Indirect aggression has been associated with antisocial personality traits like Machiavellianism, but there is a lack of evidence on their longitudinal development across adolescence. Therefore, the joint developmental trajectories of adolescent indirect aggression and Machiavellianism across 3 years of high school (Grades 10 to 12) were…

Aggressive, violent, and disruptive behaviour among Belize youth is disproportionately high. The present study evaluated a school-based positive youth development program (Positive Action) using a clustered RCT. The aim of the study sought to examine post-treatment positive youth development competencies (i.e. social-emotional character…

Using a 3-wave longitudinal, multidimensional approach, this study investigated the influence of social network position and social status on the psychosocial outcomes of 440 youth (45.1% girls; M[subscript age] = 16.1 years; 90.9% Caucasian) over 26 months, focusing on the controversial status classification (i.e., youth who are highly liked and…

Deception is a common phenomenon in everyday life, yet some people generally lie more than others and some people consider lying more acceptable than others do. Current knowledge about lie acceptability across development or about the individual differences in emotion or personality which shape it is still in an incipient stage. We aimed to expand…

The present study investigated the mechanisms through which a parenting intervention for military families fosters positive peer adjustment in children. A sample of 336 families with a history of parental deployment enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) preventive intervention. ADAPT is…

Community contexts are important ecological settings related to problem behavior and positive youth development (PYD). While substantial work has focused on neighborhood disadvantage, the current study explores the role of community assets, specifically linkages to important institutional resources and people in those settings. These concepts are…

In this study on being ignored by peers, 934 twelfth-grade students reported on their experiences of being ignored, victimized, and socially withdrawn, and completed measures of friendship and psychological adjustment (depression, self-esteem, and global satisfaction). Peer nominations of being ignored, victimized, and accepted by peers were also…

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effects of frequency of peer victimization experiences on psychological and academic adjustment during early adolescence, with a focus on testing psychological adjustment as a mediator, as well as differences based on gender and type of victimization. The sample in this short-term longitudinal…

Three complementary models of how peer relationship problems (exclusion and victimization) and aggressive behaviors relate to prospective levels of internalizing problems are examined. The additive risks model proposes that peer problems and aggression cumulatively increase risks for internalizing problems. The reciprocal risks model hypothesizes…

"Relational aggression" refers to harm within relationships caused by covert bullying or manipulative behavior. Examples include isolating a youth from his or her group of friends (social exclusion), threatening to stop talking to a friend (the silent treatment), or spreading gossip and rumors by email. This type of bullying tends to be…

This study explored how certain personality traits, behaviors, and social status may be associated with who is targeted as a victim of peer aggression. The sample consisted of 233 students in sixth through eighth grades from rural communities. Results indicate that symptoms of anxiety, a high sense of inadequacy, and elevated social stress are…

Social stories have been widely used for children with autism and developmental delays; however, little research has been conducted that examines their effectiveness with pre-school children who have no developmental delays. The present study investigated this previously undocumented use of social stories. Social stories were used to decrease…

Research on social skills interventions has been mixed. This study evaluates a group-administered, manualized social skills intervention program. Twenty-three boys and 9 girls between the ages of 7 and 13 participated. Participants were included in the groups based on peer relationship difficulties rather than diagnostic status, resulting in a…

The current study is an investigation of early adolescents' perceptions of social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends, and how that support is related to measures of students' adjustment on a range of behavioral indices. Data were collected on a sample of 246 students in Grades 6 through 8 using the Child and Adolescent…

External correlates of a teacher-rated typology of child adjustment developed using the Behavior Assessment System for Children were examined. Participants included 377 elementary school children recruited from 26 classrooms in the southeastern United States. Multivariate analyses of variance and planned comparisons were used to determine whether…