The objective of this study was to understand if and for whom anger regulation relates to later reading and math achievement. The sample included 267 upper elementary school students from two schools (5% Asian, 10% Black, 6% Latinx, 17% Multiethnic/Other, and 62% White; 36% dual language learner; 60% female; average age = 9.7 years). Self-reported…

We investigated how 5th-8th graders' self- and peer-identified withdrawal motivations predicted peer-reported peer relationships and aggression. Participants (N = 221; 47% male) provided self-reports and peer-nomination data (we analyzed 339 students' nominations). We hypothesized shyness, unsociability, and avoidance would predict low peer liking…

Anxiety and social withdrawal are two frequently experienced internalizing conditions among children. These early-onset challenges are associated with numerous maladaptive outcomes in the academic, social, and psychological domains (Levitt & Merrill, 2009; Long, 2018; Sanchez et al., 2018; Shernoff et al., 2017). While identifying anxious and…

Although a number of social--cognitive and contextual correlates of defending against bullying have been identified, research on the personality traits associated with defending have yielded weak and inconsistent results. The current study provided a novel examination as to whether a tendency toward social withdrawal is associated with less…

Children who exhibit inattention (IA) and hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI), symptoms often indicative of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have notable social impairments. We investigated whether IA and HI are directly connected to peer difficulties or indirectly connected through their known association with other problem behaviors.…

Few studies have investigated the importance of desired friendships for those experiencing social difficulties, and no study to date has investigated desired affiliates as a type of relationship distinct from desired friendships. The current study examined the perceived, as well as desired, friends and affiliates of shy-withdrawn children and if…

Data from 790 older school-age (M[subscript age] = 10.2 years, SD = 1.2 years) girls (N = 427) and boys from Barranquilla, Colombia (N = 449) and Montréal, Canada (N = 331) were used to replicate findings reported by Valdivia et al. (2005). This prior study revealed contextual variations in the association between two measures of social behavior,…

This study examined whether compromised emotional clarity prospectively contributes to maladaptive social behavior (aggression, anxious solitude) and adverse social experiences (low social status, victimization) in early adolescence; gender differences in these effects also were explored. Youth (N = 636, [x-bar] age = 10.94, SD = 0.37) completed a…

Tenets of the Boivin et al. (1995) social process model were reexamined with two longitudinal samples using both the original and contemporary analytic strategies. Study goals included reconstructing (e.g., quasireplicating) Boivin et al.'s (1995) original findings and evaluating hypothesized relations across both comparable and longer…

Person × Environment mismatch theory has been applied to understanding how the classroom social ecology moderates associations between peer victimization and socioemotional well-being. In 2004, Bellmore et al. applied this theory to the ethnic composition and social climate of the classroom. The current study tested whether their findings…

Research has linked parenting practices to the development of internalising symptoms in children. However, parenting practices cannot fully explain the evolution of internalising symptoms, as other factors seem to influence this process. Two specific factors identified in separate lines of research are victimisation and child behavioural…

This study addressed the moderating role of classroom descriptive norms for overt and relational aggression, social withdrawal, prosocial behavior, and academic reputation in the association of behavior with social preference and popularity in early adolescence. Participants were 1,492 fifth-grade students ([x-bar][subscript age] = 10.6 years,…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an experimental manipulation of distance between classmates on peer affiliations and classroom climate. Participants were 651 10-to-12 year-old children (48% boys) from 27 Grade 5 and Grade 6 classrooms of 23 schools, who were assigned to an experimental or a control condition. Peer…

The primary goals of this study were to test a conceptual model linking social approach and avoidance motivations, socially withdrawn behaviors, and peer difficulties in later childhood and to compare the socioemotional functioning of different subtypes of withdrawn children (shy, unsociable, avoidant). Participants were 367 children, aged 9-12…

This study addressed a need for research on the association between adopting or denying the label of bully victim and students' psychosocial functioning. Participants were 1,063 students in Grades 5, 7, and 9 in a school district in the northeastern United States. Students were grouped based on their pattern of responses to (a) the California…