Abstract
In this retrospective study we investigated possible protective factors involved in the remission of childhood peer-rejection by investigation of how adults remember their childhood social status. This study aimed: (a) to investigate whether most children do, indeed, achieve improved social status in late adolescence or early adulthood, (b) whether this is true also for children experiencing peer-rejection in childhood, (c) to investigate potential protective factors which may predict improved status, and (d) to investigate the subjective recall of social status. We developed an index of social rejection, based on recalled severity of rejection and its duration. Respondents (n = 940) were also asked about the presence or absence of a series of potential protective factors during three periods in their lives: elementary school, secondary school, and post-secondary (compulsory military or national service). Most respondents, who reported poor social status during childhood, also reported a marked improvement in that status in late adolescence. Factors most common for respondents who underwent an improvement in social status are examined for respondents who self-reported both peer-acceptance and peer-rejection during childhood or adolescence. Respondents who reported severe peer-rejection were able to rely on fewer protective factors than their more accepted peers. The data, similar to previous research, stresses the need to focus on the salutary potential in the rejected child’s family. Implications for practice in working with peer-rejected children are presented.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antonovsky, A. (1987). Unraveling the mystery of health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Antonovsky, A. (1993). The implications of salutogenesis. In A.P. Turnbull, J.M. Patterson, S.K. Behr, D.L. Murphy, J.G. Marquis, & M.J. Blue-Banning (Eds.), Cognitive coping, families, and disability. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes; (pp. 111–122).
Asher, S.R. (1990). Recent advances in the study of peer rejection. In S.R. Asher & J.D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press; (pp. 3–14).
Asher, S.R. & Coie, J.D. (Eds.) (1990). Peer rejection in childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Asher, S.R. & Parker, J.G. (1989). The significance of peer relationship problems in childhood. In B.H. Schneider, G. Attili, J. Nadel, & R.P. Weissberg (Eds.), Social competence in developmental perspective. Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishing; (pp. 5–23).
Asher, S.R. & Renshaw, P.D. (1981). Children without friends: Social knowledge and social skill training. In S.R. Asher & J.M. Gottman (Eds.), The development of children's friendships.New York: Cambridge University Press; (pp. 273–296).
Asher, S.R. & Rose, A.J. (1997). Promoting children's social-emotional adjustment with peers. In P. Salovey & D.J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications. New York, NY: Basicbooks, Inc; (pp. 196–230).
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Barth, R.P., Schinke, S.P., & Maxwell, J.S. (1984). Coping skills training for school-age mothers. Journal of Social Service Research, 8(2), 75–94.
Bierman, K.L. & Wargo, J.B. (1995). Predicting the longitudinal course associated with aggressive rejected, aggressive (nonrejected), and rejected (nonaggressive) status. Development and Psychopathology (7), 669–682.
Boivin, M., Hymel, S., & Bukowski, W.M. (1995). The roles of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and victimization by peers in predicting loneliness and depressed mood in childhood. Development and Psychopathology (7), 765–785.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1976). The experimental ecology of education. Educational Researcher, 5, 5–15.
Bronfenbrenner, U. & Morris, P.A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In W. Damon & R.M. Lerner(Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (5th edn., Vol. 1). New York: Wiley; pp. 993–1028.
Bryan, T. (1997). Assessing the personal and social status of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 12(1), 63–76.
Cappella, E. & Weinstein, R.S. (2001). Turning around reading achievement: Predictors of high school students' academic resilience. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(4), 758–771.
Chadsey-Rusch, J. (1992). Toward defining and measuring social skills in employment settings. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 96(4), 405–418.
Coie, J. D. (1990). Toward a theory of peer rejection. In S. R. Asher & J. D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; (pp. 365–401).
Coie, J. D. & Dodge, K. A. (1983). Continuities and changes in children's social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 29(3), 261–282.
Coie, J.D. & Kupersmidt, J.B. (1983). A behavioral analysis of emerging social status in boys' groups. Child Development, 54(6), 1400–1416.
