This study examined the changes in children's social network and specific self-perceptions during the transition from elementary school to junior high school (JHS). The participants were 200 preadolescent children (104 girls, 96 boys). Children's self-perceptions (global self-worth, perceived academic competence, and perceived social acceptance) and social network characteristics (parents and peer-enacted support) were evaluated four consecutive times over a 2-year period. Despite a slight decrease in the size of children's social network after the transition, the passage into JHS had no negative impact on the quality and functional aspects of their relationships with parents and school friends. The school transition was instead associated with an intensification of supportive relationships with school friends. Children's perceived social acceptance also increased suddenly after the JHS transition, while children's perceived scholastic competence decreased simultaneously during that time. Children's general self-esteem was then observed to decline progressively over a longer period of time.

No abstract

Resource Control Theory (Hawley, 1999) posits a group of bistrategic popular youth who attain status through coercive strategies while mitigating fallout via prosociality. This study identifies and distinguishes this bistrategic popular group from other popularity types, tracing the adjustment correlates of each. Adolescent participants (288 girls, 280 boys; M age = 12.50 years) completed peer nominations in the Fall and Spring of the seventh and eighth grades. Longitudinal latent profile analyses classified adolescents into groups based on physical and relational aggression, prosocial behavior, and popularity. Distinct bistrategic, aggressive, and prosocial popularity types emerged. Bistrategic popular adolescents had the highest popularity and above average aggression and prosocial behavior; they were viewed by peers as disruptive and angry but were otherwise well-adjusted.

Uobjectif de l'6tude est de v6rifier l'6quivalence des indices psychom6triques d'une version canadienne-fran~aise du Self-Perception Prof~'le for Adolescents d6velop-p6 par Harter (1988) pour mesurer, chez des adolescents, l'estime de soi g6n6rale et celle relative h huit autres domaines de fonctionnement. L'instrument a 6t6 admi-nistr6 une premi6re fois h 731 616ves de premi6re, troisi6me et cinqui6me secondaire. Parmi ceux-ci, 594 ont 6t6 revus quatre semaines plus tard pour r6pondre de nouveau au questionnaire. Les r6sultats confirment que la structure factorielle et la coh6rence interne de chacun des domaines de version traduite correspondent h celles de la version originale. La proc6dure test-retest a aussi permis de v6rifier la stabilit6 temporelle de la version traduite de l'instrument. La confirmation de l'6quivalence psychom6trique de la version traduite est renforc6e par la similitude des r6sultats obtenus avec cette derni6re et ceux rapport6s par Harter quant aux cotes moyennes associ6es h chaque domaine, h leur variabilit6, aux interrelations entre chacun et particuli6rement h leurs relations avec l'estime de soi g6n6rale.

This study used the monozygotic (MZ) twin difference method to examine whether differences in friends' aggression increased the differences in MZ twins' aggression and depressive symptoms from kindergarten to Grade 1 and whether perceived victimization by the friend played a mediating role in this context. Participants were 223 MZ twin pairs. Results showed that differences in kindergarten friends' aggression significantly predicted an increased difference in MZ twins' aggression from kindergarten (mean age = 6.7 years) to Grade 1 (mean age = 7.5 years) for both boys and girls. Differences in perceived victimization by the friend mediated this association, albeit only in boys. Differences in perceived victimization by the friend also predicted an increase in MZ twins' differences in depressive symptoms. These results support the importance of friendship experiences during early childhood.