0000000000073368
AUTHOR
Brett Laursen
Friend Influence and Susceptibility to Influence: Changes in Mathematical Reasoning as a Function of Relative Peer Acceptance and Interest in Mathematics
This study investigated friend influence over mathematics achievement in 202 same-sex friendship dyads (106 girl dyads). Participants were in the third grade (around age 9) at the outset. Each friend completed a questionnaire describing interest in mathematics and a standardized mathematical reasoning assessment. Peer nominations provided a measure of peer acceptance. The results revealed evidence that interest in mathematics moderates both the degree to which the higher-accepted friend was influential and the degree to which the lower-accepted friend was susceptible to influence. Specifically, the third-grade mathematical reasoning of the higher-accepted friend predicted an increase in the…
Friendship Moderates Prospective Associations Between Social Isolation and Adjustment Problems in Young Children
This longitudinal study investigated prospective links between social isolation and adjustment problems among 166 (77 girls, 89 boys) Finnish children ages 7 to 9. Peer nominations for social engagement and self‐reports of internalizing and externalizing problems were collected in the spring of the 1st and 2nd grade. Friendship moderated prospective associations between peer and adjustment variables. Among friended children, there were no prospective associations between social isolation and either internalizing or externalizing problems. Among unfriended children, initial social isolation was positively linked to subsequent increases in internalizing and externalizing problems, and initial…
Pressure to drink but not to smoke: Disentangling selection and socialization in adolescent peer networks and peer groups
Contains fulltext : 90699.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This paper examined the relative influence of selection and socialization on alcohol and tobacco use in adolescent peer networks and peer groups. The sample included 1419 Finnish secondary education students (690 males and 729 females, mean age 16 years at the outset) from nine schools. Participants identified three school friends and described their alcohol and tobacco use on two occasions one year apart. Actor-based models simultaneously examined changes in peer network ties and changes in individual behaviors for all participants within each school. Multi-level analyses examined changes in individual behaviors for adole…
Longitudinal associations between third‐grade teaching styles and sixth‐grade reading skills : a 3‐year follow‐up study
Background Most previous studies of teaching styles and reading skills have been cross-sectional. Longitudinal research is needed to clarify the direction of effects. The present longitudinal study examined the degree to which differences in teaching styles in the third grade predict the sixth-grade reading performance. The consistency of the findings was addressed by comparing results across students in two countries (Finland and Estonia). Methods A total of 1,057 students (50.9% boys) were followed from the third to sixth grade. Teaching styles of third-grade teachers (N = 70) were examined as predictors of the development of reading (i.e., third-grade to sixth-grade reading fluency and c…
Positive Teacher Affect and Maternal Support Facilitate Adjustment After the Transition to First Grade
This longitudinal study, conducted among a sample of Finnish primary-school children, examined the proposition that a single high-quality relationship (either with a teacher or a parent) can buffer against adjustment problems. Teachers rated the externalizing problems and prosocial behaviors of 378 children in Grade 1 and again in Grade 2. Relationship measures gathered in Grade 1 included teacher reports of positive affect for the child and mother reports of support for the child. The results supported our proposition by showing that for child adjustment after the transition to primary school it was critical to have at least one high-quality relationship either with a teacher or a parent. …
Is Depression Contagious? A Test of Alternative Peer Socialization Mechanisms of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Peer Networks
Item does not contain fulltext Purpose: This study examined the role of two different types of peer socialization (convergence, contagion) in adolescents' depression, adjusting for the effects of peer selection and deselection. Methods: The sample used in this study comprised 949 Finnish adolescents (56% females; mean age: 16 years at the outset) attending classrooms in eight secondary schools. Participants identified three school peers and reported depressive symptoms twice, 1 year apart. Sociometric and behavioral data were analyzed using dynamic social network analysis. Results: Adolescents initiated relationships with peers who reported similar levels of depression before initiation of …
Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-jbd-10.1177_0165025421992866 - A comparison of dyadic and social network assessments of peer influence
Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-jbd-10.1177_0165025421992866 for A comparison of dyadic and social network assessments of peer influence by Dawn DeLay, Brett Laursen, Noona Kiuru, Adam Rogers, Thomas Kindermann and Jari-Erik Nurmi in International Journal of Behavioral Development
Parent contributions to friendship stability during the primary school years.
The present study examines whether characteristics of parents predict the stability of a child’s best friendships across the primary school years. Participants included 1,523 Finnish children (766 boys) who reported involvement in a total of 1,326 reciprocated friendship dyads in the 1st grade (M = 7.16 years old). At the onset of the study, mothers and fathers completed questionnaires describing their own parenting (i.e., behavioral control, psychological control, and affection toward the child) and depressive symptoms. Child scores for peer status (i.e., acceptance and rejection) were derived from 1st grade peer nomination data. Discrete-time survival analyses predicted the occurrence and…
Opposites detract: Middle school peer group antipathies
This study examines variability in patterns of peer group antipathy. Same-grade adolescent peer groups were identified from sociometric nominations of preferred affiliates in a community sample of 600 Finnish ninth-grade middle school students (mean age = 15.0 years). Hierarchical linear modeling determined characteristics of youths in actor groups (nominators) that predicted antipathy for youths in target groups (nominatees) on the basis of target group characteristics. Most antipathies were based on dissimilarity between groups representing the mainstream culture and groups opposed to it. The higher a peer group’s school burnout, the more its members disliked students in peer groups with …
Stable same-sex friendships with higher achieving partners promote mathematical reasoning in lower achieving primary school children
This study is designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and one year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the …
Off on the wrong foot : Task avoidance at the outset of primary school anticipates academic difficulties and declining peer acceptance
The present study examined the academic antecedents of declining peer social status. Participants included 545 (311 boys, 234 girls) Finnish students followed from the 1st through the 4th grade (ages 6–8 at outset). Each year, teachers completed assessments of academic task avoidance and students completed standardized measures of reading and math achievement. Acceptance was assayed through peer nominations. Supporting the hypothesized model, the results indicated that a lack of interest and motivation at the outset of primary school leads to a downward spiral of academic difficulties and diminished peer acceptance. Specifically, academic task avoidance in 1st and 2nd grade anticipated decl…
Selecting and Retaining Friends on the Basis of Cigarette Smoking Similarity
This study examines whether friend selection, deselection, and socialization differ as a function of the level of cigarette smoking in the friendship group. A total of 1419 students (median age = 16) from upper secondary and vocational schools in Finland were included as targets in the peer network. Targets in the peer network were asked to nominate friends and describe their own cigarette smoking at two time points one year apart. Network analyses revealed similarity arising from selection and deselection on the basis of smoking. Selection effects (i.e., selecting new friends based on similarity) were stronger for adolescents in low-smoking groups. Deselection effects (i.e., dropping frien…
A Comparison of Dyadic and Social Network Assessments of Peer Influence.
The present study compares two methods for assessing peer influence: the longitudinal actor–partner interdependence model (L-APIM) and the longitudinal social network analysis (L-SNA) Model. The data were drawn from 1,995 (49% girls and 51% boys) third grade students ( Mage= 9.68 years). From this sample, L-APIM ( n = 206 indistinguishable dyads and n = 187 distinguishable dyads) and L-SNA ( n = 1,024 total network members) subsamples were created. Students completed peer nominations and objective assessments of mathematical reasoning in the spring of the third and fourth grades. Patterns of statistical significance differed across analyses. Stable distinguishable and indistinguishable L-AP…