Journal of Educational Psychology

2006, Vol. 98, No. 1, 113

Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association

0022-0663/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-0663.98.1.1

Peer Exclusion and Victimization: Processes That Mediate the Relation

Between Peer Group Rejection and Childrens Classroom Engagement
and Achievement?
Eric S. Buhs

Gary W. Ladd and Sarah L. Herald

University of NebraskaLincoln

Arizona State University

Longitudinal data from a study of kindergarten through 5th graders were used to estimate a structural
model in which chronic peer exclusion and chronic peer abuse were hypothesized to mediate the link
between childrens early peer rejection, later classroom engagement, and achievement. Peer exclusion
and abuse were expected to predict changes in 2 forms of school engagement (classroom participation
and school avoidance), and changes in both forms of engagement were expected to predict changes in
achievement. The model fit the data well and lent support to the premise that distinct forms of peer
maltreatment and classroom engagement mediate the link between early peer rejection and changes in
childrens achievement. Early peer rejection was associated with declining classroom participation and
increasing school avoidance, but different forms of chronic peer maltreatment mediated these relations.
Whereas chronic peer exclusion principally mediated the link between peer rejection and classroom
participation, chronic peer abuse primarily mediated the link between rejection and school avoidance.
Childrens reduced classroom participation, more than gains in school avoidance, anteceded decrements
in childrens achievement.
Keywords: peer relationships, peer victimization, exclusion, school adjustment, classroom engagement

dispositions, and the like; Coie, Lochman, Terry, & Hyman, 1992;
Ladd & Burgess, 2001).
Among the most convincing evidence gathered to date are
findings that implicate peer group acceptance or rejection as an
antecedent of childrens school adjustment problems (see Ladd,
2003; Parker & Asher, 1987). The construct of peer acceptance/
rejection has been defined at the level of the peer group (e.g., in
contrast to friendship, which is defined at the level of the dyad),
and it has been construed as an attitudinal variable that reflects the
collective valence of group members sentiments (i.e., liking,
disliking) toward individuals in the group (Buhs & Ladd, 2001).
Thus, when administered in classrooms, measures of peer group
acceptance/rejection yield information about how well liked versus
disliked a child is, on average, by classmates. Low classroom peer
acceptance has been consistently linked with indicators of school
disengagement (e.g., negative school attitudes, school avoidance;
Ladd, 1990; Ladd, Kochenderfer, & Coleman, 1997), and, relative
to other types of peer relationships, peer group rejection appears to
be one of the strongest predictors of academic readiness and
achievement (Buhs & Ladd, 2001; Ladd, Birch, & Buhs, 1999;
Ladd et al., 1997; Vandell & Hembree, 1994).
Although these findings support the interpretation that peer
group rejection negatively impacts childrens engagement and
achievement in the school environment, insufficient effort has
been devoted to understanding how this linkage is established or
develops over time. In part, this limitation stems from a lack of
theory about the processes through which peer group rejection may
affect childrens involvement in learning opportunities and
achievement in classrooms. Only recently have investigators begun to question how peer sentiments, themselves not directly
observable, can affect childrens adjustment (Boivin & Hymel,

The premise that peer group acceptance and rejection influences

childrens development and adjustment has been a compelling
impetus for research on childrens peer relationships since the
1930s (see Ladd, 2003). Since that time, a sizable body of empirical findings has been assembled, much of which is consistent with
the inference that peer group rejection is a cause of childrens
adjustment difficulties (see Ladd, 1999; MacDougall, Hymel,
Vaillancourt, & Mercer, 2001; Parker & Asher, 1987). Contributing to this corpus of evidence were early investigations in which
investigators found that peer group rejection was concurrently
linked with child maladjustment (e.g., Koch, 1933; Northway,
1944) and recent longitudinal studies in which researchers reported
that childhood peer group rejection not only anteceded early- and
later emerging adjustment problems (Boivin, Hymel, & Bukowski,
1995; Ladd, 1999) but also predicted these problems independently of other potential risk factors (e.g., childrens behavioral

Eric S. Buhs, Department of Educational Psychology, University of

NebraskaLincoln; Gary W. Ladd, Department of Psychology and Department of Family and Human Development, Arizona State University;
Sarah L. Herald, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.
Portions of this study were conducted as part of the Pathways Project, a
longitudinal investigation of childrens social/psychological/scholastic adjustment in school contexts, supported by the National Institutes of Health
Grants 1 & 2-RO1MH-49223 and R01HD-045906 awarded to Gary W.
Ladd. We would like to express our appreciation to all the children and
parents who made this study possible and to the staff of the Pathways
Project for assistance with data collection.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eric S.
Buhs, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska
Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0345. E-mail: [email protected]
1

BUHS, LADD, AND HERALD

1997; Buhs & Ladd, 2001; Bukowski, Hoza, & Boivin, 1993;
Coie, 1990; Wentzel & Caldwell, 1997).
Toward this end, researchers have begun to formulate and
evaluate frameworks that identify specific mediating processes
that account for the association between peer group rejection and
childrens school engagement and achievement. On the basis of
propositions advanced by Coie (1990), Buhs and Ladd (2001)
proposed a model in which it was hypothesized that the effects of
peer rejection on childrens achievement is mediated through two
processes: (a) the negative behavioral treatment that rejected children receive from peers and (b) resulting changes that such treatment causes in childrens classroom participation (see Figure 1).
The specific premises upon which this model was constructed can
be summarized as follows (see Buhs & Ladd, 2001): First, peers
express the dislike they feel toward rejected children by treating
them more negatively than other classmates, and, once manifested,
these negative behaviors serve as visible markers of rejection for
both the larger peer group and for rejected children. Second, once
children are marked by maltreatment, or behavioral manifestations
of rejection, they become marginalized from classroom peer activities. Marginalization occurs because, as peers become aware of
children who are often targeted for maltreatment, they tend not to
associate with these children or include them in classroom activities. Moreover, rejected children disengage from classroom activities as a way of avoiding further abuse. Third, disengagement
from classroom activities negatively impacts childrens learning,
which ultimately leads to lower levels of achievement.
Preliminary empirical support for this model was obtained by
Buhs and Ladd (2001) with a sample of young children who were
identified at school entrance and followed from fall to spring of
their kindergarten school year. Results showed that children who
were rejected by their classmates in the fall of the school year were
more likely to be maltreated by classmates and that exposure to
these rejecting behaviors partially mediated the negative association found between peer rejection in the fall of kindergarten and
changes in classroom participation over the course of the school
year. Furthermore, these findings also revealed that early peer
rejection was negatively related to later achievement and that this
association was partially mediated through peer maltreatment and
declining classroom participation, respectively.
Although illuminating, the Buhs and Ladd (2001) results were
limited in three important ways. First, because the construct of
peer maltreatment was evaluated as a latent variable, the findings
did not generate a high degree of specificity about the types of peer
maltreatment that may be most closely associated with childrens

