Citation

Ladd GW. Child Dev. 2006; 77(4): 822-846.

Affiliation

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2502, USA. gary.ladd@asu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00905.x

PMID

16942492

Abstract

Findings yielded a comprehensive portrait of the predictive relations among children's aggressive or withdrawn behaviors, peer rejection, and psychological maladjustment across the 5-12 age period. Examination of peer rejection in different variable contexts and across repeated intervals throughout childhood revealed differences in the timing, strength, and consistency of this risk factor as a distinct (additive) predictor of externalizing versus internalizing problems. In conjunction with aggressive behavior, peer rejection proved to be a stronger additive predictor of externalizing problems during early rather than later childhood. Relative to withdrawn behavior, rejection's efficacy as a distinct predictor of internalizing problems was significant early in childhood and increased progressively thereafter. These additive path models fit the data better than did disorder-driven or transactional models.

Language: en