MODELS OF INTERNALIZING OUTCOMES OF EARLY REJECTION

Viewing social rejection from same-age peers as a source of stress for children, the current study sought to determine the most appropriate model of the effects of temporary versus consistent experiences with r ejection for both short-term and long-term internalizing problems. Ado pting a cross-sectional longitudinal design, the sociometric status of children in the first year of the study (when the children were in th e first, second, or third grades), and then again in the next school y ear (when children were in the second, third, or fourth grades) was as sessed to determine which children were rejected by their peers. Inter nalizing outcome measures were administered in the third and sixth yea rs of follow-up. Results indicated that, for boys, the Threshold Model best represented the stressful effects of rejection. That is, only bo ys who were exposed to rejection for 2 consecutive years demonstrated both short-term and long-term internalizing problems in subsequent yea rs. For girls, however, there appeared to be few significant differenc es among those who never experienced rejection, who had only temporary experiences with rejection, and girls who were consistently exposed t o rejection. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of a T hreshold Model as well as possible explanations for these gender diffe rences.