. In addition to measuring overt forms of victimization, we also measured relational victimization (e.g., exclusion, friendship manipulation; Crick and Grotpeter 1995), as research has shown that it makes unique contributions to psychosocial adjustment (Crick and Grotpeter 1996). We expected that PI youth, particularly those having experienced longer durations of institutional care, would experience lower peer acceptance and more peer victimization. We also hypothesized that these experiences would mediate the relation between early institutional care status and internalizing symptoms. Given mixed findings regarding overt aggression in PI youth (e.g., Merz and McCall 2010; Gunnar et al. 2007), and the lack of information about relational aggression, we did not make strong predictions about whether these behaviors would be elevated. We also examined differences in prosocial behavior and social withdrawal, because these behaviors are important predictors of social adjustment (e.g., Boivin et al. 1995; Crick 1996). Based on studies of domestic and international adoptees, we hypothesized that being older at adoption (i.e., 12 months or older) would be associated with more negative outcomes (for a review, see Zeanah et al. 2011). Finally, we explored whether gender moderated the associations between early institutional care and peer functioning. Some studies of PI children have reported more adverse effects for boys compared to girls, for instance, with respect to behavior problems and peer victimization (Bos et al. 2011; Raaska et al. 2012), though others find no gender interactions (Gunnar et al. 2007; Juffer and Van IJzendoorn 2005). Given these mixed findings, we explored but did not make directional predictions for gender effects.

Early Childhood Precursors and Adolescent Sequelae of Grade School Peer Rejection and Victimization

This study examined the early childhood precursors and adolescent outcomes associated with grade school peer rejection and victimization among children oversampled for aggressive-disruptive behaviors. A central goal was to better understand the common and unique developmental correlates associated with these two types of peer adversity. There were 754 participants (46% African American, 50% European American, 4% other; 58% male; average age=5.65 at kindergarten entry) followed into seventh grade. Six waves of data were included in structural models focused on three developmental periods. Parents and teachers rated aggressive behavior, emotion dysregulation, and internalizing problems in kindergarten and Grade 1 (Waves 1–2); peer sociometric nominations tracked “least liked” and victimization in Grades 2, 3, and 4 (Waves 3–5); and youth reported on social problems, depressed mood, school adjustment difficulties, and delinquent activities in early adolescence (Grade 7, Wave 6). Structural models revealed that early aggression and emotion dysregulation (but not internalizing behavior) made unique contributions to grade school peer rejection; only emotion dysregulation made unique contributions to grade school victimization. Early internalizing problems and grade school victimization uniquely predicted adolescent social problems and depressed mood. Early aggression and grade school peer rejection uniquely predicted adolescent school adjustment difficulties and delinquent activities. Aggression and emotion dysregulation at school entry increased risk for peer rejection and victimization, and these two types of peer adversity had distinct as well as shared risk and adjustment correlates. Results suggest that the emotional functioning and peer experiences of aggressive-disruptive children deserve further attention in developmental and clinical research.

Relations Among Chronic Peer Group Rejection, Maladaptive Behavioral Dispositions, and Early Adolescents' Peer Perceptions

Adolescents' perceptions of peers' relational characteristics (e.g., support, trustworthiness) were examined for subtypes of youth who evidenced chronic maladaptive behavior, chronic peer group rejection, or combinations of these risk factors. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify subgroups of participants within a normative sample of youth (N = 477; 50% female) for whom data had been gathered from fifth grade (M(age) = 10.61) through eighth grade (M(age) = 13.93). Results revealed that both enduring individual vulnerability (i.e., chronic withdrawn or chronic aggressive behavioral dispositions) and interpersonal adversity (i.e., chronic peer group rejection) were linked with either differences or changes in adolescents' perceptions of their peers' supportiveness and trustworthiness across the early adolescent age period.

Early Puberty, Negative Peer Influence, and Problem Behaviors in Adolescent Girls

To determine how early puberty and peer deviance relate to trajectories of aggressive and delinquent behavior in early adolescence and whether these relationships differ by race/ethnicity. In this longitudinal study, 2607 girls from 3 metropolitan areas and their parents were interviewed at ages 11, 13, and 16 years. Girls reported on their age of onset of menarche, best friend's deviant behavior, delinquency, and physical, relational, and nonphysical aggression. Parents provided information on family sociodemographic characteristics and girls' race/ethnicity. Sixteen percent of girls were classified as early maturers (defined by onset of menarche before age 11 years). Overall, relational and nonphysical aggression increased from age 11 to age 16, whereas delinquency and physical aggression remained stable. Early puberty was associated with elevated delinquency and physical aggression at age 11. The relationship with early puberty diminished over time for physical aggression but not for delinquency. Best friend's deviant behavior was linked with higher levels of all problem behaviors, but the effect lessened over time for most outcomes. Early puberty was associated with a stronger link between best friend's deviance and delinquency, suggesting increased vulnerability to negative peer influences among early-maturing girls. A similar vulnerability was observed for relational and nonphysical aggression among girls in the "other" racial/ethnic minority group only. Early puberty and friends' deviance may increase the risk of problem behavior in young adolescent girls. Although many of these associations dissipate over time, early-maturing girls are at risk of persistently higher delinquency and stronger negative peer influences.