Coie, J.D., Dodge, K.S., & Kupersmidt, J.B. (1990). Peer group behavior and social status. In S.R. Asher & J.D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; (pp. 365–401).
Dodge, K. (1986). A social information processing model of social competence in children. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), Cognitive perspective on children's social and behavioral development: Minnesota symposium on child psychology (Vol. 18). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; pp. 77–125.
Egeland, B., Carlson, E., & Sroufe, A. (1993). Resilience as a process. Developmental Psychopathology, 104, 517–528.
Eronen, S. & Nurmi, J.E. (2001). Sociometric status of young adults: Behavioural correlates, and cognitive-motivational antecedents and consequences. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25(3), 203–213.
Frederickson, N.L. & Furnham, A.F. (2001). The long-term stability of sociometric status classification: A longitudinal study of included pupils who have moderate learning difficulties and their mainstream peers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42(5), 581–592.
French, D.C., Conrad, J., & Turner, T.M. (1995). Adjustment of antisocial and nonantisocial rejected adolescents. Developmental Psychopathology, 7, 857–874.
Gresham, F.M. (1981). Social skills training with handicapped children: A review. Review of Educational Research, 51(1), 139–176.
Gresham, F.M. (1998). Social skills training with children: Social learning and applied behavioral analytic approaches. In T.S. Watson & F.M. Gresham (Eds.), Handbook of child behavior therapy. Issues in clinical child psychology. New York, NY: Plenum Press; (pp. 475–497).
Gresham, F.M. & Elliot, S.N. (1987). The relationship between adaptive behavior and social skills: Issues in definition and assessment. JSE, 21(1), 167–181.
Gresham, F.M. & Elliott, S.N. (1989). Social skills deficits as a primary learning disability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22(2), 120–124.
Gresham, F.M., Sugai, G., & Horner, R.H. (2001). Interpreting outcomes of social skills training for students with high-incidence disabilities. Exceptional Children, 67(3), 331–344.
Gumpel, T. (1994). Social competence and social skills training for persons with mental retardation: An expansion of a behavioral paradigm. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 29(3), 194–201.
Gumpel, T.P. & David, S. (2000). Toward a reconceptualization of social skills deficits: Exploring the efficacy of self-monitoring as an alternative to social skills training. Behavioral Disorders, 25(2), 131–141.
Gumpel, T. & Wilson, M. (1996). Application of a Rasch analysis to the examination of the perception of facial affect among persons with mental retardation. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 17(2), 161–171.
Guralnick, M.J. (1995). Peer-related social competence and inclusion of young children. In L. Nadel & D. Rosenthal (Eds.), Down Syndrome: Living and learning in the community. New York: Riley; (pp. 147–153).
Halverson, C.F. (1988). Remembering your parents: Reflections on the retrospective method. Journal of Personality, 56(2), 435–443.
Harrist, A.W., Zaia, A. F., Bates, J. E., Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (1997). Subtypes of social withdrawal in early childhood: Sociometric status and social-cognitive differences across four years. Child Development, 68(2), 278–294.
Hymel, S., Wagner, E., & Butler, L.J. (1990). Reputational bias: View from the peer group. In S.R. Asher & J.D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood (pp. 156–183). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (1985). The internal dynamics of cooperative learning groups. In R. Slavin, S. Sharan, R.H. Zazarowitz, C. Webb, & R. Schmuck (Eds.), Learning to cooperate, cooperating to learn. New York: Plenum; (pp. 103–124).
Loftus, E.F. & Palmer, J.C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 13, 585–589.
Luthar, S.S. (1993). Methodological and conceptual issues in research on childhood resilience. Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry, 61, 6–22.
Luthar, S.S. & Zigler, E. (1991). Vulnerability and competence: A review of research on resilience in childhood. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (61), 6–22.
Masten, A.S., Garmezy, N., Tellegen, A., & Pellegrini, D.S. (1988). Competence and stress in school children: The moderating effects of individual and family qualities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 29(6), 745–764.
Maszk, P., Eisenberg, N., & Guthrie, I.K. (1999). Relations of children's social status to their emotionality and regulation: A short-term longitudinal study. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 45(3), 468–492.
