Resumen de Peer Rejection, Aggressive or Withdrawn Behavior, and Psychological Maladjustment from Ages 5 to 12: An Examination of Four Predictive Models

Gary W. Ladd

• Findings yielded a comprehensive portrait of the predictive relations among children's aggressive or withdrawn behaviors, peer rejection, and psychological maladjustment across the 5–12 age period. Examination of peer rejection in different variable contexts and across repeated intervals throughout childhood revealed differences in the timing, strength, and consistency of this risk factor as a distinct (additive) predictor of externalizing versus internalizing problems. In conjunction with aggressive behavior, peer rejection proved to be a stronger additive predictor of externalizing problems during early rather than later childhood. Relative to withdrawn behavior, rejection's efficacy as a distinct predictor of internalizing problems was significant early in childhood and increased progressively thereafter. These additive path models fit the data better than did disorder-driven or transactional models.