Aggressiveness, social isolation and adjustment: the role of social reputation

The study examined the relations between social reputation linked to aggressive and social isolated behaviors and adjustment. Gender differences were also taken into account. 109 adolescents (52 boys), from 10 to 14 years, were administered the Revised Class Play, a Peer Nomination, the Illinois Loneliness Questionnaire, and the Children???s Depression Inventory. Teachers completed the Teacher-Child Rating Scale. Results showed that both aggression and social isolation were associated to a negative social reputation, but in a different way. While aggressiveness was linked to the peer explicit rejection, which endured from preadolescence to adolescence, social isolation was less negatively considered by peers and disappeared in adolescence. Teachers reported a relation between aggressiveness and externalizing problems only for boys. Social isolated preadolescents expressed feelings of loneliness during adolescence and displayed internalizing behaviors. From preadolescence to adolescence social isolation remained stable both for boys and girls, while aggression was stable only for boys.