Suchergebnisse

This study examined processes by which extracurricular participation is linked with positive ethnic intergroup attitudes in multiethnic middle schools in California. Specifically, the mediating roles of activity‐related cross‐ethnic friendships and social identities including alliances with multiple groups were examined in a sample including African American or Black, East or South‐East Asian, White, and Latino youth (N = 1,446; Mage = 11.60 in sixth grade). Results of multilevel modeling suggested that in addition to activity‐related cross‐ethnic friendships, complex social identities mediated the association between availability of cross‐ethnic peers in activities and ethnic intergroup attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of how activities can be structured to promote cross‐ethnic relationships and complex social identities, as well as positive ethnic intergroup attitudes.

AbstractTo supplement research on adolescent social identities, the current study examined how social identity complexity relates to ethnic inter‐group attitudes in a young adolescent sample (N = 97; age range = 12–14 years). Social identity complexity refers to the perceived overlap of groups with which youth align themselves. Descriptive analyses revealed that the most prevalent social groups were based on out‐of‐school sports and in‐school extracurricular activities. On average, participants reported a moderate degree of overlap among their social in‐groups. Results of regression analyses showed that high social identity complexity relates to positive inter‐group attitudes, both cross‐sectionally in seventh grade and longitudinally across eighth grade. These findings suggest that high social identity complexity may have implications for the ways in which school‐based activity groups are structured to promote inter‐group attitudes.

AbstractHaving cross‐ethnic friends in early adolescence is associated with more positive intergroup attitudes, but little is known about the social signaling function of the diversity of friends. The current study examined how the ethnic diversity of students' friends in seventh grade is related to their social status (e.g., acceptance, rejection, and social impact) by eighth grade in multi‐ethnic schools. It is hypothesized that friend diversity is (a) related to higher social status among ethnic out‐group peers as it signals inclusiveness, but (b) related to lower in‐group social status as diversity of friends may threaten the ethnic in‐group. Utilizing a longitudinal sample of ethnically diverse youth (n = 4653) from 26 middle schools, the study capitalizes on outgoing friendship nominations in seventh grade and incoming acceptance and rejection nominations in eighth grade, while controlling for overall social status in grade seven. A novel index was used to calculate the diversity of youth's friend groups, and precise coding was done to retain biracial youth in the analytic sample. Results showed that having diverse friends was related to higher visibility (i.e., social impact) and greater acceptance from ethnic out‐group members. In contrast, adolescents with diverse friend groups were less visible and less accepted by their in‐group. Diversity of friends was not associated with out‐group or in‐group rejection. Findings highlight the importance of understanding how the composition of friend groups may signal intergroup attitudes and in‐group solidarity in ways that have social status trade‐offs among out‐ and in‐group members.

Adolescents who lack friends at school are at risk of internalizing difficulties. This study examined a social‐cognitive mechanism underlying friendlessness and internalizing difficulties (i.e., depressive symptoms, social anxiety, low self‐esteem). We tested whether perceived social threat (i.e., peer victimization, sense of unsafety, and peer misconduct) mediates the association between friendlessness and increased internalizing difficulties across middle school. Latent variable structural equation modeling was used to test the model among an ethnically diverse sample of 5,991 (52% female) adolescents. The results demonstrate that friendless sixth‐grade students perceived their school environment as more threatening by seventh grade, which in turn, increased internalizing difficulties from sixth to eighth grade. Perceptions of threat also predicted friendlessness at the end of middle school.

AbstractTesting the potential protective effects of school‐level prosocial norms and having friends on peer victimization‐related distress, this study examined whether one protective factor is particularly important in the absence of the other. An ethnically diverse sample (N = 5,991) from 26 middle schools reported on peer prosocial behavior, social anxiety, loneliness, and perceived school safety; peer nominations assessed victimization and friends. Multilevel analyses revealed that sixth grade friendless victims felt significantly less anxious, lonely, and unsafe a year later in schools characterized by stronger peer prosocial norms (e.g., helping others). Additionally, victims in less prosocial schools experienced less social anxiety if they had at least one friend. The findings suggest that attending a school characterized by prosocial peer norms can compensate for high social risk (victimized and friendless) following the transition to middle school, and having friends is important for bullied youth in less prosocial school contexts. These results highlight the importance of simultaneously studying relational and school‐level protective factors; implications for anti‐bullying interventions are discussed.