McFall, R. (1982). A review and reformulation of the concept of social skills. Behavioral Assessment, 4, 1–33.
Misra, A. (1992). Generalization of social skills through self-monitoring by adults with mild mental retardation. Exceptional Children, 58(6), 495–507.
Park, H.S. & Gaylord Ross, R. (1989). A problem-solving approach to social skills training in employment settings with mentally retarded youth. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 22(4), 373–380.
Parker, J.G. & Asher, S.R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102(3), 357–389.
Parker, J.G. & Asher, S.R. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(4), 611–621.
Pavri, S. & Monda Amaya, L. (2001). Social support in inclusive schools: Student and teacher perspectives. Exceptional Children, 67(3), 391–411.
Rigby, K. (1999). Peer victimisation at school and the health of secondary school students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69(1), 95–104.
Ripple, C.H. & Luthar, S.S. (2000). Academic risk among inner-city adolescents: The role of personal attributes. Journal of School Psychology, 38(3), 277–298.
Roff, M., Sells, S.B., & Golden, M.M. (1972). Social adjustment and personality development in children. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Rutter, M. (1990). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. In J.E. Rolf & A.S. Masten (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; (pp. 181-214).
Sandstrom, M.J. & Coie, J.D. (1999). A developmental perspective on peer rejection: Mechanisms of stability and change. Child Development, 70(4), 955–966.
Sletta, O., Valas, H., Skaalvik, E., & Sobstad, F. (1996). Peer relations, loneliness, and self-perceptions in school-aged children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 66(4), 431–445.
Smokowski, P.R., Reynolds, A.J., & Bezruczko, N. (1999). Resilience and protective factors in adolescence: An autobiographical perspective from disadvantaged youth. Journal of School Psychology, 37(4), 425–448.
Storey, K. & Gaylord Ross, R. (1987). Increasing positive social interactions by handicapped individuals during a recreational activity using a multicomponent treatment package. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 8(4), 627–649.
Storey, K., Rhodes, L., Sandow, D., Loewinger, H., & Petherbridge, R. (1991). Direct observation of social interactions in a supported employment setting. Education and Training in Mental Retardation, 26, 53–63.
Thorndike, R.L. (1982). Applied psychometrics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Trower, P., Bryant, B., & Argyle, M. (1978). Social skills and mental health. London: Methuen.
Vitaro, F., Tremblay, R.E., & Gagnon, C. (1992). Peer rejection from kindergarten to grade 2: Outcomes, correlates, and predictions. Merril-Palmer Quarterly (38), 382–400.
Wallerstein, J.S. & Corbin, S.B. (1999). The child and the vicissitudes of divorce. In R.M. Galatzer-Levy & L. Kraus (Eds.), The scientific basis of child custody decisions. New York, NY, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc; (pp. 73–95).
Werner, E.E. (1989a). High-risk children in young adulthood: a longitudinal study from birth to 32 years. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59(1), 72–81.
Werner, E.E. (1989b). Vulnerability and resiliency: A longitudinal perspective. In M. Brambring, F. Loesel, & H. Skowronek (Eds.), Children at risk: Assessment, longitudinal research, and intervention. Prevention and intervention in childhood and adolescence (Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence, 7). Germany: Walter de Gruyter; (pp. 158–172).
Werner, E.E. (1992). The children of Kauai: Resiliency and recovery in adolescence and adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health, 13(4), 262–268.
Werner, E.E. (1993). Risk, resilience, and recovery: Perspectives from the Kauai longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 503–511.
Yarrow, M.R., Campbell, J.D., & Burton, R.V. (1970). Recollections of childhood: A study of the retrospective method. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 35(5), 83.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gumpel, T.P., Vainroj Ish-Shalom, K. How do Young Adults Remember their Childhood Social Status? A Retrospective Analysis of Peer-Rejection in Childhood and Adolescence, and Protective Factors Predictive of its Remission. Social Psychology of Education 6, 129–157 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023298408822
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023298408822