1. Introduction Results Method Conclusions
Rejection Sensitivity as a Moderator of Links Between Early Adolescent Peer Experiences and Later Problem Behavior Trajectories Joseph S. Tan, Emily G. Marston, Christopher A. Hafen, Joanna M. Chango, & Joseph P. Allen University of Virginia. We would like to thank the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for funding awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator, (9 R01 HD A11) for funding to conduct this study as well as for the write-up of this study.
Introduction
Measures
Peer experiences were assessed between ages 13 and 15 through a variety of measures. Adolescents and their best friends reported on dyadic friendship quality (Friendship Quality Questionnaire; Parker & Asher, 1993), popularity was assessed through sociometric nomination procedures, and dyadic negativity and communication were observed through a behavioral task.
Rejection sensitivity was assessed repeatedly from ages 16 through 18 with the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey & Feldman, 1996).
Soft drug use (Alcohol and Drug Use Questionnaire; Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1987) was assessed repeatedly from ages 16 to 24 through self-report.
Externalizing behaviors (Child Behavior Checklist; Achenbach, 1991; Adult Behavior Checklist; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003) were assessed repeatedly from ages 16 to 24 through peer and parent report.
For externalizing behaviors, rejection sensitivity moderated the relationship between dyadic negativity and initial levels of externalizing behaviors during adolescence (Figure 1). Rejection sensitivity served as a risk factor for adolescents with more dyadic negativity.
For adolescents, engaging in problem behaviors (e.g. soft drug use, externalizing behaviors) is normative.
By adulthood, most individuals decline in engagement in these behaviors.
Adolescent experiences with peers such as peer influence, peer rejection, and friendship quality have been shown to play a role in problem behaviors persisting from adolescence into adulthood.
A question of importance for intervention and prevention efforts is: For which individuals do negative peer experiences predict problem behavior persistence?
Rejection sensitivity, an individual’s propensity to perceive potentially rejecting situations as rejecting, may be a key moderator of the relationship between negative peer experiences and problem behavior trajectories.
Adolescents sensitive to rejection may persist in engaging in problem behaviors because of a greater susceptibility to peer pressure, well as a diminished capability to regulate emotions.
In this longitudinal, multi-method study, we examine the hypothesis that rejection sensitivity moderates the relationship between early adolescent peer experiences and later soft drug use and externalizing behavior trajectories.
Results
Method
Conclusions
Analyses with conditional latent growth curve suggested that rejection sensitivity moderates the associations between specific peer experiences in adolescence and later problem behavior trajectories.
For soft drug use, rejection sensitivity moderated the relationship between popularity and initial levels of soft drug use and the relationship between communication and growth in drug use (Figure 1). Rejection sensitivity served as a protective factor for popular adolescents and a risk factor for adolescents with poor communication.
Participants
Participants were 184 individuals assessed annually from age 13 to 24.
Assessments were multi-method, including interview, observational, peer-report, and parent-report data
The sample was 63% European-American, 27% African-American, and 14% mixed race or other race/ethnicities.
Baseline median family income was in the $40,000 to $59,000 range
For adolescents with negative peer experiences, rejection sensitivity functions as a risk factor for persistence in externalizing behavior engagement.
For socially-challenged adolescents, rejection sensitivity serves as a risk factor for persistence in soft drug use, but for socially-successful adolescents, rejection sensitivity serves as a protective factor for soft drug use.
Engaging in problem behaviors may serve as a maladaptive coping mechanism or a way to avoid negative social outcomes for those with negative peer experiences in early adolescence.