SHELL, MADELYNN DRUHEN, Ph.D. Anxious Solitude and the

73 Pages·2012·2.42 MB·English

SHELL, MADELYNN DRUHEN, Ph.D. Anxious Solitude and the Middle School
Transition: A Child × Environment Model of Peer Exclusion and Victimization
Trajectories across Five Years. (2012)
Directed by Dr. Heidi Gazelle. 64 pp.

Consistent with a child × environment model it was hypothesized that anxious
solitude and the middle school transition interact to influence peer mistreatment over
time. A sample of 688 children participated in peer- and self-reported behavioral
nominations assessing exclusion and victimization twice yearly from the fall of third
grade through the spring of seventh grade, including the transition to middle school in the
fall of sixth grade. Classroom emotional support was observed yearly. Piecewise growth
curve models were used to model the level and slope of peer mistreatment outcomes
before, at, and after the middle school transition, and assess child-driven, environment-
driven, and child × environment effects. Observed classroom emotional support
decreased at the middle school transition. According to peer-reports, high vs. average
anxious solitary children experienced greater relative improvements in exclusion and
victimization at the transition (child × environment effects). However, in both elementary
and middle school, elevated anxious solitude predicted elevated peer exclusion and
victimization (child-driven effects). Consistent with environment-driven effects, peer- and
self-reports indicated decreased exclusion at the transition, indicating that exclusion
occurred less frequently when peer-groups were not well-established. Furthermore, peer-,
but not self-, reports indicated decreased victimization at the middle school transition,
although overall both reporters indicated lower levels of victimization in middle vs.
elementary school. Because improvements in peer mistreatment did not correspond to
increased classroom emotional support, rearrangement of peer social structure appeared
to have the biggest impact on peer mistreatment after the middle school transition.
ANXIOUS SOLITUDE AND THE MIDDLE SCHOOL TRANSITION:
A CHILD × ENVIRONMENT MODEL OF PEER EXCLUSION
AND VICTIMIZATION TRAJECTORIES
ACROSS FIVE YEARS

by
Madelynn Druhen Shell

A Dissertation Submitted to
the Faculty of the Graduate School at
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

Greensboro
2012

Approved by

_________________________________
Committee Co-chair

_________________________________
Committee Co-chair
APPROVAL PAGE

This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of
The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Committee Co-chair _________________________________
Heidi Gazelle

Committee Co-chair _________________________________
Paul Silvia

Committee Members _________________________________
Janet Boseovski

_________________________________
Richard Faldowski

_________________________________
Esther Leerkes

March 13, 2012 .
Date of Acceptance by Committee

March 13, 2012 .
Date of Final Oral Examination
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Grant
K01MH076237 to Heidi Gazelle. I would also like to thank my defense committee and
the children, parents, and teachers who participated in this research.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................1
Child, Environment, and Child × Environment Effects
Contributing to Differential Adjustment to Middle School .....................2
The Middle School Environment .................................................................2
Peer Mistreatment and the Middle School Transition .................................4
Peer exclusion ..................................................................................4
Peer victimization ............................................................................6
The Present Study ........................................................................................9

II. METHOD ............................................................................................................11
Participants .................................................................................................11
Measures ....................................................................................................13
Classroom observations .................................................................13
Behavioral nominations .................................................................14
Anxious solitude ................................................................14
Exclusion............................................................................15
Verbal victimization...........................................................15
Physical victimization ........................................................15

III. RESULTS ............................................................................................................16
Analytic Plan ..............................................................................................16
Classroom emotional support ........................................................16
Longitudinal trajectories across the middle school
transition ....................................................................................16
Peer-reported nominations .................................................17
Self-reported nominations ..................................................18
Grouped tests of predictor categories ................................18
Model reduction strategy ...................................................20
Classroom Environmental Change and the Transition to
Middle School .........................................................................................21
iv
Change in Anxious Solitude over Time .....................................................22
Change in Peer Mistreatment over Time ...................................................23
Peer exclusion ................................................................................23
Peer-reports ........................................................................23
Self-reports .........................................................................24
Verbal victimization.......................................................................25
Peer-reports ........................................................................25
Self-reports .........................................................................26
Physical victimization ....................................................................28
Peer-reports ........................................................................28
Self-reports .........................................................................29

