Childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of stable patterns of adolescent disorder

Abstract

The significance of childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of adolescent disorder was tested on 1147 children who were followed longitudinally from Grade 3 through Grade 10. Growth curve analyses of parent- and self-reported problems suggested that boys who were both aggressive and rejected in third grade had profiles of increasingly severe internalizing and externalizing problems across three assessment points in adolescence. Other groups showed either decreasing symptom patterns from Grade 6 to 10 or had consistently lower problem profiles. The longitudinal patterns were more complex for the girls. Childhood peer rejection was the only predictor of stable disorder as reported by parents, whereas self-reported externalizing problems were best predicted by childhood aggression.