Figure 1.

classroom disengagement. The latent peer maltreatment variable

was constructed from three indicators of rejecting behaviors, including being ignored or rebuffed by peers when attempting to
interact or enter activities (via a measure of unilateral entry bids),
being actively excluded from peer activities (peer exclusion), and
being verbally or physically harassed (peer abuse or victimization).
Measurement model results revealed that, although the latent negative treatment variable contained information about all three
forms of maltreatment, exclusion had the highest lambda (loading)
of the three indicators. For this reason, the investigators speculated
that, as children began school, exclusion might be a more powerful
mediator of the link between peer rejection, declining classroom
participation, and underachievement.
Whether exclusion is the principal mediator between rejection
and classroom disengagement, and whether this inference generalizes beyond the first year of formal schoolingand to other
forms of school disengagementremains to be evaluated. Note
that Buhs and Ladd (2001) hypothesized that classroom disengagement was a consequence not only of peers exclusionary behaviors
but also of childrens propensity to avoid contexts in which they
are likely to be abused by peers. This logic implies that there are
two pathways to classroom disengagement that emanate from
peers rejecting behaviors: First, children become less active participants in classroom activities because their opportunities to do
so are increasingly restricted as a result of peer exclusion. Second,
children who are harassed by peers seek to avoid classrooms (or
the school context in general) as a means of escaping further abuse.
Whereas exclusion by peers is construed as a cause of reduced
participation in classroom activities, abuse is seen as increasing
childrens motivation to avoid the classroom or school context.
Notice that these two pathways imply that different forms of
classroom disengagement evolve from each form of peer maltreatment. This observation illustrates a second limitation of the Buhs
and Ladd (2001) study: Only one form of classroom engagement
(i.e., classroom participation) was examined as a mediator between
peer maltreatment and childrens achievement. A better test of the
Buhs and Ladd model would entail an empirical evaluation of the
following predictions: (a) decrements in childrens classroom participation are better predicted by peer exclusion than by peer
abuse, and increments in childrens school avoidance are better
predicted by peer abuse than by peer exclusion; and (b) the link
between peer exclusion and achievement is mediated through
classroom participation, and the link between peer abuse and
achievement is mediated through school avoidance.

Hypothesized mediating process linkages.

PEER EXCLUSION AND VICTIMIZATION

Third, the Buhs and Ladd (2001) results were limited by features
of their longitudinal design and assessment plan. Although it was
proposed that peer rejection incites peer maltreatment, the measures of these constructs were obtained concurrently. A more
rigorous test of this premise requires a design and assessment plan
in which the former variable is assessed prior to the latter, thereby
establishing temporal precedence for peer rejection. Furthermore,
because Buhs and Ladd (2001) conducted their study within a
single school year (kindergarten), it remains to be determined
whether the forms of peer maltreatment that originate from early
peer rejection endure over time (e.g., across grade levels) and, if
so, whether children who are exposed to sustained (chronic) rather
than transient maltreatment are at greater risk for classroom disengagement and delayed scholastic progress. On the basis of logic
that originates within theories of psychological risk, stress, and
support (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1981; Johnson, 1988; Ladd
& Troop-Gordon, 2003), it was hypothesized that prolonged peer
maltreatment increases the probability that children will disengage
from classrooms (or the school context) and that increasing disengagement impairs childrens achievement. Thus, it was predicted that longer rather than shorter histories of peer maltreatment, after controlling for contemporary exclusion or abuse, would
mediate the link between early peer rejection and later classroom
disengagement.
Thus, the principal purpose of this investigation was to address
prior limitations by implementing the proposed innovations and
gathering data that would reflect on the aforementioned hypotheses (see Figure 1). In contrast to the Buhs and Ladd (2001)
short-term longitudinal design, we conducted a 6-year prospective
longitudinal study that spanned the school years of kindergarten
through fifth grade. The assessment plan was expanded to include
measures of peer group acceptance/rejection, peer exclusion, peer
abuse, classroom participation, school avoidance, and achievement. Peer group acceptance/rejection was defined as the extent to
which individuals were liked/disliked by classroom peers and
indexed with averaged sociometric ratings that were obtained from
classmates during childrens first year in grade school (kindergarten). One form of peer maltreatmentpeer exclusionwas defined as the extent to which children were the target of peers
nonaggressive rejecting behaviors, including behaviors such as
ignoring, avoiding, or refusing to associate with them in the
classroom context. The other form of peer maltreatmentpeer
abusewas defined as the extent to which children were recipients of classmates aggressive and harassing behaviors (i.e., the
target of confrontive aggressive acts such as verbal and physical
aggression). Measures of the two peer maltreatment constructs
were obtained in kindergarten and every year thereafter until grade
5, and separate indicators of chronic versus current peer maltreatment were created so that the predictive efficacy of chronic peer
maltreatment could be estimated while controlling for current peer
maltreatment. The constructs used to represent aspects of classroom disengagement were termed classroom participation and
school avoidance. Classroom participation encompassed two aspects of childrens classroom behavior that have been termed
autonomous and cooperative participation (see Buhs & Ladd,
2001; Ladd et al., 1999; Ladd, Buhs, & Seid, 2000). Both forms of
participation have been shown to be indicators of classroom engagement and predictors of achievement. Autonomous participation refers to classroom behaviors that are characterized by initia-

tive or self-directedness (e.g., starting activities, working

independently, seeking challenges), and cooperative participation
refers to classroom behaviors that are conducted in a socially
responsible manner (i.e., adhering to classroom rules and role
expectations; see Ford, 1985; Wentzel, 1991). School avoidance
was defined as the degree to which children expressed a desire to
avoid school and engaged in school-avoidant behaviors. Achievement was defined as the accuracy with which children could solve
progressively more advanced reading, mathematics, and spelling
problems on an individualized achievement test. Measures of
childrens classroom participation, school avoidance, and achievement indices were obtained in grades 3 and 5, and for each of these
measures, earlier scores were partialed from later scores to create
(residualized) indices that reflected change (relative to peers) in
childrens performance over time.

Evaluation of Hypothesized and Alternative Models

Model development was guided by three principal objectives.
The first was to examine more completely the basic tenets of the
Buhs and Ladd (2001) model and address the hypothesized model
extensions. The second was to evaluate these premises within the
context of an extended prospective longitudinal study and an
elaborated assessment plan. The third was to more directly test the
postulate that early peer rejection antecedes peer maltreatment.
Accordingly, peer rejection was measured during kindergarten and
evaluated as an antecedent of childrens chronic peer maltreatment
during subsequent grades.
Model evaluation was conducted by determining the extent to
which data from this investigation corroborated the proposed network of variable linkages that were stipulated within the revised,
hypothesized model (see Figure 2) and by including pathways
representing alternative hypotheses (i.e., pathways from chronic
peer abuse to classroom participation and from chronic exclusion
to school avoidance). A model that fit the data well was further
modified to improve fit and parsimony (see Figure 3) and was also
evaluated to determine whether the parameters generalized across
gender subgroups within the sample participants (boys vs. girls).

