Sociometric Status among Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents in a Residential Treatment Program

Abstract

Positive and negative peer nominations were collected longitudinally for 64 adolescents in a 15-bed residential treatment program, beginning with each adolescent's first week of admission. Prior to admission, parent ratings of social competence and problem behaviors were collected. Behavior observations and clinician ratings of social behavior were also collected. The study goals were to determine if social status could be reliably assessed in this peer group, if it could be predicted from measures of social activity collected prior to admission and whether it correlated with patterns of social behavior. The results indicated good week-to-week stability for acceptance, rejection and social preference. Social impact was not generally reliable. Parent ratings of problematic behavior prior to admission significantly predicted acceptance and social preference established later in the clinical milieu. Preferred social status in the residential milieu was related to more socially competent patterns of behavior. Finally, low social status was associated with a longer hospital stay and with lower IQ. The study provides support for the use of sociometric procedures in the study of social competence and adolescent psychopathology. The clinical relevance of systematically monitoring milieu social relationships is discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Achenbach, T. M. , & Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the child behavior checklist and revised child behavior profile, Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Press.

Asher, S. , & Hymel, S. (1981). Children's social competence in peer relations: Sociometric and behavioral assessment. In J. Wine & M. Smye , (Eds.). Social Competence (pp. 125-157). New York: Guilford.

Coie, J. , Dodge, K. , & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A crossage perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18, 557-570.

Coie, J. , & Dodge, K. (1983). Continuities and changes in children's social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29, 261-282.

Coie, J. , & Kupersmidt, J. (1983). A behavioral analysis of emerging social status in boys' groups. Child Development, 54, 1400-1416.

Fineberg, B. , Kettlewell, P. , & Sowards, S. (1982). An evaluation of adolescent inpatient services. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 337-345.

Fineberg, B. , Sowards, S. , & Kettlewell, P. (1980). Adolescent inpatient treatment: A literature review. Adolescence, 60, 914-925.

Goldfried, M. , & D'Zurilla, T. (1969). A behavioral-analytic model for assessing competence. In C. D. Speilberger (Ed.), Current topics in clinical and community psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 151-196). New York: Academic Press.

Gossett, J. , Lewis, J. , & Barnhart, F. (1983). Tofind a way: The outcome of hospital treatment of disturbed adolescents New York: Brunner-Mazel.

10.

Guilford, J. (1954). Psychometric Methods New York: McGraw-Hill.

11.

Hartup, W. (1983). Peer relations. In E. M. Hetherington (Ed.), P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: VoL 4: Socialization, personality and social development (pp. 103-196). New York: Wiley.

12.

La Greca, A. (1981). Peer acceptance: The correspondence between children's sociometric scores and teachers' ratings of peer interactions. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 9, 167-178.

13.

Ledingham, J. , Younger, S. , Schwartzman, A. , & Bergeron, G. (1982). Agreement between teacher, peer and self ratings of children's aggression, withdrawal and likability. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 10, 363-372.

14.

Newcomb, A. , & Bukowski, W. (1983). Social impact and social preference as determinants of children's peer group status. Developmental Psychology, 19, 856-867.

15.

Newcomb, A. , & Bukowski, W. (1984). A longitudinal study of the utility of social preference and social impact sociometric classification schemes. Child Development, 55, 1434-1447.

16.

Offer, D. , Marohn, R. , & Ostrov, E. (1979). The psychological world of the juvenile delinquent New York: Basic Books.

17.

Peery, J. (1979). Popular, amiable, isolated, rejected: A reconceptualization of sociometric status in preschool children. Child Development, 50, 1231-1234.

18.

Prinz, R. J. , Swann, G. , Liebert, D. , Weintraub, S. , & Neale, J. (1978). ASSESS: Adjustment scales for sociometric evaluation of secondary school students. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, 493-501.

19.

Realmutto, G. , Shener, D. , & Erickson, W. (1983). Deviant adolescents: Social rejection and psychiatric diagnosis. Adolescence, 18, 259-267.

20.

Schaefer, C. (1980). The impact of the peer culture in the residential treatment of youth. Adolescence, 15, 831-845.

21.

Schneider, B. , Ledingham, J. , & Byrne, B. (1985). Teacher and peer assessment of the social behaviour of emotionally disturbed children. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive, 5, 386-387.

22.

Spivack, G. , Platt, J. , & Shure, M. (1976). The problem-solving approach to adjustment San Francisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass.

23.

Sullivan, H. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: Norton.

24.

Youniss, J. , & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescent relations with mothers, fathers, and friends Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.