Journal of Adolescence 41 (2015) 131e135

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Journal of Adolescence
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado

Brief report: Peer group influences and adolescent

internalizing problems as mediated by effortful control
Rachel Dyson*, Gail C. Robertson, Maria M. Wong
Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Avenue Stop 8112, Pocatello, ID 83201, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Internalizing problems in adolescence encompass behaviors directed inward at the self
Available online 7 April 2015 (Colman, Wadsworth, Croudace, & Jones, 2007). Several predictors have been linked to
internalizing problems including antisocial and prosocial peers (Cartwright, 2007; Chung,
Keywords: 2010). Effortful control, a component of self-regulation, is one factor that could mediate the
Peer group relationship between peer behaviors and individual outcomes. This study assessed the
Internalizing problems
relationship between peer behaviors, effortful control, and adolescent internalizing
Effortful control
problems. Participants were 151 middle school adolescents (M ¼ 12.16 years old) who
Antisocial
Prosocial
completed self-report questionnaires regarding behaviors of their peers, perceptions of
effortful control, and experiences of internalizing problems. Structural equation modeling
(SEM) yielded a significant negative relationship between antisocial peers and effortful
control, and a significant positive relationship between prosocial peers and effortful
control. In addition, effortful control significantly mediated the relationship between
prosocial peers and internalizing problems, but not for antisocial peers. Implications for
interventions related to adolescent health were discussed.
© 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.

In 2010, the National Institute of Mental Health reported that prevalence rates for anxiety and depression in adolescence
continued to rise (8 and 11% respectively; Merikangas et al., 2010). The current study focused on the broader construct of
internalizing problems, defined as deviant, emotion-driven behaviors targeted inward toward the individual (e.g., disturbed
self-concept, negative self-talk; Achenbach, 1991; Colman et al., 2007; Morgan, Izard, & Hyde, 2014). Risk factors of inter-
nalizing problems include parent psychopathology, negative sibling interactions, and chaotic familial structure (Hicks,
DiRago, Iacono, & McGue, 2009; Moilanen, 2005). Several studies have established the role of deviant peer association and
victimization in developing internalizing symptoms (Cartwright, 2007; Chung, 2010; Dishion, 2000; Fanti & Henrich, 2010;
Hoglund & Chisholm, 2014; Shapero, Hamilton, Liu, Abramson, & Alloy, 2013). Existing research on peer relationships has
focused on peer deviance, whereas fewer studies have considered the importance of prosocial peer behaviors (i.e., actions
intended to benefit another person; Prinstein, Boergers, & Spirito, 2001).
An important variable contributing to the relationship between peers and internalizing problems may be effortful control.
Subsumed under the construct of self-control, effortful control is defined as the ability to inhibit a dominant response in order
to perform a subdominant response (Rothbart & Rueda, 2005). It involves three subcomponentsdactivation, engaging in an
action one is inclined to avoid; inhibition, refraining from engaging in an inappropriate action; and attention, shifting

* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 208 282 2462.

E-mail addresses: dysorach@isu.edu (R. Dyson), robegai3@isu.edu (G.C. Robertson), wongmari@isu.ed (M.M. Wong).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.03.004
0140-1971/© 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
132 R. Dyson et al. / Journal of Adolescence 41 (2015) 131e135

attention in line with changing goals. Research has found that effortful control predicts to lower emotional/behavioral
problems, and higher prosociality in adolescence (Eisenberg, Smith, Sadovsky, & Spinrad, 2004; Rothbart & Bates, 1998). It has
been negatively linked to several internalizing symptoms (van Oort, Greaves-Lord, Ormel, Verhulst, & Huizink, 2011), and has
positively related to the quality and quantity of adolescent friendships (Bowker & Rubin, 2009).
Friendships formed during adolescence are highly influential (Calkins & Keane, 2009). Based on a Social Learning Theory
perspective, the peer group serves as a social model from which the child learns associations between behaviors and pun-
ishments/rewards (Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Gerbino, & Pastorelli, 2003; Cornish, 1993). Together with Rothbart's
theory of effortful control, models in the adolescent's environment could alter the malleable self-regulation component of
effortful control.
The current study examined the relationships among peer behaviors, effortful control, and internalizing problems within
this theoretical model. Two goals were identified: i) understand the role that prosocial and antisocial peers play in the
expression of internalizing behaviors and ii) explore whether effortful control mediated that relationship. We hypothesized
that higher prosocial and lower antisocial peer behaviors would relate to lower internalizing problems. Effortful control was
hypothesized to be a mediator for both relationships.

