| The aim of this research was to examine the relations between different aspects of adolescents' relationships (i.e., number of friends, friendship quality, peer acceptance, and victimization) and adjustment (i.e., externalizing, internalizing, attention, and social problems) over the school year. Employing a short-term longitudinal design, a total of 259 5 th--8th grade adolescents (boys = 118) completed peer-reports of victimization and measures about their friends and classmates in the fall and spring. Teachers, a subsample of adolescents, and parents completed an adjustment measure in the spring. Regression analyses indicated that victimization, peer acceptance, number of friends and overall friendship quality uniquely predicted social adjustment. Overall, results suggest that these relational systems are important to adolescents' social adjustment because they fulfill a fundamental need for belongingness (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). |