IV. DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................31
Classroom Emotional Support and the Middle School Transition ............31
Peer Exclusion ...........................................................................................32
Verbal Victimization ..................................................................................34
Physical Victimization ...............................................................................36
Comparing Peer- and Self-reported Effects ...............................................38
Contributions and Limitations ...................................................................39

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................42
APPENDIX A. TABLES AND FIGURES .......................................................................48

v
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1. Unconditional anxious solitude Poisson growth curve models ...........................48

Table 2. Peer-reported exclusion hierarchical Poisson growth curve models ...................49

Table 3. Self-reported exclusion hierarchical ordinal growth curve models .....................51

Table 4. Peer-reported verbal victimization hierarchical Poisson growth curve
models ..............................................................................................................52

Table 5. Self-reported verbal victimization hierarchical Bernoulli growth curve
models ..............................................................................................................54

Table 6. Peer-reported physical victimization hierarchical Poisson growth curve
models ..............................................................................................................55

Table 7. Self-reported physical victimization hierarchical Bernoulli growth curve
models ..............................................................................................................57

vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1. Trajectories of predicted proportion of peer-reported anxious
solitude for third to seventh grade ..................................................................58

Figure 2. Trajectories of peer-reported exclusion for third to seventh
grade by anxious solitude, sex, and socioeconomic status
(child × environment, child-driven, and environment-driven effects) ............59

Figure 3. Trajectories of self-reported exclusion for third to seventh
grade by anxious solitude, sex, and socioeconomic status (child-
and environment-driven effects) .....................................................................60

Figure 4. Trajectories of peer-reported verbal victimization for third to
seventh grade by anxious solitude, sex, and socioeconomic
status (child × environment, child-driven, and environment-driven
effects) .............................................................................................................61

Figure 5. Trajectories of self-reported verbal victimization for third to
seventh grade by anxious solitude, sex, and socioeconomic
status (child-driven effects) .............................................................................62

Figure 6. Trajectories of peer-reported physical victimization for third to
seventh grade by anxious solitude, sex, and socioeconomic
status (child × environment, child-driven, and environment-driven
effects) .............................................................................................................63

Figure 7. Trajectories of self-reported physical victimization for third to
seventh grade by anxious solitude, sex, and socioeconomic
status (child-driven effects) .............................................................................64

vii
1

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

The influences of anxious solitude (i.e., shyness, inhibition, and solitary behavior,
Gazelle & Ladd, 2003) and the transition to middle school on peer mistreatment (peer
exclusion and victimization) have been investigated independently. However, it is
necessary to investigate the interaction between child and environmental factors to best
predict adjustment across the transition. The presence of unfamiliar peers and the social
restructuring after the middle school transition require that, in order to adapt, children
actively re-negotiate their relationships. This could lead to two possible effects at the
middle school transition. First, social restructuring and corresponding decreases in school
and classroom environmental support may lead to increased peer mistreatment, making
the middle school transition stressful for children in general (Eccles et al., 1993;
Simmons & Blyth, 1987). Furthermore, the transition may be particularly difficult for
children high in anxious solitude who experience elevated sensitivity in response to social
challenges (Gazelle & Druhen, 2009). Alternately, the process of social restructuring
could also provide children with an opportunity to improve their status among peers who
are not familiar with their reputational history. In particular, children high in anxious
solitude may experience greater relative benefits from interacting with peers who do not
know about their behavioral history of solitude (Gazelle et al., 2005). Thus, a child ×
environment model (Cairns, Elder, & Costello, 1996; Magnusson & Stattin, 2006;