Children's peer relationships are frequently assessed with peer nominations. An important methodological issue is whether to collect unlimited or limited nominations. Some researchers have argued that the psychometric differences between both methods are negligible, while others have claimed that one is superior over the other. The current…

Children may be capable of understanding the value of emotion regulation strategies before they can enlist these strategies in emotion-evoking situations. This study was designed to extend understanding of children's judgment of the efficacy of alternative emotion regulation strategies. Children aged six and nine ("N" = 97) were…

We examined the developmental dynamics between task-avoidant behavior and different literacy outcomes, and possible precursors of task-avoidant behavior. Seventy Greek children were followed from Grade 4 until Grade 6 and were assessed every year on reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension. The teachers assessed the children's…

Chinese and American mothers' beliefs about children's learning and parents' role in it were examined using notions salient in Chinese culture. Mothers from Hong Kong ("n" = 66) and the United States ("n" = 69) indicated their endorsement of the ideas that children's learning reflects children's…

This study focused on the dyadic defending relationships of victimized children in grades 3, 4, and 5 (N = 7481 children from 356 school classes, mean ages 10-12 years). Most of the victims (72.3%) had at least one defender. Being defended was positively related to victims' adjustment and social status. Analyses on victim-defender dyads showed…

The aim of this study was to examine the antecedents of cross-racial/ethnic friendships and same-racial/ethnic friendships. The sample consisted of 444 (161 African American, 108 European American, 100 Asian American, and 75 Latino) children who were in the fourth grade from 39 classrooms in 10 public elementary schools. Results of Mixed Linear…

The current study examined peer victimization trajectories for 1528 children from third to fifth grade and the association of those trajectories to children's positive and negative affect. On average, victimization was low to moderate and remained stable (self-report) or increased (peer-reports). In addition, five distinct trajectories were…

In the beginning of the first decade of this century, some highly-publicized extremistic acts of terror occurred. A hostage tragedy in a school in Beslan (North Ossetia) was followed in the Netherlands by the brutal murder of the controversial Dutch filmmaker and newspaper columnist Theo van Gogh, bomb attacks in Bali and Madrid and other acts of…

The purpose of this study was (1) to evaluate psychometric properties that assess forms of aggression (i.e., relational and physical aggression) across cultures (i.e., Japan and the United States) and (2) to investigate the role of culture in the associations between forms of aggression and social-psychological adjustment problems such as…

The study aims were, first, to examine the associations between the type and intensity of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and peer and parent relationships. Second, the study explored gender- and age-specific ICT usage and their associations with peer and parent relationships. The participants were 478 Finnish 10- and 13-year-old…

In a sample of 473 4th- and 5th-grade students, we examined the interaction between the type of clique to which a child belongs and the clique's level of perceived cohesion on a clique member's social and emotional adjustment. Perceived cohesion of a clique was operationalized as the degree to which the clique was perceived as an entity and was…

This paper reports on two exploratory studies of situations that elicit shyness in Mainland Chinese children. In Study 1 (N = 100; M[subscript age] = 10.42) interviews with Chinese children identified three kinds of shyness-eliciting situations: social novelty; negative social evaluation; and public attention. In Study 2 (N = 162, M[subscript age]…

This study investigated 2 questions: (1) do children show consistent styles of appraisal across a range of moderately stressful events?, and (2) what are the adjustment and parenting correlates of individual differences in children's appraisal style? Ninety-nine 3rd though 5th grade children and their mothers participated. For each of 6 vignettes…

This study asks whether bullies have higher social status than their victims. Social status was measured by social preference, popularity, and physical competence as perceived by children and teachers. A survey instrument was introduced to enable identification of specific victims associated with specific bullies. The sample was 508 fourth and…

This research focused on children's awareness of peers' social judgments of them, age differences in accuracy attained, and the process by which accuracy is achieved. Children were accurately aware of peers' perceptions of them on behavioral, social status, and ability dimensions in Grades 1 through 6. Older children were more accurate than…