The Hypothesized Model

On the basis of the foregoing hypotheses and rationales, specific
patterns of linkages were specified among the investigated variables, and confirmatory path analyses were used to identify a final
model. The path diagram for the hypothesized model (see Figure
2) was constructed as follows: First, paths were included to represent the hypothesis that early peer group rejection promotes two
forms of chronic peer maltreatment (exclusion, abuse). Thus,
lower levels of peer acceptance are shown as predicting not only
higher levels of chronic peer exclusion but also higher levels of
chronic peer abuse. Because there is evidence to suggest that
deviant behavioral styles, particularly childrens tendencies to act
aggressively or withdrawn among peers, antecede not only peer
rejection but also peer maltreatment (for a review, see Ladd, 2003;
MacDougall et al., 2001), indicators of these constructs were
obtained in kindergarten and included in the model as potential
predictors of (a) both forms of chronic peer maltreatment and (b)
changes in childrens achievement. Inclusion of these paths made
it possible to evaluate the strength and direction of the hypothe-

BUHS, LADD, AND HERALD

Figure 2. Hypothesized model, including alternative pathways, as initially estimated (gray pathways are those
that received nonsignificant path estimates in the initial estimate and were dropped in the reduced model).

sized paths from early rejection to chronic maltreatment in the

context of other, plausible causes of chronic peer maltreatment and
to estimate the extent to which the hypothesized mediated paths
between acceptance/rejection, peer maltreatment, and classroom

disengagement accounted for changes in achievement that was not

attributable to (i.e., independent of) childrens deviant behavioral
styles. Next, the hypothesized paths from chronic exclusion to
change in classroom participation and from chronic abuse to

Figure 3. Reduced model structural equations modeling results (nonsignificant paths removed). *p .05.
**p .01.

PEER EXCLUSION AND VICTIMIZATION

change in school avoidance were incorporated into the model.

Separate indicators of fifth-grade peer exclusion and peer abuse
were integrated into the model so that both forms of chronic peer
maltreatment could be estimated as antecedents of classroom engagement while controlling for the influence of contemporary peer
maltreatment. Finally, the model contained paths from both indicators of classroom disengagement to changes in childrens
achievement so that it was possible to evaluate the hypothesis that
declining classroom disengagement (reductions in classroom participation, gains in school avoidance) precipitate underachievement. Additionally, because of evidence indicating that the two
forms of peer maltreatment are related constructs and because the
same type of informant (i.e., teachers) provided data on classroom
participation and school avoidance, the error terms of these pairs of
variables, respectively, were allowed to covary (see Figure 3).

Generalizability of the Hypothesized Model

Across Gender
Next, we examined the extent to which the paths identified in
the final model were different for boys versus girls. On the basis
of past evidence (see MacDougall et al., 2001), it might be argued
that peer rejection is a stronger predictor of childhood maladjustment for boys. However, neither theory nor evidence suggests that
the link between chronic peer maltreatment and changes in classroom disengagement is stronger for one gender, thus this aim was
addressed as an empirical question. The model was estimated from
both gender group data sets under the most restrictive constraint
possiblethat the model structure and all model parameters were
equal across groups. If this estimation/comparison indicated an
adequate or better fit to the data, then it would support the
conclusion that the hypothesized model (identical sets of linkages)
fit the data equally well for both groups.

Alternative Hypotheses
As an additional test of validity for the hypothesized model, two
additional pathways were estimated. These pathways were included to represent a counter argument to the hypothesized model,
namely, that chronic peer maltreatment, regardless of form or type,
has similar rather than distinct (i.e., unique) effects on changes in
childrens classroom engagement. Pathways representing this alternative conceptualization were added; that is, paths from peer
exclusion to school avoidance and from peer abuse to classroom
participation were estimated. Support for this alternative hypothesis would consist of evidence indicating that, as mediators,
chronic peer exclusion and chronic peer abuse were each significantly associated with classroom participation and school avoidance (i.e., both forms of peer maltreatment make unique contributions to both forms of classroom disengagement).

Method
Participants
The data used in this investigation were gathered from a total sample of
380 children (190 girls) who were part of a larger investigation of childrens psychological and school adjustment. These children were followed
longitudinally from age 5 (kindergarten) to age 11 (fifth grade). In the
initial year of data collection, children were in 31 kindergarten classrooms

across 10 schools, and by the fifth-grade data collection period, children

were in 162 different classrooms across 32 schools. Written, informed
parental consent was obtained from all participants prior to the investigations inception. The sample contained nearly equal proportions of families
from urban, suburban, or rural midwestern communities, and the samples
ethnic composition was 17.4% African American, 77.1% Caucasian, 1.6%
Hispanic, and 3.9% other. Family socioeconomic scores (SEI; Entwisle
& Astone, 1994) ranged from 0 (unemployed) to 97.16, with a mean of
49.14 (SEI scores of 50 are assigned to administrative support staff, health
technicians, and electronic sales personnel). Family incomes were distributed
as follows: 10.9% of the sample reported total household incomes from $0 to
$10,000, 10.9% reported incomes from $10,000 to $20,000, 12.6% reported
incomes from $20,000 to $30,000, 12.6% from $30,000 to $40,000, 12.9%
from $40,000 to $50,000, and 40.3% reported incomes above $50,000.

Measures
Peer Acceptance/Rejection
The extent to which children were accepted versus rejected by their
classmates was assessed in kindergarten by using a rating scale measure of
peer acceptance (Asher, Singleton, Tinsley, & Hymel, 1979; Cassidy &
Asher, 1992). Previous evaluations of this instrument have shown it to be
both reliable and valid (see Cillessen & Bukowski, 2000; Ladd, Herald, &
Andrews, 2006). During an individual interview, children rated each classmate on a 3-point scale, indicating the extent to which they liked to play
with that person in school. Ratings were made on a 3-point scale (1 not
much, 2 kind of, and 3 a lot ) using a picture-sort procedure (see Asher
et al., 1979) and were standardized and averaged within classrooms to
create an acceptance score for each child (scores ranged from 2.58 to
2.10). Variable means and standard deviations for all variables included in
these analyses are presented in Table 1 (note that Table 1 statistics for
school avoidance, classroom participation, and achievement variables were
calculated from residual scoressee sections below for complete details).

