Peer rejection, negative peer treatment, and school adjustment: Self-concept and classroom engagement as mediating processes

Eric S. Buhs

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

150 Scopus citations

Abstract

Data gathered from a short term longitudinal study within fifth grade classrooms (n = 378) were used to evaluate two process-oriented models linking peer rejection and negative peer treatment to children's self-concept, school engagement and adjustment. Both structural models linked peer rejection, victimization, and exclusion to children's self-concept, classroom engagement, and change in achievement (fall of fifth grade to the spring). The model evaluations indicated that peer rejection predicted both exclusion and victimization and that these forms of peer treatment, in turn, predicted academic self-competence. Academic self-competence, however, only partially mediated linkages to achievement change. Parallel (i.e. direct) linkages from exclusion and victimization to both academic self-competence and engagement were required for adequate model fit, as were direct links from academic self-concept and engagement to achievement change. An alternative model representing the hypothesis that academic self-concept fully mediated the relationships between the forms of negative peer treatment and children's engagement and achievement did not fit the data well.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)407-424
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of School Psychology
Volume43
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2005

Keywords

  • Classroom engagement
  • Peer rejection
  • Peer relationships
  • School adjustment
  • Self-concept

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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