AbstractIn this study we examined children's self‐efficacy, outcome expectations, and outcome values in relation to bystander responses in bullying situations. We proposed that beyond the effect of self‐efficacy, the decision to defend the victim of bullying vs. remain passive vs. reinforce the bully depends on outcomes children expect from defending, and on the value they place on these outcomes. Our sample consisted of 6397 Finnish children (3232 girls and 3165 boys) from third, fourth, and fifth grades (mean ages 9–11 years). Results showed that the motivational underpinnings of defending the victim, remaining passive, and reinforcing the bully varied. Defending was associated with the expectation that the victim feels better as a result of defending as well as valuing such an outcome. Reinforcement of bullying was associated with negative expectations and not caring about the positive outcomes. Conflicting expectations and values were linked to remaining passive. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for anti‐bullying interventions.

The current study examines normative developmental trajectories of school and cybervictimization across 3 years of high school and tests whether school and cybervictimization experiences predict increases in loneliness at school or whether loneliness at school increases the risk of victimization. Gender differences are also explored. Data were drawn from a longitudinal sample of 4,339 ethnically diverse U.S. adolescents (Mage = 15.02) who completed surveys in 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Whereas school victimization decreased, cybervictimization increased across high school. School‐based victimization and loneliness were bidirectionally related across time (controlling for cybervictimization), but cybervictimization and loneliness were not related (controlling for school victimization). The findings provide a nuanced account of the associations between school and cybervictimization with feelings of isolation at school.

Juvenile justice systems increasingly rely on placement of substance-involved adolescents in residential group homes. Research finds differences in pathways to drug abuse, but few studies explore whether gender differences affect treatment response. We describe the association between girls' and boys' relationship patterns and their experiences in treatment. Data come from a quantitative study of 449 criminally involved adolescents mandated to residential treatment programs throughout Los Angeles, and 30 semi-structured interviews with a similar group of seven boys and three girls attending a residential treatment program. Quantitative data show that girls had more problematic families and peers and reported more depressive symptoms than boys. Qualitative data indicate that girls' pretreatment networks were almost exclusively comprised of older males acting as "protectors" and sexual partners, while boys' included same-sex, same-aged peers. Girls emphasized sexuality in their discussions of in-treatment relationships and had difficulty developing friendships with other girls in the program. Our findings highlight gender differences in relationship patterns that merit further study as potentially important influences on adolescents' treatment responses.

This study examines whether social‐emotional difficulties associated with higher body weight vary across schools as a function of the school's weight climate. Weight climate, characterized by weight‐policing, was assessed indirectly by examining how strongly self‐reported weight predicts victim reputation within 26 ethnically diverse middle schools. Social‐emotional indicators included self‐reported loneliness, school belonging, and self‐esteem. In schools with stronger weight‐policing at seventh grade, loneliness was intensified by eighth grade among both girls (n = 2,101) and boys (n = 1,985) with higher weight. Similar effects were found for low self‐esteem among girls. Additionally, boys—regardless of their weight—reported lower sense of belonging in schools with stronger weight‐policing. The study offers a new method to estimate school weight climate, and the findings provide insights for interventions.

AbstractThe study of peer group status typically involves examination of peer nominations received. In this study, the focus was on nominations given and received. We examined the degree to which middle school students from different ethnic groups demonstrate same‐ethnicity preferences in their peer nominations, the effects of the classroom ethnic composition on these preferences, and the association between same‐ethnicity preferences and social standing. Latina/o, Asian, and White students demonstrated a positive same‐ethnicity bias (i.e., greater acceptance and less rejection of same‐ethnicity peers) whereas African‐American students demonstrated a global same‐ethnicity bias (i.e., they were more likely to nominate African‐American students in general). All students made more nominations to same‐ethnicity peers when there were larger numbers of same‐ethnicity peers in the classroom. Students who made more acceptance nominations to same‐ethnicity peers were more accepted among same‐ethnicity peers and less accepted among other‐ethnicity peers. The significance of the ethnic context to understanding students' peer status and the benefits and costs of same‐ethnicity biases are discussed.