A multiperspective comparison of peer sociometric status groups in childhood and adolescence

This study explores the sociometric status group differences in psychosocial adjustment and academic performance in various domains using multiple sources of information (teacher-, peer-, self-ratings, achievement data) and 2 age groups (elementary and secondary school students) in a different educational and cultural context. Gender differences in the profiles of the sociometric groups were also examined. The sample consisted of 1,041 elementary school (mean age = 11.4 years) and 862 secondary school (mean age = 14.3 years) students in public schools in Greece. Findings extended previous descriptions of rejected, neglected, and controversial groups based on the perceptions of all raters. Gender and age differences were found in the profiles of rejected and controversial groups, which were markedly distinguished from the other groups based on all data sets. Neglected children at both age levels were differentiated to a weaker degree.