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Choosing or being chosen by aggressive-disruptive peers: do they contribute to children's externalizing and
Sylvie Mrug1, Betsy Hoza, William M Bukowski
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2004, USA. sylva@psych.purdue.edu
Abstract:
The goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which aggressive-disruptive peers contribute to the development of externalizing and internalizing problems in children, while controlling for children's own behavior. We examined 2 sets of peers: (1) those that the child nominated as friends, and (2) those that nominated the child as a friend. The participants were 236 boys and girls attending 3rd to 5th grade at the beginning of the study, who were followed over a period of 2 years. Results showed that choosing more aggressive peers on the nomination procedure was associated with more externalizing problems and self-reported depressive symptomatology over time. On the other hand, being liked by more aggressive children generally was not associated with elevated externalizing or internalizing problems.
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