Negative Peer Treatment: Chronic Exclusion and

Victimization, Fifth-Grade Exclusion and Victimization
Chronic peer exclusion. During the spring of kindergarten through
fifth grade, childrens teachers rated each participant on four items (see
Table 2 for sample items from all measures) that were drawn from the
Excluded by Peers (EP) subscale of the Child Behavior Scale (CBS; Ladd
& Profilet, 1996). Three items from the EP subscale were eliminated so as
to reduce shared variance with other constructs (e.g., the items not much
liked by other children, peers refuse to let this child play with them, and
ridiculed by peers were deleted because they were semantically similar
to indicators of peer acceptance and victimization). Ratings were obtained
on a 3-point scale (0 doesnt apply, 1 applies sometimes, 2 certainly
applies) and, at each time of assessment, were averaged over items to
obtain a score for each child (alphas ranged from .90 to .95). Childrens
scores exhibited modest stability across the 5-year period (stability coefficients ranged from .20 to .50, M .36). Chronic exclusion scores were
created by summing the number of years across the 5-year period of Grades
K 4 that each childs exclusion score exceeded a value of .25 (this score
placed them at or above the 66th percentile within the distribution of scores
that were obtained at each measurement occasion).
Peer exclusion: Concurrent measure. The concurrent, single time
point measure of the peer exclusion construct was created using childrens
fifth grade scores (only) from the EP (Ladd & Profilet, 1996) subscale
described above (see Table 1 for means and standard deviations).
Chronic peer abuse. This construct was measured with four self-report
items found on the multi-informant peer victimization scales developed by
Ladd and Kochenderfer-Ladd (2002). These items were administered during the spring of each school year (from kindergarten to fifth grade), and

BUHS, LADD, AND HERALD

Table 1
Bivariate Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations for Structural Model Variables
Variable
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
M
SD
R2

Peer acceptance/rejection
Chronic peer abuse
Peer abuse (concurrent)
Chronic peer exclusion
Peer exclusion (concurrent)
School avoidance
Classroom participation
Achievement
Aggression
Withdrawn behavior

.32**
.27**
.65**
.39**
.19**
.40**
.35**
.45**
.19**
0.12
0.96

.34**
.36**
.26**
.24**
.18**
.14**
.31**
.08
0.83
1.07
.14

.35**
.30**
.19**
.15**
.10*
.18**
.08
0.59
0.48

.52**
.17**
.39**
.30**
.47**
.28**
1.50
1.50
.48

.23**
.31**
.17**
.17**
.17**
1.31
0.53

10

.28**
.23**
.08
.03
0.00
0.30
.05

.50**
.29**
.10
0.01
1.04
.27

.27**
.09
0.11
9.12
.26

.12*
0.35
0.47

0.24
0.37

Note. One plus sign represents standardized scores; two plus signs represent residual scores (see Method section for complete description).
* p .05. ** p .01.

children rated the frequency with which they had experienced verbal,
physical, general, and indirect forms of peer abuse (see Table 2) on a
3-point scale (1 no, never, 2 sometimes, 3 a lot). Each year, item
ratings were averaged to create an abuse score, and these scores were found
to be reliable (alphas ranged from .73 to .80). The scales validity has been
established previously (see Ladd & Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2002). Childrens
scores exhibited modest stability across the 5-year period (stability coefficients ranged from .13 to .52, M .26). Chronic abuse scores were
created by summing the number of years across the 5-year period of Grades
K 4 that childrens abuse scores exceeded a criterion of 2.25; thus, the
resulting score indicated how many years (scored 0 5) that participants
had reported being abused more than sometimes (i.e., received an averaged score that was above the scales midpoint; see Kochenderfer & Ladd,
1996). The 2.25 cutoff score was comparable to that used by Olweus
(1991) and other investigators to identify children who have experienced
moderate levels of peer abuse (see also Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996).
Peer abuse: Concurrent. The concurrent, single time point measure of
the peer abuse construct was created using childrens fifth grade scores
(only) from the four self-report items of the Multi-Informant Peer Victimization Scales (Ladd & Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2002) described above (see
Table 1 for means and standard deviations).

Classroom Behavioral Participation and School

Avoidance
Change in classroom participation. To obtain a measure of this construct, teachers rated six items from the Cooperative (three items) and the
Autonomous (three items) Participation subscales of the Teacher Rating
Scale of School Adjustment (TRSSA; Birch & Ladd, 1997; Ladd,
Kochenderfer, & Coleman, 1996) during the spring of Grades 35. Items
were rated on a 3-point scale (0 doesnt apply, 1 applies sometimes, 2
certainly applies), and ratings were averaged over items to create a score
for each child at each time of measurement (alphas ranged from .89 to .91).
Because scores for the two subscales were highly correlated (correlations
ranged from .62 to .71), they were summed to create a composite participation score (see Ladd et al., 1999) for each measurement occasion.
Childrens raw scores on these subscales ranged from 0 to 4, and scale
means (and standard deviations) were as follows: M 2.91 (1.03) for third
grade; M 2.82 (1.02) for fourth grade; and M 2.92 (0.98) for fifth
grade.
In order to measure change in childrens classroom participation, the
scores obtained in fifth grade were regressed onto those obtained in third
grade, and the unstandardized residuals (range 2.70 1.90) were used

Table 2
Selected Scale Items for Model-Observed Variables (Except WRAT Achievement Scales)
Scale
Peer Acceptance Ratings
Exclusion
Peer Abuse
Classroom Participation
Cooperative form
Autonomous form (combined w/cooperative form)
School Avoidance
Aggression
Withdrawn
Note. WRAT Wide Range Achievement Test.

Item
How much do you like to hang out with
at school?
Not chosen as playmate by peers.
Excluded from peers activities.
How often do the kids in your class pick on you at school?
How often do the kids in your class say bad things about you to other kids at school?
Follows teachers directions.
Accepts responsibility for a given task.
Seeks challenges.
Is a self-directed child.
Makes up reasons to go home from school.
Asks to leave the classroom.
Threatens other children.
Bullies other children.
Prefers to play alone.
Withdraws from peer activities.

