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Friendships with Peers Who are Low or High in Aggression as Moderators of the Link between Peer Victimization and Declines in Academic Functioning

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Abstract

This paper reports two prospective investigations of the role of friendship in the relation between peer victimization and grade point averages (GPA). Study 1 included 199 children (105 boys, 94 girls; mean age of 9.1 years) and Study 2 included 310 children (151 boys, 159 girls; mean age of 8.5 years). These children were followed for two school years. In both projects, we assessed aggression, victimization, and friendship with a peer nomination inventory, and we obtained children's GPAs from a review of school records. Peer victimization was associated with academic declines only when children had either a high number of friends who were above the classroom mean on aggression or a low number of friends who were below the classroom mean on aggression. These results highlight the importance of aggression levels among friends for the academic adjustment of victimized children.

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Acknowledgments

Data analysis for this manuscript was supported by the University of Southern California’s (USC) fund for Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Los Angeles Social Development Project (Study 1) was supported by a faculty fellowship from the John and Dora Haynes Foundation and the USC’s Zumberge Fund. The Child Development Project (Study 2) was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grants MH 42498, MH 56961, MH 57024, and MH 57095; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant HD 30572; and National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant DA 16903.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

    David Schwartz

  2. Occidental College, Los Angeles, USA

    Andrea Hopmeyer Gorman

  3. Duke University, Durham, USA

    Kenneth A. Dodge

  4. Auburn University, Auburn, USA

    Gregory S. Pettit

  5. Indiana University, Bloomington, USA

    John E. Bates

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  1. David Schwartz
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  2. Andrea Hopmeyer Gorman
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  4. Gregory S. Pettit
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  5. John E. Bates
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Correspondence to David Schwartz.

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Schwartz, D., Gorman, A.H., Dodge, K.A. et al. Friendships with Peers Who are Low or High in Aggression as Moderators of the Link between Peer Victimization and Declines in Academic Functioning. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 719–730 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9200-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9200-x

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