The social functioning of the peer group: Contextual effects on social, school, and psychological adjustment in Chinese children

The significance of the peer group as a social context for individual development has been inadequately examined. Virtually no research to date has assessed how different peer group contexts may enhance or constrain the individual-level relations between social behaviour and various developmental outcomes. Moreover, very little is known about the social attributes of peer groups and their effects on individual development. The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to explore the main and moderating effects of prosocial, aggressive, and shy group functioning on social, school, and psychological adjustment in Chinese children.;A total of 162 groups (69 all-male, 78 all-female, 15 mixed-gender) were identified at Time 1. Group sizes ranged from 3 to 22 (M=5.60, SD=2.94). Peer groups were homogenous on prosocial behaviour, aggression, and shyness. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) revealed that social functioning and indexes of child adjustment were associated at both the within-group individual level and the group level. Prosocial group functioning was positively associated with later social, school, and psychological adjustment, and aggressive group functioning was negatively associated with later social adjustment. In addition, prosocial group functioning buffered low prosocial children against later social, school, and psychological maladjustment, whereas aggressive group functioning increased the risk for later school-related problems in non-aggressive children. Finally, shy group functioning protected shy children against the development of depression. The present study highlighted the significance of the peer group as a social context for socioemotional functioning and school adjustment in Chinese children.;Keywords. Peer groups, Socialization, Prosocial behaviour, Aggression, Shyness, Chinese Children.;Participants were a sample of 823 children (398 boys, 425 girls) from Beijing, People's Republic of China. Children were in Grade 4 (M age=10.37 years) during the first wave of data collection, and follow-up data were collected one year later when the children were in Grade 5 ( M age=11.37 years). Data were collected from multiple sources at both time points. Peer nominations and teacher ratings were used to assess children's social functioning, peer acceptance and peer rejection, and school-related adjustment. Self-reports were used to measure children's self-perceptions, depression, loneliness, and school attitudes. The Social Cognitive Map procedure was used to identify children's peer group membership.