PEER EXCLUSION AND VICTIMIZATION

as an index of relative change in childrens participation across Grades 35.
Whereas lower scores on this variable corresponded to declines in childrens classroom participation over time, relative to peers, higher scores
signified gains in classroom participation over the same interval (Table 1
statistics refer to the residual scores).
Change in school avoidance. Each year during Grades 35, teachers
rated five items from the TRSSA (see Table 2; Birch & Ladd, 1997; Ladd
et al., 1996) that indexed the extent to which children expressed a desire to
avoid school or attempted to avoid school. Ratings were made on a 3-point
scale (0 doesnt apply, 1 applies sometimes, 2 certainly applies) and
were averaged over items to obtain a score for each child. The raw scores
children received on this measure ranged from 0 to 2, and scale means (and
standard deviations) were as follows: M .14 (.28) for third grade; M
.16 (.33) for fourth grade; and M .13 (.29) for fifth grade. To obtain a
measure of relative change in school avoidance over time, residual scores
were created using the same approach described for the measure of change
in childrens classroom participation (range .40 1.85). Lower residual
scores indexed declines in childrens school avoidance over time, relative
to peers, and higher scores denoted relative increases in avoidance over
Grades 35 (Table 1 statistics refer to the residual scores).
Changes in achievement. An index of this construct was obtained by
individually administering the reading, spelling, and math subtests of the
Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT; Wilkenson, 1993) to all participants during the spring of Grades 35. At each time of measurement,
childrens scores on the three WRAT subtests were averaged to obtain an
overall academic achievement composite. The WRAT possesses adequate
psychometric properties and has been normed and validated on national
samples (alphas ranged from .69 to .97; validity estimates are acceptable
for children and adults, including third through fifth graders; Reinehr,
1984). In this sample, the range, means, and standard deviations for the
composite scores were, respectively, third graders: 459.33521.00, 494.46,
8.78; fourth graders: 469.00 529.33, 500.03, 8.63; fifth graders: 475.33
531.67, 506.06, 9.14.
Change in achievement scores (residuals) were created using the same
procedures described for the classroom participation and school avoidance
measures. Residuals ranged from 30.46 to 25.80, and the sample standard
deviation was 9.12. Lower residual scores indexed declines in childrens
achievement over time, relative to peers, and higher scores signified gains
in achievement over Grades 35.

Kindergarten Classroom Behavior

Aggression. To obtain a measure of childrens aggressive behavior
during kindergarten, teachers rated participants on the seven-item Aggression (AG) subscale of the CBS (Ladd & Profilet, 1996). Teachers rated
seven items that described distinct acts of verbal and physical aggression
(see Table 2 for sample items) using a 3-point scale (0 doesnt apply, 1
applies sometimes, 2 certainly applies). Past research has shown that
the AG subscale of the CBS has adequate reliability and validity with this
age group (see Ladd & Burgess, 1999; Ladd & Profilet, 1996 ). The ratings
children received for each of the seven items were averaged, and the
resulting scores ranged from 0 to 2 and were found to be internally
consistent ( .93).
Withdrawn behavior. The Asocial subscale of the CBS (CBS-AS;
Ladd & Profilet, 1996) was used as an index of kindergartners passivewithdrawn behavior. Teachers rated children on six items (see Table 2 for
sample items) using a 3-point scale (0 doesnt apply, 1 applies sometimes, 2 certainly applies). The ratings assigned to these items were
averaged for each participant. Scores ranged from 0 to 2 and were found to
be internally consistent ( .93).

drens exposure to peer exclusion and abuse, respectively, were obtained

yearly during Grades K5. Teachers completed the CBS-AG and CBS-AS
during the spring of participants kindergarten year and the measures of
classroom participation and school avoidance during the spring of Grades
35. The WRAT was administered to participants in the spring of Grades
35. Prior to the administration of all measures, participants, classmates,
and teachers were trained to use the rating scale that accompanied the items
they were asked to complete. Children and their classmates were thanked
for their participation and given a small gift (e.g., pencil, stickers). Teachers received a small cash honorarium for participating in the study.

Results
Analytic Plan
Prior to inclusion in structural equations modeling (SEM) analyses, the distributions of all variables were examined for conformity to parametric and multivariate assumptions. Bivariate correlations were calculated to assess multicollinearity and determine
whether relations among the predictors and criteria conformed to
expectations. Relations among the predictors were not multicollinear and conformed to a priori assumptions.
The models presented here were estimated using SEM to provide a confirmatory evaluation of the hypothesized structural models (see Table 1 for bivariate correlations, means, and standard
deviations). As a preliminary step, bivariate correlations were
examined in order to confirm significant relationships between the
exogenous (peer acceptance) and outcome (i.e., achievement) variables as a condition of mediation (Baron & Kenny, 1986). For the
hypothesized model, all of the structural paths presented in Figure 2 were initially modeled. LISREL software (Joreskog & Sorbom, 2001) was used (maximum-likelihood method, pairwise deletion of missing data) to estimate the fit of the hypothesized
model to the data and, given indication of adequate fit, to obtain
parameter estimates for the structural paths.

Model Fit
The criteria and standards used to judge model fit (see Hu &
Bentler, 1999) included the Steigers root-mean-square error of
approximation (RMSEA values below .05 indicate a very good fit
and those below .10 indicate a reasonable fit; Steiger, 1990) and
two other common fit indices: the comparative fit index (CFI
.95: Bentler, 1990) and the standardized root-mean-square residual
(SRMR .05; Hu & Bentler, 1999). This constellation of fit
statistics conforms to recommended strategies for evaluating the fit
of structural models (Hu & Bentler, 1999). The obtained fit indices
for all tested models are shown in Table 3. Whereas initial model
Table 3
Fit Statistics for All Models
Model

df

CFI

SRMR

RMSEA

22

43.70

.97

.05

.06

27
76

50.74
82.87

.97
.99

.06

.05
.02

Procedure

Hypothesized model
(all paths)
Reduced model
(ns paths removed)
Gender groups

Childrens classmates completed the peer acceptance measure in the

spring of kindergarten, and the self- and teacher-report measures of chil-

Note. CFI comparative fit index; SRMR standardized root-meansquare error residual; RMSEA root-mean-square error of approximation.

BUHS, LADD, AND HERALD

fit estimates for the hypothesized model were judged to be acceptable (below), conceptual and empirical considerations indicated
that minor modifications of the hypothesized model were appropriate (e.g., parsimony was enhanced via dropping nonsignificant
pathways from the model; see Saris & Stronkhorst, 1984).

Hypothesized Model
We estimated the fit of the model (as presented in Figure 2)
using LISREL (Joreskog & Sorbom, 2001) and obtained indices of
an acceptable fit of the model to the data. The values for this model
were, 2(20, minimum N 320) 43.70, p .001, CFI .97,
SRMR .05. Steigers (1990) RMSEA was .06, indicating that
the errors of approximation for fitting the model to the population
were acceptable, and the model was a reasonable fit to the data
(Browne & Cudeck, 1993).

Reduced Model
Several nonsignificant pathways were eliminated from the
model (see the gray arrows in Figure 2: Removed were paths from
aggression and social withdrawal to academic achievement, the
path from social withdrawal to chronic exclusion, the path from
chronic peer abuse to exclusion, both of the alternatively hypothesized paths from chronic peer abuse to participation and from
chronic exclusion to school avoidance, and the path from school
avoidance to academic achievement) to improve parsimony (MacCallum, 1986). The resulting reduced model was estimated. This
reduced model also demonstrated acceptable fit to the data, 2(27,
minimum N 320) 50.74, p .001,CFI .97, SRMR .06.
Steigers (1990) RMSEA was .05, indicating that the errors of
approximation for fitting the model to the population were small
and that the model was a good fit to the data (Browne & Cudeck,
1993).

