ABSTRACT
A growing consensus has emerged in recent years about the importance of associations between difficulties in peer relations during childhood, on the one hand, and negative life outcomes, on the other (Kohlberg, LaCrosse, & Ricks, 1972; Kupersmidt, Coie, & Dodge, 1990; Parker & Asher, 1987). Children who are disliked or rejected by their peers appear to be more vulnerable than other children to a broad range of psychosocial problems during adolescence and adulthood. For example, Parker and Asher (1987) reviewed evidence demonstrating connections between childhood peer acceptance and later school dropout rates, criminality, and psychopathology, and concluded that there are significant associations in each of the three areas. Although relatively little is known at present about pathways through which such associations may occur, there is considerable consensus that peer rejection is an important variable for research on developmental psychopathology to consider (Cicchetti, 1984; Garmezy, 1987; Rutter, 1987; Sroufe & Rutter, 1984).