Method

Participants were 151 middle school adolescents ages 11e14 (M ¼ 12.16) in a rural Northwestern U.S. town and were
primarily Caucasian (57.6%) and Hispanic (33.8%). Participants returned a signed parental consent and adolescent assent form
to meet eligibility. Data were collected across three homeroom periods, with 15e20 participants per classroom.
The Youth Self Report (YSR; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) was used to assess internalizing problems. The YSR is a widely
normed questionnaire in which adolescents rate the frequency of various issues over the past six months on a scale from
0 (Never/Rarely) to 2 (Often/Very Often). The 35 items comprising the Internalizing subscales were summed to calculate
internalizing problems (Cronbach a ¼ .83). The Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R; Capaldi &
Rothbart, 1992) is a 16-item questionnaire measuring effortful control. Responses are based on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ Almost
Always Untrue, 3 ¼ Sometimes True/Sometimes Untrue, 5 ¼ Almost Always True). The three subscales (attention, inhibition,
activation) were used to construct effortful control scores (Cronbach a ¼ .60.73, respectively). The Peer Behavior Inventory
(PBI; Prinstein et al., 2001) is a 19-item questionnaire that asks adolescents to indicate the number of “best friends” that
engage in different behaviors (substance use, suicidality, deviance, prosociality). A ratio score is computed for each item by
dividing the number of friends that engage in a behavior by the total number of identified friends. Responses range from 0.0 to
1.0. The Peer Behavior Profile (PBP; Zucker & Fitzgerald, 2002) was used to assess the proportion of peers engaging in various
behaviors on a 5-point scale, where 1 ¼ Almost None, and 5 ¼ Almost All (nine prosocial items, Cronbach a ¼ .89; 19 antisocial
items, Cronbach a ¼ .93). The YSR, EATQ and PBP have been validated in previous research (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001;
Capaldi & Rothbart, 1992; Zucker & Fitzgerald, 2002). Participants also completed a demographics questionnaire
measuring gender, ethnicity and age.

Results

Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) to simultaneously assess two mediation models. Zero-order
correlations and descriptive statistics for all observed variables are listed in Tables 1 and 2. Test of model fit was assessed by
the chi-square test of model fit, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA; Steiger & Lind, 1980), Comparative Fit
Index (CFI; Bentler, 1990), and TuckereLewis Index (TLI; Tucker & Lewis, 1973). All analyses were carried out using Mplus 6.0
(Muthen & Muthe n, 1998 e 2010).
For the measurement model, four latent variables were constructed from the observed data: i) peer prosocial behavior
included the summed prosocial items from the PBI and PBP, ii) peer antisocial behavior included the summed antisocial items
from the PBI and PBP, iii) effortful control included summed scores for the three EATQ-R subscales, iv) and internalizing
problems consisted of the summed scores from the YSR subscales Anxious/Withdrawn, Anxious/Depressed, and Somatic

Table 1
Zero-order correlations of all major predictor and outcome variables.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Peer Prosocial (PBI) e .29** .09 .15 .25** .43** .32** .12 .21* .10
2. Peer Prosocial (PBP) e .01 .16 .18* .20* .24** .01 .01 .01
3. Peer Antisocial (PBI) e .35** .28** .18* .13 .15 .20* .10
4. Peer Antisocial (PBP) e .19* .16 .12 .05 .07 .08
5. Activation Control e .42** .54** .33** .34** .21**
6. Inhibitory Control e .47** .20* .29** .10
7. Attention Control e .33** .33** .32**
8. Anxious/Depressed e .71** .67**
9. Withdrawn/Depressed e .55**
10. Somatic Concerns e

Note. *, p < .05, **, p < .01.