Structural Path Estimates: Relationships

Among the Variables
Given that the hypothesized structural model and the resulting
reduced model (see Figure 3) exhibited an acceptable fit to the
data, estimates of the structural relationships among the model
variables may be interpreted. Estimated path coefficients were
largely consistent with our predictions and are presented below (all
coefficients reported below are significant at a level of p .01 or
smaller, except as indicated). Path coefficient estimates presented
below were obtained from the estimation of the model, with the
nonsignficant paths removed (i.e., see the Reduced model section).
R2 values, where appropriate, for the endogenous variables are also
reported in Table 1 (also drawn from the reduced model
estimation).
The path estimates from peer acceptance to the chronic victimization and chronic exclusion variables were significant. Children
who were more accepted in kindergarten were less likely to be
chronically abused from kindergarten to fourth grade (.22) and
less likely to be chronically excluded over the same time period
(.52). The direct path from peer acceptance to achievement was
also significant (.18) and indicated that children rated as more
accepted in kindergarten were likely to display relative increases in
residualized achievement scores. Kindergarten ratings of aggres-

sion also predicted chronic peer abuse and chronic exclusion (.22
and .21, respectively), thus indicating that more aggressive children were more likely to be chronically abused and excluded by
classmates. Social withdrawal predicted chronic exclusion only
(.15) and indicated that children exhibiting socially withdrawn
behavior were more likely to be excluded by peers across grades.
Chronic abuse and chronic exclusion were also significantly
linked to the single time point measurements (i.e., fifth grade) of
the peer maltreatment variables, indicating they were predictive of
the concurrent (fifth grade) ratings of peer maltreatment. Children
who were more abused from kindergarten to fourth grade were
also more likely to be abused in fifth grade (.24; the path from
chronic peer abuse to exclusion was nonsignificant). Children who
were more chronically excluded were also more likely to be
abused and excluded in fifth grade (path estimates of .27 and .52,
respectively).
Chronic peer abuse was, in turn, predictive of residualized
school avoidance (.23), indicating that children who were chronically abused by peers were likely to exhibit increased school
avoidance behaviors. A significant path estimate (.37) indicated
that chronically excluded children were also more likely to exhibit
an increase in classroom disengagement. Pathways representing
the alternative hypothesis that chronic peer abuse also predicts
decreased classroom participation and that chronic exclusion predicts school avoidance were estimated as nonsignificant in the
initial model estimation.
Paths from school avoidance and classroom participation to
change in academic achievement were also estimated. Although
the path estimate from school avoidance to classroom achievement
was nonsignificant, the coefficient from participation to achievement was estimated at .43, indicating that children who displayed
a relative increase in participation were also more likely to show
an increase in achievement. The error covariances between chronic
victimization and exclusion, between fifth grade peer abuse and
exclusion, and between school avoidance and classroom participation were set free to vary as discussed above and were estimated
at .12 and .10 ( p .05) and .21, respectively.

Further Evidence Regarding Mediation and Significant

Effects: Estimates of Indirect Effects
Although the significant path estimates for the hypothesized
mediating processes represented above satisfied many of the conditions for mediation, further evidence indicating the degree to
which the mediating pathways of the model explained the association between the peer rejection variable and the mediators/outcomes is obtained from estimates of indirect effects (Bollen,
1989). Estimates of significant indirect relationships among the
different sets of mediating linkages were consistent with the contention that the effects of the peer rejection and the peer maltreatment variables on the outcomes were mediated by the intervening
linkages included.
Pathways associated with peer acceptance produced estimates of
significant indirect relationships with both of the primary mediating variables (i.e., avoidance and disengagement; see Figure 3).
Higher peer acceptance scores were indirectly associated with
increases in classroom participation (.19), decreases in school
avoidance (.05), and increases in achievement scores (.08). In
the presence of a significant estimate for the direct path from peer

PEER EXCLUSION AND VICTIMIZATION

acceptance to achievement, these findings provide additional support for the contention that the included mediating variables and
paths partially mediate the relationship between peer acceptance
and the residualized avoidance, disengagement, and achievement
variables.
Another set of indirect effects estimates is also pertinent to an
evaluation of the properties of the model estimated herethose of
the mediating, chronic peer maltreatment variables that were a
central focus of the model (i.e., chronic peer abuse and chronic
exclusion) on the achievement outcome. Children who were more
chronically excluded tended to score lower on the achievement
measure (.16). Because there was no significant link between
school avoidance and achievement, and this path was thus dropped
from the reduced model evaluation (see description above),
chronic peer abuse ratings could not be significantly associated
with childrens achievement levels within that model. However,
indirect effects estimates from the initial model estimate (that
included the nonsignificant paths later removed) also indicated that
there were no significant indirect effects for chronic peer abuse on
achievement. This finding indicates that chronic abuse, although
significantly linked to residualized school avoidance scores, did
not make an independent contribution to achievement within the
paths included in these models.

more likely to be socially excluded across kindergarten through

fourth grade. The estimates for the paths from withdrawal to
chronic peer abuse and to achievement were not significant, nor
was the coefficient for the direct path from aggression to achievement. In summary, these results indicate that the above discussed
effects for peer acceptance and the chronic peer maltreatment
variables occurred independently of effects because of ratings of
childrens behavioral styles.
Further examination of the results from the model estimation
also indicated that the kindergarten peer behavior variables displayed relevant significant indirect effects on mediating and outcome variables. More aggressive children were more likely to
display increases in school avoidance (.05), decreased participation (.08), and decreased achievement (.03). Children who
were more socially withdrawn also tended to display relative
decreases in participation (.06) and decreases in achievement
(.02). These significant estimates of indirect effects for the
kindergarten behavior variables were consistent with the interpretation that the linkages and indirect effects among peer rejection,
the chronic peer maltreatment variables, and disengagement and
achievement were significant, independent of effects attributable
to childrens behavioral styles.

Discussion
Comparison of Model Fit Across Gender Groups and
Examination of the Role of Aggression and Withdrawal
Gender
An estimation of the fit of the reduced model (nonsignificant
pathways removed) was conducted using a separate set of analyses
for gender subgroups (Bollen, 1989; Joreskog & Sorbom, 2001).
Analyses for the subgroups (boys vs. girls) indicated that the
model fit the data well under the most restrictive set of assumptions possiblethat is, that all parameter matrices are constrained
to be equal across both groups (see Table 2 for fit statistics from
this comparison). Group sample sizes for the subgroup scores
included in this analysis were as follows: boys (minimum n
156), girls (minimum n 160). This finding was consistent with
the assumption that the same model fit the data drawn from both
subgroups well. Within the estimated model, the effects of peer
rejection on the specified mediating processes and the adjustment
outcome were identical across gender groups, both in terms of
form (i.e., model structure) and parameter magnitude.

