Mash/Wolfe Abnormal Child Psychology, 4Th Edition

Mash/Wolfe Abnormal Child Psychology, 4th edition

______1 Introduction to Normal and Abnormal Behavior in Children and Adolescents ______

InfoTrac Student Activity: “Unpopular at School: Poor Parenting?” (Article #A74981019)

Instructions: To complete the InfoTrac Activity, login to InfoTrac College Edition using your SSO account (access to InfoTrac College Edition is included with the purchase of access to CengageNOW. Visit www.ichapters.com to purchase). Follow the link on the top right hand side of the companion site to login. Next, search for article listed above. Then, after reading the article, answer the questions that follow:

Description: The ability to form positive peer relationships is a key developmental task of childhood. Current research suggests that the growth of these relationships may either be fostered or hampered by how children are parented. For example, children who are maltreated by their parents appear at higher risk for unpopularity at school and ultimately peer rejection, a major risk factor for the development of other childhood problems. What is the nature of the pathway between maltreatment and peer rejection? To aid in your understanding of this issue, access an article available on InfoTrac entitled “Developmental pathways from child maltreatment to peer rejection” by Bolger and Patterson (2001). This article focuses on identifying the mechanisms linking child abuse/neglect to peer rejection.

Questions: (1) What were the two potentially important pathways hypothesized to lead from child maltreatment to problems in peer relationships? (2) Which of these two pathways seemed to hold up in this particular study? (3) What percentage of children in the final sample was identified as having been abused and/or neglected and did the maltreated sample differ from the rest of the sample in terms of gender distribution? (4) Results indicated that chronic maltreatment was associated with a greater likelihood of peer rejection, and what other factor? (5) According to the article, how might coercive parent-child interactions relate to the developmental progression toward peer rejection? (6) After reading this article, describe what you think might be important in terms of prevention strategies for children at risk for peer rejection.