Two large cohorts of Black 3rd-grade children from low-income families were followed into early adolescence. Adjustment at the end of the 1st year of middle school was assessed by teacher and parent ratings and by adolescent self-reports. Childhood peer social status predicted parent-reported externalized and internalized disorder and self-reported internalized disorder. Childhood aggression predicted self-reported externalized and internalized disorder and parent-reported externalized disorder. Teacher ratings of school adjustment were predicted by aggression, rejection, and sex of the child. Consensus judgments of poor adjustment were predicted by both aggression and peer rejection, with sex moderating the effect of peer rejection. Both childhood aggression and peer rejection appear to be significant predictors of adolescent disorder, with each making a predictive contribution uniquely its own.

The significance of childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of adolescent disorder was tested on 1147 children who were followed longitudinally from Grade 3 through Grade 10. Growth curve analyses of parent- and self-reported problems suggested that boys who were both aggressive and rejected in third grade had profiles of increasingly severe internalizing and externalizing problems across three assessment points in adolescence. Other groups showed either decreasing symptom patterns from Grade 6 to 10 or had consistently lower problem profiles. The longitudinal patterns were more complex for the girls. Childhood peer rejection was the only predictor of stable disorder as reported by parents, whereas self-reported externalizing problems were best predicted by childhood aggression.

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Although aggression is frequently cited as a major cause of peer social rejection, no more than half of all aggressive children are rejected. Aggressive episode data from experimental play groups of 7- and 9-year-old black males were coded to examine whether qualitative aspects of aggressive behavior, as well as frequency of aggression, determine the relation between aggressiveness and peer rejection. Reactive aggression and bullying were related to peer status among 9-year-olds, but not 7-year-olds, whereas instrumental aggression was characteristic of highly aggressive, rejected boys at both ages. Qualitative features of aggressive interaction suggested a greater level of hostility toward peers and a tendency to violate norms for aggressive exchange among rejected, aggressive boys at both ages in contrast to other groups of boys. The descriptive data provide a distinctive picture of reactive, instrumental, and bullying aggression as well as differing social norms for target and aggressor behavior in each of these 3 types of aggression.

Perceiver characteristics need to be modeled in sociometric measurement. The author accomplishes this with a latent trait model ofsociometric choice that is especially successful when unlimited nominations are collected. 3 Recent Advances in Measurement Theory and the Use of Sociometric TechniquesRobert Tewy I t is readily apparent, even to casual observers of the social sciences, that the field of sociometry has had a long and productive history. More specifically, the use of sociometric techniques in the field of peer relations to identify children who are at risk has been a productive and fruitful avenue of research (Asher, 1990).One important and distinctive aspect of the broadly identified sociometric tradition is the explicit emphasis on measurement, the "metric" sharing equal time with the "socio." As Moreno (1946) prophetically noted, a tripartite division of emphasis exists within the research tradition into social phenomena. There are those who would stand on one foot-the "metrum." The primary focus of this division is to measure social phenomena; the kinds of social phenomena measured and their subsequent meaning are secondary. Then there are those who would stand on the other foot-the "socius." The primary focus of this group is on social relations, with measurement being essentially ignorable. Of course, implicit in this group is unconsidered measurement, as measurement begins automatically with the initial framing of the phenomena. Finally, there exist the true sociometrists who, according to Moreno, stand on both feet. For sociometrists, measurement informs theoretical understanding of social phenomena, and theoretical consideration of social phenomena informs measurement. The symbiotic relation of the "socio" and the "metric" is a quite natural and necessary evolution in the development of the scientific study of social phenomena.