Childrens Kindergarten Behavior Patterns

Following the above described premises regarding possible
moderating roles for aggression and socially withdrawn behaviors,
pathways controlling for these effects were included in the structural model. Aggression was linked to chronic exclusion and
chronic abuse, and the structural paths representing these premises
were estimated at .21 and .22, respectively, indicating that children
rated as more aggressive in kindergarten were also more likely to
be chronically excluded and abused. Prior theory and evidence also
suggested that social withdrawal increases the likelihood of
chronic maltreatment and later achievement difficulties. Social
withdrawal was linked to chronic exclusion (.15), indicating that
children who were more withdrawn in kindergarten were also

Several questions were addressed in the present study that are

central to research efforts aimed at furthering researchers understanding of the role that peer relationships play in childrens school
adjustment. The results corroborate and extend the premises advanced by Coie (1990) and Buhs and Ladd (2001) by showing that
the attitudinal construct of peer rejection is associated not only
with concurrent peer maltreatment but also with distinct forms of
peer maltreatment that may endure over many school years, and
with later emerging, adverse school adjustment outcomes. To be
specific, it was discovered that (a) children who were less well
accepted by their kindergarten classmates were at greater risk for
peer maltreatment in subsequent grades; (b) chronic peer maltreatment throughout the primary school years, including sustained
peer exclusion and peer abuse, forecasted later school disengagement; and (c) the association between peer group rejection in
kindergarten and childrens achievement during the middle-grade
school years was mediated principally by their exposure to chronic
peer exclusion and decelerating classroom participation. These
observed linkages support the view that early peer rejection is a
precursor of at least two forms of chronic peer maltreatment
(exclusion, abuse), that these forms of chronic maltreatment differentially influence childrens school engagement, and that
chronic peer exclusion is more detrimental to childrens scholastic
progress. No prior empirical work has presented support for this
sequence of linkages within a single model or set of analyses.
The theoretical significance of these findings is substantial and
can be understood in relation to frameworks that investigators have
developed to guide research on the adaptive significance of childrens peer relationships within school contexts (see Buhs & Ladd,
2001; Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Ladd, 1999, 2003). In particular,
the obtained data pattern lends support to the contention that peers
dislike of individuals in their kindergarten classrooms becomes a
motive for maltreatment or an impetus for behavioral expressions
of rejection. These data were also congruent with the tenet that

10

BUHS, LADD, AND HERALD

peer maltreatment becomes more probable when feelings of dislike

become consensual or shared among classmates. In this study,
children who received lower scores on the kindergarten acceptance/rejection rating measure were, by definition, disliked by
larger proportions of their classmates, and these scores were predictive of subsequent peer maltreatment. Perhaps, under such
conditions, peers infer that such treatment is justifiable or warranted because many others in the group harbor similar sentiments
or because disliked children lack allies and, therefore, can be
mistreated with impunity.
These findings significantly extend prior postulates by illustrating that peers dislike of individuals in their kindergarten classrooms anteceded not only incipient forms of maltreatment (e.g.,
the extent to which disliked children were excluded or abused in
kindergarten; see also Buhs & Ladd, 2001) but also sustained or
chronic peer maltreatment. As Coie (1990) observed, early forms
of peer maltreatment, which appear to have their origins in peers
negative sentiments, may serve as a visible marker of rejection for
the larger peer group. Our findings extend this premise by suggesting that peers rejecting behaviors not only confirm childrens
status in kindergarten classrooms (as disliked or rejected peers) but
also function as a precursor of continued or chronic peer maltreatment. It may well be the case that early patterns of rejection and
maltreatment become self-perpetuating or dynamic systems in
which peers feelings of dislike of individuals motivates maltreatment, and the display of these rejecting behaviors in current or
subsequent peer group contexts signals to others that maltreated
children are (or should be) disliked. Although such cycles may
begin in kindergarten, as children jockey for position in new peer
groups, several mechanisms may play a role in the persistence of
these patterns over time. First, peers feelings of dislike of particular individuals may persevere or be maintained via reputational
biases from grade to grade, thereby creating continuity in their
motivation to engage in peer maltreatment (see Hymel, Wagner, &
Butler, 1990). Second, for these or other reasons (e.g., established
scripts, reinforcement histories, and the like), peers may reinstitute
old interaction patterns when they encounter previously disliked
children during subsequent school years. Third, by reestablishing
old behavior patterns at subsequent grade levels (e.g., in new or
reconstituted classroom peer groups), peers may, through their
behavior, communicate to classmates that previously disliked and
maltreated children are (or should continue to be) disliked and
therefore deserving of further maltreatment. To the extent to which
these processes are operative, it seems likely that they may function conjointly or collectively to incite and sustain peer maltreatment. In light of our present findings, further investigation of these
processes seems warranted.
The hypothesis that different forms of classroom disengagement
evolve from chronic peer exclusion versus chronic peer abuse was
corroborated by results showing that whereas chronically excluded
children were more likely to become disengaged from classroom
activities (relative to peers) during the middle-grade school years,
chronically abused children were more likely to avoid the school
context. These findings were consistent with the hypothesis that
peer maltreatment, depending on its form, has distinct effects on
childrens classroom disengagement. Moreover, the differential
predictive linkages that emerged in our data corroborated the
inference that peer exclusion functions as an impediment to childrens classroom participation and that children who are chroni-

