Exposure to Violence in the Community Predicts Friendships with Academically Disengaged Peers During Middle Adolescence

Adolescents who have been exposed to violence in the community often experience subsequent difficulties with academic achievement. Because competence in the classroom is a salient developmental task during the adolescent years, outcomes in this critical context can then have broader implications for social and psychological functioning. In the current study, we tested a hypothesized progression in which the association between violence exposure and deficient achievement is presumed to potentiate friendships with academically disengaged peers. We followed 415 urban adolescents (53 % girls; average age of 14.6 years) for a one-year period, with two annual assessment of psychosocial functioning. Exposure to violence in the community and academic engagement were assessed with a self-report inventory; reciprocated friendships were assessed with a peer interview; and achievement was indexed based on a review of school records. Consistent with our hypotheses, neighborhood violence was associated with deficient classroom achievement. Poor achievement, in turn, mediated associations between community violence exposure and low academic engagement among friends. Our findings highlight pathways though which exposure to community violence potentially predicts later dysfunction

Depressive symptoms as a predictor of social difficulties in a gang-impacted context

Although social problems are often seen as a consequence of depression, symptoms of depression may precede negative experiences in the peer group. We focused on the relations between depressive tendencies and subsequent negative social experiences (i.e., unpopularity and peer disliking) in a sample of early adolescents living in urban neighborhoods with extreme levels of gang violence. We followed 285 middle school students (48% girls; average age at initial data collection=11.51years old) for a one-year period, with two annual assessments of psychosocial functioning. Self-reported depressive symptoms in 7th grade significantly predicted increases in peer nominated unpopularity in 8th grade. Conversely, depressive symptoms were not associated with increases in being disliked by peers. These results suggest that, in this gang-impacted context, depressive behaviors can influence position in the peer group hierarchy but may not be perceived aversely by peers. •In a gang-impacted setting depressive symptoms significantly predicted increases in unpopularity over time.•Our findings did not support a significant predictive relation between depressive symptoms and social rejection.•Neither dimension of social experience (i.e., rejection and unpopularity) were predictive of increases in depression.•Follow-up analyses revealed that depressive symptoms predicted unpopularity for boys but not girls

Associations Between Off-line Social Functioning and Online Social Network Interactions Among Emerging Adults

Communication through social networking platforms is central to the social experience of today's emerging adults. In this study, we examined associations between emerging adults' off-line social functioning (i.e., social skills and social anxiety) and online interactions on the social networking platform Facebook. A novel Facebook application was developed to systematically capture Facebook interactions of 92 students (59% female; M-age = 18.57 years). Trained coders rated online language for content related to social interactivity and emotional valence. Self-report questionnaires measured social skills and social anxiety. Endorsement of higher social skills was associated with posts more frequently referencing existing off-line relationships, initiating interactions specific to an online context, and referencing both oneself and others positively. Ratings of higher social anxiety were associated with posts more frequently initiating interactions online and posts praising/supporting other users. Study methodology highlights the feasibility of capitalizing on novel technology to better understand links between off-line and online interactions

Unpopularity with same- and cross-ethnicity peers as predictors of depressive symptoms during adolescence

This longitudinal study examined associations between perceptions of unpopularity with same- and cross-ethnicity peers and depressive symptoms in an ethnically diverse adolescent peer group. Participants were 393 Vietnamese and Mexican American adolescents (209 boys, 184 girls; Mage = 15.04 years, SD = 0.73, age range: 14–17 years) followed across two consecutive school years. Participants completed a demographic survey, self-report measures of depressive symptoms and ethnic identity, and a peer-nomination inventory assessing unpopularity. Unpopularity with same-ethnicity peers predicted increases in depressive symptoms for boys but not girls. Cross-ethnicity attitudes were not predictive of psychological difficulties. The findings of this study provide the first known evidence that, for boys, perceptions of unpopularity by same-ethnicity peers may be a more significant threat to emotional functioning than similar perceptions by peers of a different ethnicity. Results indicate that a nuanced perspective on risk mechanisms accounting for same- and cross-ethnic relations and gender may be warranted. •Unpopularity with same-ethnicity peers predicted depressive symptoms for boys.•Cross-ethnicity attitudes were not predictive of psychological difficulties.•Ethnic identity did not emerge as a moderator