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A longitudinal analysis of patterns of adjustment following peer victimization.

This study examined the effects of being victimized by peers on children's behavioral, social, emotional, and academic functioning. We assessed an ethnically diverse sample of 2,064 first, second, and fourth graders and followed them over 2 years, locating 1,469 of the participants at the follow-up. Correlation and partial correlation analyses revealed that prior victimization predicted externalizing, internalizing, and social problems 2 years later for the sample as a whole. However, not all victimized children experienced the same types of outcomes; instead, there was heterogeneity in children's responses to victimization. Using cluster analysis, we identified eight outcome patterns that represented different patterns of functioning. These were labeled as externalizing, internalizing, symptomatic, popular, disliked, absent, low achieving, and high achieving. Discriminant function analyses revealed that the symptomatic, externalizing, and disliked patterns were systematically related to victimization. Moreover, significant gender and age differences in the severity of effects were obtained. The discussion highlights the complexity of victimization effects.

Aggression↗

Cross-sectional and longitudinal relations among children's trust beliefs, psychological maladjustment and social relationships: are very high as well as very low trusting children at risk?

Four hundred and thirty-four children enrolled in school years 5 and 6 in the United Kingdom were administered measures of trust beliefs in peers/best friends and psychosocial functioning (internalized maladjustment, self-perceived social acceptance, social preference, and social exclusion) across an 8-month period (mean age = 9 years-9 months at Time 1). The relation between children's trust beliefs in peers or trust beliefs within best friend dyads and measures of psychosocial functioning conformed to a quadratic pattern. Compared to children in the middle range of trust beliefs, children with very low trust beliefs and those with very high trust beliefs in peers and/or within best friend dyads displayed higher internalized maladjustment, lower self-perceived social acceptance, higher social exclusion, and lower social preference. The relation between the trust beliefs and internalized maladjustment was asymmetrical, with children who held very low trust beliefs being comparatively more disadvantaged.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Training social initiations to a high-functioning autistic child: assessment of collateral behavior change and generalization in a case study.

The present case study used a multiple treatment design to assess the effects of two interventions--peer social initiations and target child initiations--on the social and disruptive behavior of a high-functioning autistic child. Intervention included initiation training and videotaped feedback highlighting successful and unsuccessful initiations. During Interventions 1 and 2, nonhandicapped peers were trained to initiate social interaction with the autistic child, resulting in an increase in social interaction which dramatically decreased in a reversal phase. Social interaction quickly increased again in Intervention 3 when the autistic child was trained to initiate interaction using the same procedures. During Interventions 1 and 2 no decrease in the autistic child's disruptive behaviors was observed; however during Intervention 3 these behaviors decreased to a low rate. Social validation, generalization, and maintenance of these behavior changes are discussed.

Attention↗

Parents, peer groups, and other socializing influences.

Three propositions that are central to J. R. Harris's group socialization theory (1995, 1998) are considered in this review. These propositions are as follows: (a) Parental behaviors have no long-term effects on children's psychological characteristics, (b) peer groups are the primary environmental influence on psychological functioning, and (c) dyadic relationships are situation-specific and do not generalize. The evidence that J. R. Harris has outlined in support of each of these propositions is reviewed, as is additional empirical research not considered by J. R. Harris. Serious limitations to each proposition are identified. The available evidence is more consistent with a model of multiple socialization agents. An expanded research agenda that permits a more definitive test of J. R. Harris's propositions and social relationship theory is proposed.

Child↗

Cognitive function of children with cystic fibrosis: deleterious effect of early malnutrition.

