Poster #80 - Correlates of Social Status According to Peers and Teachers: Patterns for Students Who Do and Do Not Transition to Middle School

• In Event: Poster Session 20

Abstract

Two key indicators of social status in early adolescence – popularity and peer acceptance – are differentially associated with behaviors that have implications for youth’s adjustment at school (e.g., aggression; Adler & Adler, 1998; Cillessen & Rose, 2006). Complicating our understanding of the potential risks or benefits associated with being popular or well-liked is the fact that correlates can change over time as youth develop and can be influenced by the school context, such as when youth transition to a middle school environment (Bowker et al., 2011). Indeed, Brass and Ryan (2021) found different patterns in status-behavior correlates depending on whether youth transitioned to a middle school or were in a K-8 school configuration. The current study seeks to replicate and build from this crucial work by addressing several research questions. First, do patterns found in Brass and Ryan (2021) for the association between academic, prosocial, and physical aggression with both indicators of social status by type of school configuration replicate in our sample? Second, does the association between social status and other relevant correlates (e.g., social aggression, bullying) vary between the two school configurations? Lastly, are patterns consistent for correlates of social status using peer-reports and teacher-reports?

Participants include 1,169 students from 5th grade classrooms in rural locales in the United States (53.5% female, 68.4% White, 18.4% Black, 6.6% Hispanic, 5.5% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 0.5% Multiracial or Other) who participated in three waves of data collection (W1: 5th grade spring semester; W2: 6th fall; W3:6th spring). Approximately 68.7% of the sample (n = 803) transitioned to a middle school after the 5th grade and the remaining 31.3% (n = 366) were in a K-8 or K-12 school configuration. Standard peer nomination procedures were used to assess social status and behavioral correlates. Social status items were popular and liked most/ liked least. Other items assess via peer nominations include: starts rumors, bully, disruptive, starts fights, gets in trouble, good student, cooperative, and friendly. Teacher-rated popularity was measured via the popularity factor (popular with boys, popularity with girls, and lots of friends; αs w1-3 = 0.84) from the Interpersonal competence scale-teacher (ICS-T; Cairns et al., 1995) using a 7-point response scale ranging from never to always. Teacher-rated peer accepted was measured via the item liked by peers from the Teacher Assessment Measures (TASS; Estell et al., 2007) using a 7-point response range from never to frequently.

Analyses will follow a similar procedure as outlined by Brass and Ryan (2021). First, we will calculate correlations among the social status variables and behaviors, accounting for the nested nature of the data (students in schools). Fisher’s r-to-z transformations will be used to determine whether correlation coefficients between social status and behavior calculated within the two configurations (middle school vs. K-8/12) significantly differ. Changes in the associations between social status and behavior over time will also be investigated. Results will add to our understanding of the complexity of social status dynamics which can inform teachers’ management practices for the peer ecology.

Authors

• Molly Dawes, University of South Carolina
  Presenting Author

• Angela Starrett, Child Development Research Center

• Jill Hamm, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Thomas Farmer, University of Pittsburg