Studied social networks and aggressive behavior in school in 2 cohorts of boys and girls in the 4th and 7th grades (N = 695). Measures of social networks yielded convergent findings. Highly aggressive subjects (both boys and girls) did not differ from matched control subjects in terms of social cluster membership or in being isolated or rejected within the social network. Peer cluster analysis and reciprocal "best friend" selections indicated that aggressive subjects tended to affiliate with aggressive peers. Even though highly aggressive children and adolescents were less popular than control subjects in the social network at large, they were equally often identified as being nuclear members of social clusters. Aggressive subjects did not differ from matched control subjects in the number of times they were named by peers as "best friend," nor did the two groups differ in the probability of having friendship choices reciprocated by peers. This research was supported by grants from the Spencer Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 23301).We thank Tamara R. Flinchum and Lynda Ferguson for their assistance in several aspects of this investigation.
This study examined the relation between involvement in school-based extracurricular activities and early school dropout. Longitudinal assessments were completed for 392 adolescents (206 girls, 186 boys) who were initially interviewed during 7th grade and followed up annually to 12th grade. A person-oriented cluster analysis based on Interpersonal Competence Scale ratings from teachers in middle schools (i.e., 7th-8th grades) identified configurations of boys and giris who differed in social-academic competence. Early school dropout was defined as failure to complete the 11th grade. Findings indicate that the school dropout rate among at-risk students was markedly lower for students who had earlier participated in extracurricular activities compared with those who did not participate (p < .001). However, extracurricular involvement was only modestly related to early school dropout among students who had been judged to be competent or highly competent during middle school.
Followed 4th-grade subjects (116 girls and 104 boys) in annual assessments of aggressive patterns over 6 years, from childhood through early adolescence. Results indicated that: (a) there were marked normative shifts from childhood to adolescence in the nature of aggressive themes in conflicts, with developmental persistence of direct confrontation and physical attacks (i.e., a "brutality norm") in male-male conflicts and an increase in social aggression and ostracism in female-female conflicts; (b) individual differences in teacher ratings (and in self-ratings) of aggressive patterns were reasonably continuous over 6 years, with a decay in magnitude as the interval between measurements increased; and (c) there were developmental shifts in the factor structure of aggressive measures, along with changes in how measures from the "self" and "others" were aligned. Some theoretical implications for development, continuity, and convergence are discussed.
This longitudinal study examined behavioral, cognitive, and demographic factors associated with early school dropout. Follow-up assessments were completed on a sample of girls (n = 248) and boys (n = 227) who had first been seen when they were in the seventh grade. School status was determined for all living subjects; 99% of them were interviewed individually in the fifth annual test wave. Overall, 14% of the group had dropped out of school prior to completing grade 11. The clusters of males and females most vulnerable to early school dropout were characterized in grade 7 by high levels of aggressiveness and low levels of academic performance (82% early dropout in males; 47% early dropout in females). In seventh grade, subjects who subsequently dropped out tended to affiliate with persons who were also at risk for dropout. Socioeconomic status, race, and early parenthood were also associated with school dropout. The primary outcomes were supported by convergent variable-oriented and person-oriented analyses. Some developmental dynamics of the phenomena are discussed.
To investigate the relations between perceptions of the social structure and affiliative patterns in early adolescence, subjects in three grades of a junior high school were studied in a multi-method, longitudinal research design. Interview, observational, and rating procedures were employed to obtain information about the effective social clusters within each class. After one year, the social structure of the 7th grade (now 8th) was reassessed. The results indicate high levels of consensus (in terms of accuracy, lack of intrusion) among adolescents in their conceptions of the social systems of which they are a part. This outcome was obtained across three grades and across gender groups within each grade. The perceived social clusters were closely related to the occurrence of behavioral interchanges of a non-negative sort. Episodes of interpersonal conflict were as likely to occur with persons outside the individual's social cluster as with persons who were co-members. Implications of these findings for sociometric assessment and the veridicality of self-attributions are discussed.
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