Childhood Peer Rejection and Physical Health in Middle Adulthood: A Worldwide Study of Recollections

• In Event: 3-204 - The Connection Effect: Adolescent Peer Relations Predict Long-term Physical, Mental and Romantic Life Outcomes

Integrative Statement

Attachment and social-cognitive theorists agree that the manner in which we recollect our prior interpersonal experiences may have remarkable power in shaping our current social perceptions and influencing our current interpersonal behavior. Although substantial prior research has examined recollections of parent-child experiences, remarkably few studies have examined how recollections of peer experiences may similarly be associated with indices of health and well-being. This is surprising, given that research examining the short-term sequalae of low peer status and peer victimization has revealed a wide array of psychological and health outcomes that are discrete from the putative effects of insecure attachment or hostile parent-child interactions.

Note that it is difficult to determine the accuracy of one’s recollections of childhood peer experiences. However, prior research suggests that this approach offers an important complement to prospective, longitudinal studies, particularly given that so little prior research has examined long-term (i.e., 20-40 years) outcomes associated with childhood peer experiences. To date, substantial research suggests that recollections of negative peer experiences are associated with a range of maladaptive outcomes in adulthood. For instance, studies by Putallaz and by others reveal that adults’ who recall negative or anxious/lonely peer experiences from childhood are more likely to exhibit lower social competence, hopelessness, job-related distress, depression, and anxiety.

This study built upon prior developmental research by examining associations between recollections of childhood peer experiences and adults’ psychological and health outcomes in a large, diverse, international sample. Data were collected from a sample of 7,354 individuals from 131 countries on every continent (mostly North America (52.3%), Europe (20.3%), and Asia (18.1%)) who reported English fluency. The sample was predominantly female (74%) and represented a wide range of age (18 to 83 years, M = 31.23) and world racial (65.8% Caucasian, 17.2% Asian/Pacific Islander, 10.6% multiracial, 3.8% Black, 2.2% Native American, .2% Colored (South Africa), 1% Maori) and ethnic (10.2% Latino/Hispanic) diversity; 33.1% identified as an ethnic minority within their country of residence.

Using survey items from the World Health Association, a wide array of demographic, physical, and psychological conditions were screened using culturally-informed metrics. In addition, participants completed Putallaz and colleagues’ (1991) measure of peer recollections to assess peer acceptance/rejection (likert-scale) between the ages of 11 and 13. A social preference score was computed as the difference between standardized recollections of being liked-most and -least, as in sociometric research. All analyses examined associations between recalled social preference while controlling for the effects of childhood socioeconomic status, their parents’ own psychological difficulties (depression, substance use, illegal behavior), their histories of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and disruptive behavior, and their childhood physical health difficulties.

Results revealed significant associations between recalled peer rejection and a wide array of psychological indices, consistent with prior research. Findings also revealed that recalled peer rejection was significantly associated with the number of physical health diagnoses as an adult, higher BMI, and more frequent health-related impairment as adults. Results suggest potential long term effects of peer rejection experiences, and extend prior research on the correlates of recalled childhood peer experiences.

Authors

• Mitch Prinstein, UNC Chapel Hill
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christopher S. Sheppard, University of North Carolina -Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Jacqueline Nesi, Brown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Casey D. Calhoun, Medical University of South Carolina
  Non-Presenting Author