Acceptance and rejection by parents and peers play an important role in pre-adolescents’ educational outcomes. Prior research focused on either parents or peers, did not encompass effects into adulthood, or considered either acceptance or rejection. This study investigated the relation between parental and peer acceptance and rejection, and their interplay, in pre-adolescence and educational attainment in early adulthood. A sample of 2229 pre-adolescents (Mage T1 = 11.11, SD = 0.56; 50.7% girls) was followed to early adulthood (Mage T5 = 22.29, SD = 0.65). Ordinal logistic regression showed that pre-adolescents’ perceived parental acceptance was positively related to educational attainment in early adulthood, whereas peer rejection was negatively related, even when WISC score and socioeconomic status were considered. No interaction effects were found, revealing no “dual-hit effect” of being rejected by parents and peers, no “dual-miss effect” of being accepted by parents and peers, and no effects of acceptance in one context (i.e., parents or peers) buffering the negative effect of rejection in the other context. The findings underscore unique and long-term links of parental acceptance and peer rejection with early adults’ educational attainment, underlining the importance of not only peers but also parents in adolescence. These insights can be used in promoting long-term educational outcomes through relationships with parents and peers.

The COVID-19 measures raised societal concerns about increases in adolescents’ loneliness. This study examined trajectories of adolescents’ loneliness during the pandemic, and whether trajectories varied across students with different types of peer status and contact with friends. We followed 512 Dutch students (Mage = 11.26, SD = 0.53; 53.1% girls) from before the pandemic (Jan/Feb 2020), over the first lockdown (March-May 2020, measured retrospectively), until the relaxation of measures (Oct/Nov 2020). Latent Growth Curve Analyses (LGCA) showed that average levels of loneliness declined. Multi-group LGCA showed that loneliness declined mostly for students with a victimized or rejected peer status, which suggests that students with a low peer status prior to the lockdown may have found temporary relief from negative peer experiences at school. Students who kept all-round contact with friends during the lockdown declined in loneliness, whereas students who had little contact or who did not (video) call friends did not.