Longitudinal Associations Between Clique Membership Status and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems During Late Childhood

Abstract

This study examined the longitudinal link between clique membership status and the development of psychopathology in 451 children followed annually from age 9 to 12 years. Classroom clique membership status was identified through social network analysis, and internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed using peer nominations. Controlling for concurrent experiences of social preference and dyadic friendships, a high clique membership probability was found to be related to low levels of internalizing problems and to an increase in externalizing problems across 4 years. This link between clique membership and an increase in externalizing problems was found for boys only.

This research was made possible by grants to the last author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture.

We thank the participating families, and the authorities and directors as well as the teachers of the participating schools.

We also thank Jacqueline Langlois and Ken Frank for their assistance in the preparation of the data.

Notes

*p < .05. **p < .01.