cally exposed to this form of maltreatment become increasingly

disengaged from classroom activities as they progress through
grade school. The significance of this form of disengagement was
further illustrated by the fact that decreasing classroom participation, more than increasing school avoidance, predicted changes in
childrens achievement. Thus, our findings suggest that, although
disliked children often become the targets of enduring peer maltreatment, the form of maltreatment they are exposed to has
different consequences for their classroom engagement and
achievement.
In light of these results, it becomes important to consider why
chronic peer exclusion, more than chronic peer abuse, emerged as
a stronger predictor of decrements in childrens classroom participation and, ultimately, decelerating scholastic progress. Exclusion
was conceptualized as a process that restricts childrens access to
the social and instrumental resources that may be found in classroom peer activities. Following Coies (1990) model, it may be the
case that chronic exclusion functions not only as an enduring
deterrent to childrens access to and participation in classroom
activities but also as a persistent signal to classmates that rejected
children are not integral members of the classroom peer group.
Such treatment may reduce or threaten rejected childrens already
tenuous position in their peer groups and further restrict their
interactions with peers. After experiencing this kind of treatment,
rejected children may respond by devaluing their relationships
with group members and increasing their attempts to withdraw
from classroom activities and interactions in which exclusion tends
to occur (see also Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Leary, 2001). This
pattern of avoidance may also create more serious complications
for rejected childrens school adjustment, such as a trajectory
toward underachievement.
The fact that chronic peer abuse was not as strongly predictive
of classroom disengagement or implicated in a mediated linkage
(through changes in classroom participation or school avoidance)
with changes in achievement deserves further consideration. Consistent with past research, chronic peer abuse was predicted by
childrens peer rejection in kindergarten, and this form of maltreatment did predict increased school avoidance during grade
school. However, contrary to expectations, the gains in school
avoidance that were attributable to chronic peer abuse did not
appear to mediate changes in childrens achievement when the
contributions of chronic peer exclusion were also estimated. This
result implies that chronic peer abuse may escalate childrens
attempts to avoid school but that, compared with chronic peer
exclusion, this form of maltreatment is not as influential in shaping
childrens classroom participation and achievement. It may be the
case, however, that chronic peer abuse takes a greater toll on
childrens emotional as compared with scholastic adjustment (e.g.,
loneliness at school, internalizing outcomes, and so forth; see
Hawker & Boulton, 2001). This finding, when viewed within a
constellation of previous results that have linked peer abuse with
school adjustment, may mean that children who are targeted for
peer abuse are able to selectively participate in a subset of classroom or school activities in which they receive sufficient support
to learn and achieve.
The predictive efficacy of kindergarten peer rejection was examined in conjunction with childrens aggressive and withdrawn
behavioral orientations to evaluate the strength and direction of the
hypothesized paths from early rejection to chronic maltreatment in

PEER EXCLUSION AND VICTIMIZATION

the context of other, plausible causes of chronic peer maltreatment

and to estimate the extent to which the hypothesized mediated
paths between rejection, chronic peer maltreatment, and classroom
disengagement accounted for changes in achievement that were
not attributable to childrens deviant behavioral styles. Results
showed that, in conjunction with peer rejection, kindergartners
propensity to engage in aggressive interactions increased the likelihood that they would experience chronic peer abuse and exclusion and that kindergartners penchant toward withdrawn behavior
increased the probability that they would experience chronic peer
exclusion. Consistent with expectations, however, our findings
indicated that early peer rejection made an independent contribution to the prediction of both forms of chronic peer maltreatment.
This result lends support to the premise that classmates rejecting
sentiments (among other factors) are a significant determinant of
chronic peer exclusion and chronic peer abuse. Other tests of the
predictive contributions of childrens early behavioral orientations
revealed that aggression and withdrawal were indirectly associated
with later achievement. The meaning of these findings must be
considered in the context of the significant indirect links found
between peer rejection and both forms of chronic maltreatment and
the significant indirect links found from peer rejection to chronic
exclusion to achievement. Here again, these findings are consistent
with the contention that, although aggressive and withdrawn orientations predict later peer maltreatment, peer rejection and
chronic maltreatment make independent contributions to changes
in disengagement and achievement. Evidence of additive predictive associations between rejection and peer maltreatment may
also be viewed as consistent with evidence indicating that many
aggressive and withdrawn children (especially at early ages) are
not rejected by their peers (e.g., Coie, 1990; Rodkin, Farmer, &
Pearl, 2000; Younger, Gentile, & Burgess, 1993).
The design and methodology of this study posed certain limitations that require attention in future investigations. First, the
relative magnitude of the path estimates linking the indicators of
peer maltreatment with changes in (residualized) classroom engagement and achievement were moderate in magnitude. In part,
this may be attributable to the fact that the adjustment patterns of
participating children at upper elementary grades were relatively
stable, and, because of this, there was somewhat restricted variability in the scores that were used to represent relative change in
childrens classroom participation and achievement. However, it
should be recognized that the strength of the obtained associations
and the proportion of variance explained meet or exceed those
levels reported in other published studies in which similar constructs and variable linkages designed to indicate change in childrens adjustment were examined (e.g., Juvonen, Nishina, & Graham, 2000; Wentzel, 2003; though note that, in these studies,
investigators used hierarchical multiple regression analyses that
precluded the calculation of effect size estimates for single variables or sets of variables that are directly comparable to those used
in this study).
It may also be the case that additional factors or processes, other
than those measured here, are responsible for changes in childrens
school engagement and achievement patterns. It is likely that the
components of our model tap only some of the factors that are
associated with childrens early school engagement and achievement patterns and that the reported linkages should be examined in
the context of other theoretically relevant predictors. Our own

11

research (e.g., Ladd et al., 1999) has indicated that the teacher
child relationship may also be an important relational context
linked to childrens later school adjustment. Some researchers
have also suggested that self-system beliefs or motivation, for
example, may mediate the links between peer group acceptance/
rejection and childrens school performance (e.g., Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Harter, 1996; Juvonen et al., 2000; Wentzel, 2003).
Recently, Juvonen and colleagues (2000) found that changes in
childrens reports of self-worth predicted aspects of childrens
school and psychological adjustment. Wentzel (2003) reported that
motivational processes predict childrens school adjustment above
and beyond childrens behavior patterns (e.g., withdrawal and
aggression). These and other potential predictors and mediators
warrant consideration in future longitudinal studies.
Results from this investigation provide additional support for
chronic stress models (see Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1981;
Johnson, 1988; Mechanic, 1983) by indicating that children exposed to chronic, or extended periods of peer maltreatment (exclusion, abuse) are at risk for later developing school adjustment
problems such as classroom disengagement and decelerating
achievement. Furthermore, evidence indicating that chronic peer
exclusion was a distinct mediator of the association between peer
rejection and childrens classroom participation and achievement
supports present conceptions about the processes through which
peer adversity influences childrens scholastic competence (see
Buhs & Ladd, 2001; Coie, 1990). Our findings are also consistent
with the premise that peer abuse and peer exclusion function as
distinct forms of peer maltreatment that have unique effects on
childrens subsequent engagement and adjustment patterns. These
findings temper, to some extent, the recent emphasis that has been
placed on peer abuse and victimization as a cause or mediator of
childrens academic adjustment problems and illustrate the potential importance of other forms of peer maltreatment. Peers sustained acts of exclusion, although perhaps not as visibly harmful as
verbal or physical forms of abuse, may be particularly detrimental
to childrens participation, foster disengagement from learning
activities, and, thus, have a greater impact than peer abuse on their
progress in the academic domain.
In summary, data from this investigation suggest that peer group
rejection is predictive of a range of chronic, negative peer behaviors that may alter both the social environment of the classroom
and childrens adaptive responses within that context across the
elementary school years. In particular, the inference that peer
exclusion reduces childrens classroom participation, and ultimately delays their achievement, merits additional study. Moreover, a more complete understanding of the many forms of peer
maltreatment that transpire in school contexts, and their potential
effects on childrens long-term school adjustment, is essential for
the development of empirically based, effective intervention
programs.

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Received December 4, 2003

Revision received June 27, 2005
Accepted August 8, 2005