Testing Links Between Childhood Positive Peer Relationsand Externalizing Outcomes Through a RandomizedControlled Intervention Study

摘要

In this study, the authors used a randomized controlled trial to explore the link between having positivepeer relations and externalizing outcomes in 758 children followed from kindergarten to the end of 2ndgrade. Children were randomly assigned to the Good Behavior Game (GBG), a universal classroom-based preventive intervention, or a control condition. Children's acceptance by peers, their number ofmutual friends, and their proximity to others were assessed annually through peer ratings. Externalizingbehavior was annually rated by teachers. Reductions in children's externalizing behavior and improve-ments in positive peer relations were found among GBG children, as compared with control-groupchildren. Reductions in externalizing behavior appeared to be partly mediated by the improvements inpeer acceptance. This mediating role of peer acceptance was found for boys only. The results suggest thatpositive peer relations are not just markers, but they are environmental mediators of boys' externalizingbehavior development. Implications for research and prevention are discussed.