OBJECTIVE: Patients who have cystic fibrosis (CF) and experience delayed diagnosis by traditional methods have greater nutritional insult compared with peers diagnosed via neonatal screening. The objective of this study was to evaluate cognitive function in children with CF and the influence of both early diagnosis through neonatal screening and the potential effect of early malnutrition. METHODS: Cognitive assessment data were obtained for 89 CF patients (aged 7.3-17 years) during routine clinic visits. Patients had been enrolled in either the screened (N = 42) or traditional diagnosis (control) group (N = 47) of the Wisconsin CF Neonatal Screening Project. The Test of Cognitive Skills, Second Edition was administered to generate the Cognitive Skills Index (CSI) and cognitive factor scores (Verbal, Nonverbal, and Memory). RESULTS: Cognitive scores in the overall study population were similar to normative data (CSI mean [standard deviation]: 102.5 [16.6]; 95% confidence interval: 99.1-105.9). The mean (standard deviation) CSI scores for the screened and control groups were 104.4 (14.4) and 99.8 (18.5), respectively. Significantly lower cognitive scores correlated with indicators of malnutrition and unfavorable family factors such as single parents, lower socioeconomic status, and less parental education. Our analyses revealed lower cognitive scores in patients with low plasma alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T) levels at diagnosis. In addition, patients in the control group who also had vitamin E deficiency at diagnosis (alpha-T < 300 microg/dl) showed significantly lower CSI scores in comparison with alpha-T-sufficient control subjects and both deficient and sufficient alpha-T subsets of screened patients. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that prevention of prolonged malnutrition by early diagnosis and nutritional therapy, particularly minimizing the duration of vitamin E deficiency, is associated with better cognitive functioning in children with CF.

Adolescent↗

Hearing mothers and their deaf children: the relationship between early, ongoing mode match and subsequent mental health functioning in adolescence.

In the few studies that have been conducted, researchers have typically found that deaf adolescents have more mental health difficulties than their hearing peers and that, within the deaf groups, those who use spoken language have better mental health functioning than those who use sign language. This study investigated the hypotheses that mental health functioning in adolescence is related to an early and consistent mode match between mother and child rather than to the child's use of speech or sign itself. Using a large existing 15-year longitudinal database on children and adolescents with severe and profound deafness, 57 adolescents of hearing parents were identified for whom data on language experience (the child's and the mother's) and mental health functioning (from a culturally and linguistically adapted form of the Achenbach Youth Self Report) was available. Three groups were identified: auditory/oral (A/O), sign match (SM), and sign mismatch (SMM). As hypothesized, no significant difference in mental health functioning was found between the A/O and SM groups, but a significant difference was found favoring a combined A/O and SM group over the SMM group. These results support the notion of the importance of an early and consistent mode match between deaf children and hearing mothers, regardless of communication modality.

Adolescent↗

Comparable measures of cognitive function in human infants and laboratory animals to identify environmental health risks to children.

The importance of including neurodevelopmental end points in environmental studies is clear. A validated measure of cognitive function in human infants that also has a homologous or parallel test in laboratory animal studies will provide a valuable approach for large-scale studies. Such a comparable test will allow researchers to observe the effect of environmental neurotoxicants in animals and relate those findings to humans. In this article, we present the results of a review of post-1990, peer-reviewed literature and current research examining measures of cognitive function that can be applied to both human infants (0-12 months old) and laboratory animals. We begin with a discussion of the definition of cognitive function and important considerations in cross-species research. We then describe identified comparable measures, providing a description of the test in human infants and animal subjects. Available information on test reliability, validity, and population norms, as well as test limitations and constraints, is also presented.

Animals↗

Learning through observation: the effects of peer modeling on acquisition and generalization in autistic children.

The purpose of this study was to systematically determine whether low-functioning autistic children [MA of approximately half of their CA or less] could learn through observation by the use of a peer modeling procedure. Since modeling is less structured than traditional one-on-one procedures, it was also thought that modeling might facilitate subsequent generalization of tasks learned through observation. Four autistic children were taught two receptive labeling tasks. One task was taught by a traditional trial-and-error procedure, while the other task was taught by a modeling procedure wherein the models were other autistic children. Results indicated that all four children learned through observation of their peer model. Additionally, generalization and maintenance of correct responding were superior when the children learned through observation rather than by trial and error. These results are discussed in terms of the modeling literature, generalization issues, and implications for designing teaching settings for autistic children.

Adolescent↗

Neurobiological correlates of social conformity and independence during mental rotation.

