The present study assesses the factor structure, psychometric adequacy, and invariance across sex and age of the Relational Provisions Loneliness Questionnaire (RPLQ). Discriminant validity with an external criterion was also tested. In a sample of Portuguese adolescents, from 7th to 9th grade ( N = 817), Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) were conducted to test a four-factor model of loneliness (lack of integration and/or intimacy in peer group and/or family). Results evidenced empirical support for the structure of the RPLQ loneliness scale, which fitted very well the proposed model, and provided adequate fit to the Portuguese data. There was substantial support for the construct validity (factorial, convergent, and discriminant) and reliability of the RPLQ. Measurement invariance (configural, metric, and scalar) was established across sex and age. Finally, it was assured discriminant validity, provided by the contrast with the social functioning dimensions in peer group. Overall, our findings support the conceptualization of loneliness in adolescence by peer- and family-related loneliness through lack of integration and intimacy. In a single instrument, the RPLQ loneliness scale combines measures of four important aspects of adolescents’ social life. This seems to be an adequate instrument to be used in the study of adolescents’ loneliness, in its different forms and across relational contexts.

There has been a rapid growth of studies focused on selection and socialization processes of peer groups, mostly due to the development of stochastic actor-based models to analyze longitudinal social network data. One of the core assumptions of these models is that individuals have an accurate knowledge of the dyadic relationships within their network (i.e., who is and is not connected to whom). Recent cross-sectional findings suggest that elementary school children are very inaccurate in perceiving their classmates’ dyadic relationships. These findings question the validity of stochastic actor-based models to study the developmental dynamics of children and carry implications for future research as well as for the interpretation of past findings. The goal of the present study was thus to further explore the adequacy of the accuracy assumption, analysing data from three longitudinal samples of different age groups (elementary school children and adolescents). Our results support the validity of stochastic actor-based models to study the network of adolescents and suggest that the violation of the accuracy assumption for elementary school children is not as severe as previously thought.

procura avaliar, através dos relatos dos pares, a reputação social dos sujeitos. O objetivo deste trabalho é testar a estrutura hexafatorial recentemente proposta, averiguando igualmente a sua adequação para género e idade, numa amostra portuguesa de 465 adolescentes (230 raparigas). Uma Análise Fatorial Confi rmatória revelou que o modelo de seis fatores apresenta bons índices de ajustamento, de fi abilidade e validade e ainda boa adequação para gênero e idade. Estes resultados são consistentes com outros trabalhos, ao sugerir que o modelo hexafatorial do ECP apresenta capacidades psicométricas aceitáveis, constituindo-se como uma medida válida a utilizar na investigação sobre a reputação e o funcionamento sociais de adolescentes. Palavras-chave: Relações de pares, reputação social, adolescência, Extended Class Play. AbstractThe Extended Class Play (ECP) assesses individuals' social reputation through peer reports. In this study, the recently presented six-factor structure was tested on a Portuguese sample of 465 adolescents (230 girls). A Confi rmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated good fi t of the data to this six-factor structure, good composite reliability and validity. Results also showed good fi t to both genders and age groups. Therefore, results are consistent with previous research and suggest that this six-factor structure has good psychometric characteristics and that the ECP seems to be a valid measure for investigation on adolescents' social functioning and reputation.

Anxious withdrawal has been associated consistently with adverse peer experiences. However, research has also shown that there is significant heterogeneity among anxiously withdrawn youth. Further, extant research has focused primarily on negative peer experiences and outcomes; little is known about the more successful social experiences of anxiously withdrawn youth. We explored the possibility that the association between anxious withdrawal and group-level peer outcomes (exclusion, victimization, and popularity) might be moderated by peer-valued behaviors (prosocial behavior), friendship relational attributes, and sex, even after accounting for the effects of being involved in a reciprocal best friendship. Peer nominations of psychosocial functioning, and self-reports of best friendships and friendship quality were collected in a community sample of 684 Portuguese young adolescents. Regression analyses revealed that more anxious withdrawn adolescents showed worst group-level peer outcomes, but that: (a) prosocial behavior buffered the positive association between anxious-withdrawal and peer exclusion, particularly for boys; (b) higher friendship quality was associated with lower risk of peer victimization for more anxious-withdrawn girls, but with a higher risk for more anxious withdrawn boys; and (c) higher friendship conflict buffered the positive association between anxious withdrawal and peer exclusion for boys. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of peer-valued characteristics on the peer group experiences of anxiously withdrawn young adolescents.

Adolescents' dyadic relationships are likely influenced by the cultural context within which they exist. This study applied a person-oriented approach to examine how perceived support and negativity were manifested across youths' relationships with mothers, fathers, and best friends, simultaneously, and how distinct relationship profiles were linked to adaptive and maladaptive functioning (aggression, anxious-withdrawal, prosociality) within and across cultures. Participants resided in metropolitan areas of South Korea, the United States, and Portugal (10-14 years; N = 1,233). Latent profile analyses identified relationship profiles that were culturally common or specific. Additional findings highlighted commonality in the relations between a high-quality relationship profile and adaptive functioning, as well as cultural specificity in the buffering and differential effects of distinct relationship profiles on social-behavioral outcomes.Close interpersonal relationships have long been recognized as significant developmental contexts for youth. For example, parent-child relationships are presumed to be the primary sources of social support throughout childhood and during the transition to early adolescence (10-14 years; Collins & Laursen, 2013). However, friendships become increasingly salient and influential as the amount of time spent with friends grows and as friendships become more intimate (Rubin, Bukowski, & Bowker, 2015). Despite the well-documented contributions of parents and friends to a wide range of youths' social-behavioral outcomes (e.g., prosociality and aggression), defining the nature and structure of these relationships and their unique functions during early adolescence has been challenging. This is, in part, because specifically identified close relationships can have an impact on developmental outcomes, while at the same time,