Prospective associations linking parental responses to peer victimization (i.e., coping suggestions, school contact) with adolescents' coping and experiences of peer victimization were examined. Participants were 203 adolescents (X-bar[subscript] age = 12.16 years, SD = 0.98) and a parent (81% mothers). At Time 1, parents provided open-ended…

Two prospective studies examined a theoretical model wherein exposure to victimization, resulting from early behavioral risk, heightens children's social alienation and subsequent deviant peer affiliation (DPA). Across Study 1 (298 girls, 287 boys; K-7th grade; 5-12 years) and Study 2 (338 girls, 298 boys; 2nd-6th grade; 8-12 years),…

This study examines family and child characteristics, parent and peer relationships, and early adolescent behavior as statistical predictors of trajectories of number of sexual partners from midadolescence through early adulthood using data from 527 participants in the Child Development Project. Early adolescent developmental antecedents accounted…

This study investigated the role of mutual dislike dyads (MDDs) in the development of aggressive behavior across the middle childhood years. Of particular interest was whether involvement in MDDs predicted later aggression, and whether the magnitude of the association between MDDs and later aggression varied based on characteristics of target…

Although the onset of illicit substance use during adolescence can hit parents abruptly like a raging flood, its origins likely start as a trickle in early childhood. Understanding antecedent factors and how they grow into a stream that leads to adolescent drug use is important for theories of social development as well as policy formulations to…

This study investigated the role of context in mothers' interventions in their preschoolers' peer relationship problems. In response to a series of videotaped vignettes depicting common peer relationship problems, mothers suggested using more discussion in aggressive situations and more encouragement in initiating play situations. Mothers would…

Four studies based on two longitudinal investigations examined the relation between social rejection and increased antisocial behavior. Found that early peer rejection (ages 6 to 8) predicted growth in aggression (at ages 10 to 12); findings were replicated in children ages 5 to 8. Rejection exacerbated antisocial development only among children…

This study examined the role of low social preference in relation to subsequent depressive symptoms, with particular attention to prior depressive symptoms, prior and concurrent aggression, mutual friendships, and peer victimization. Italian children (N = 288) were followed from grade 6 through grade 8, and American children (N = 585) were…

Unsupervised after-school peer contact was examined as a risk factor in developing externalizing problems among early adolescents. Longitudinal findings showed that unsupervised peer contact, lack of neighborhood safety, and low monitoring incrementally predicted grade seven externalizing problems, after controlling for family background factors…