BACKGROUND: When individual judgment conflicts with a group, the individual will often conform his judgment to that of the group. Conformity might arise at an executive level of decision making, or it might arise because the social setting alters the individual's perception of the world. METHODS: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a task of mental rotation in the context of peer pressure to investigate the neural basis of individualistic and conforming behavior in the face of wrong information. RESULTS: Conformity was associated with functional changes in an occipital-parietal network, especially when the wrong information originated from other people. Independence was associated with increased amygdala and caudate activity, findings consistent with the assumptions of social norm theory about the behavioral saliency of standing alone. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide the first biological evidence for the involvement of perceptual and emotional processes during social conformity.

Adult↗

Social role functioning by adolescents with psychiatric disorders.

OBJECTIVE: To identify aspects of social role functioning that are impaired in adolescents with specific psychiatric disorders in order to improve the psychiatric taxonomy and clinical knowledge base. METHOD: Adolescents in four urban public schools were screened for mental health problems. Structured psychiatric interviews (National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 2.2) with 288 adolescents and their mothers were used to identify youths with psychiatric disorders, and 10 aspects of social role functioning were assessed. Aspects of social role functioning that discriminated between youths with and without psychiatric disorders and between those with emotional disorders and those with disruptive disorders were identified for boys and for girls. RESULTS: Boys with any type of disorder and all youths with disruptive disorders had significant, consistent impairment in academic performance and several other areas of functioning. Youths with emotional disorders, especially girls, demonstrated impairment in social activity participation and peer acceptance, but girls with disorders were not as consistently different from those without as were the boys with emotional disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Role functioning differs in important ways between youths with and without psychiatric disorders and between girls and boys with disorders. The results underscore the importance of investigating observable aspects of role behavior in order to improve the timely detection and effective management of psychiatric disorders in youth.

Adolescent↗

Effects of early manual instruction on the oral-language development of two deaf children.

The speech and language training provided to deaf children at our clinic is done by the Kanazawa Method, which consists of reception and expression training in sign communication and auditory/oral language, as well as written-language training. In our investigation, we analyzed the acquisition of passive and active vocabulary in sign and oral language. The subjects were two children congenitally deaf at the 105 dB level or greater. Recorded-language samples through the age of 54 months were analyzed. Acquisition of sign occurred more quickly than oral-language acquisition. The children's production of active nouns, function words, and "wh-" question words in sign was equivalent to that of hearing peers, and later this proficiency transferred to oral language. These results suggest that early presentation of sign is effective in the acquisition of function words and interrogative sentences, both of which are especially challenging for the Deaf.

Child Development↗

Linking changes in whole family functioning and children's externalizing behavior across the elementary school years.

This study used observational assessments of 57 2-parent families working and playing together when their eldest child was in kindergarten and again in Grade 4 to identify distinct patterns of family functioning derived from structural family systems theory for (a) cohesive, (b) separate, and (c) triangulated families. Little consistency in family type from early to middle childhood was indicated. No significant mean differences were found in teacher reports of children's externalizing behavior in their Grade 1 classrooms for children in cohesive or triangulated families. Fourth graders in triangulated families were seen as more aggressive at school than were their peers in cohesive or separate families. Changes in observed family functioning across a 4-year period (kindergarten to Grade 4) were also systematically linked to changes in teachers' ratings of children's externalizing behavior from Grades 1 to 4.

Adult↗

The role of classroom norms in contextualizing the relations of children's social behaviors to peer acceptance.

This study introduces a social context model within which peer acceptances of prosocial-leadership, aggression, and social withdrawal were examined as functions of the contextual norms of these behaviors. The major postulate of the model is that the extent to which a behavior permeates a social context facilitates peer acceptance of the behavior. Specific hypotheses with respect to classroom and gender as different social contexts were formulated and supported when tested in a sample of 4,650 Chinese middle school students from 82 classes. The discussion emphasizes the theoretical as well as the methodological need for alternative conceptualizations of peer relations that reflect both individual differences and contextual variations.

Adolescent↗

Life expectancy of children in a persistent vegetative state.

The persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a state of wakeful unconsciousness occurring in adults and children. Despite preservation of vegetative functions, PVS patients have a shortened life-span, although accurate information concerning this issue remains limited. The survival of children in PVS was examined to determine whether age, etiology of the vegetative state, or type of residence in which the patient lived affected the estimated survival. The data of 155,851 developmentally disabled California state residents were reviewed using the Client Development Evaluation Report (CDER). Criteria from the CDER were selected to define the vegetative state and included: lack of interaction with peers; absence of auditory, visual, and expressive or receptive language function; no hand or arm use; inability to eat, sit, roll over, or lift head; and no bowel or bladder control. There were 847 patients who met these criteria on the initial and follow-up CDERs. A product limit survival model was used to develop survival curves and to calculate the median survival time for patients grouped by age, etiology, and type of residence. Median survival (yrs) for patients who remained in PVS for the following age groups was: < 1 yr: 2.6, 1 < 2 yrs: 4.2, 2-6 yrs: 5.2, 7-18 yrs: 7.0, > or = 19 yrs: 9.9. Median survival based on etiology varied from 3.0 to 8.6 years; no consistent relationship existed between etiology and duration of survival. Survival (yrs) for patients younger than age 18 years based on type of residence included: own home: 4.5, institutions: 5.2, skilled nursing facility/private hospital: 3.2, and other community care facilities: 3.7.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activities of Daily Living↗

Analysis of a double-layered support system.

This analysis focuses on the support functions of a social network consisting of the families, educational staff, and peers of 33 adolescent females. These women were lower-class school dropouts who joined the Israeli Army and--toward the end of their service--participated in a six-month intensive program of educational upgrading. The program was administered by the Israeli Army and operated by female soldiers close in age, but not in social background and education, to the program's participants. Data were collected by a semi-structured interview and analyzed in terms of the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral support functions of the social network. Analysis shows that (1) whereas the educational staff and the peers provide the young women with all three types of support, their parents' is limited to some aspects of emotional support, and is conditional (to success); (2) the educational staff also induced the peers to act as supporters; and (3) as a result, the participants had access to a "double layer" of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral support, and benefited from being both recipients and providers of support, in the coping-enhancing conditions of sociocultural and situational similarity.

Adolescent↗

Attachment to parents and peers in late adolescence and their relationship with self-image.

This paper examines older adolescents' (ages 16-18) perceived levels of attachment to parents and peers and explores their relationship with self-image. Four high school samples were the source of 167 questionnaires. Levels of attachment were measured using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, and self-image was assessed using the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire. An ANOVA identified significant gender differences, and a multiple regression was used to measure the relationship between attachment and self-image. It was found that attachment to parents continues to remain strong into late adolescence for males and females. Females had significantly stronger attachment to peers. Males had a significantly higher level of self-image in a variety of areas of functioning. Attachment to parents was found to have a significant relationship with coping aspects of self-image, while peer attachment had a strong effect with self-image particularly in areas that gain prominence during this developmental period, such as body-image, vocational goals, and sexuality attitudes. In examining how institutional groups can enhance attachment relationships, it was found that, especially among females, groups that stress self-expression and self-discovery may enhance attachment relationships and self-image.

Aspirations, Psychological↗

Personality functioning and clinical presentation in early adolescence. II.

This study describes the presentation of early adolescents on clinical examination and its relation to personality function competence. As part of a longitudinal study 63 non-clinical subjects at age 13 underwent a semi-structured psychiatric interview. On the basis of their responses their phenomenology, attitudes, defence mechanisms and degree of relatedness to significant others were assessed independently and blindly by two psychiatrists. Our findings show that a significant minority of early adolescents have a definite personality function disturbance and that these adolescents differ from their more competent peers on a number of characteristics identifiable in a clinical interview. Such a relationship was observed in boys as well as girls, with girls presenting no greater amount of turmoil than boys. These results indicate that adolescents cannot be adequately described as a homogeneous group. Differences in individual personality functioning result in differences in the presentation and internal experience of the early adolescent.

Adolescent↗