 R. Dyson et al. / Journal of Adolescence 41 (2015) 131e135 133

Table 2
Mean, SD, Skewness, and Kurtosis of major predictor and outcome variables.

Mean Std. Dev. Skewness Kurtosis

Age 12.16 0.85 0.15 0.78
Ethnicity 0.58 0.49 0.32 1.91
Grade 6.97 0.78 0.05 1.36
Anxious/Depressed 0.36 0.37 1.53 2.27
Withdrawn/Depressed 0.40 0.37 0.96 0.34
Somatic Concerns 0.40 0.37 1.21 1.67
Activation Control 3.57 0.86 0.11 0.81
Inhibitory Control 3.92 0.59 0.27 0.02
Attention Control 3.64 0.66 0.36 0.96
Peer Prosocial (PBI) 0.63 0.22 0.50 0.03
Peer Prosocial (PBP) 2.26 0.65 0.75 0.19
Peer Antisocial (PBI) 0.50 1.21 0.71 1.20
Peer Antisocial (PBP) 1.20 0.37 1.42 1.69

Concerns. Factor loadings for the observed variables are displayed in Fig. 1. The measurement model yielded a good fit for the
data (c2 ð29Þ ¼ 41:41; p ¼ :063) with all observed variables significantly loading on their respective factors. Fit indices were
excellent (CFI ¼ .97, TLI ¼ .95, RMSEA ¼ .05).
The initial structural model included gender, grade, and ethnicity as control variables. Results indicated that no de-
mographic variables significantly predicted internalizing problems (Gender b ¼ 1.01, p ¼ .31; Age b ¼ .98, p ¼ .33; Ethnicity
b ¼ 1.61, p ¼ .11) therefore these variables were excluded from the model. In the final model, effortful control significantly
mediated the relationship between peer prosocial behavior and internalizing problems (95% Asymmetric Confidence Interval
(ACI) [.92, .07]; ACI does not include 0, indicating that the mediated effect was significant at p < .05 (MacKinnon, Fairchild,
& Fritz, 2007; MacKinnon, 2008). ACI has more statistical power and more accurate Type I error rates than other product-of-
coefficients methods (e.g., Sobel test; MacKinnon, Lockwood, & Williams, 2004; MacKinnon et al., 2007). ACI is calculated by
PRODCLIN, a program that calculates the confidence limits of the product of two normal random variables (MacKinnon et al.,
2007).
Higher prosocial peers were associated with higher effortful control, which predicted lower internalizing problems.
Effortful control significantly mediated the relationship between antisocial peers and internalizing problems (95% ACI [.02,
.57]). Higher antisocial peers were associated with lower effortful control and higher internalizing problems. Model fit was
excellent (c2 ð29Þ ¼ 41:41; p ¼ :063; CFI ¼ :968; TLI ¼ :951; RMSEA ¼ :053 ). Peer prosocial and antisocial behavior did not
predict internalizing problems after controlling for effortful control.

Discussion

The current study focused on the relationship between peer behaviors and internalizing problems in early adolescence.
The hypothesis that lower prosocial and higher antisocial peers would directly relate to internalizing problems was not

Fig. 1. Effortful control mediates the relationship between peer prosocial and antisocial behaviors on adolescent internalizing problems.
134 R. Dyson et al. / Journal of Adolescence 41 (2015) 131e135

supported by the data. The relationship between peer behaviors and internalizing problems is likely more complex and could
be affected by factors such as the frequency, intensity, and proximity of interactions. Future research exploring how rela-
tionship quality affects the development of internalizing problems is warranted.
The second hypothesis was supported. Effortful control significantly mediated the relationship between peer prosocial
behavior and internalizing problems, as well as between peer antisocial behavior and internalizing problems. An assessment
of effortful control may be useful for understanding peer group effects on adolescent internalizing problems. Without
considering effortful control, the relationship between peer behaviors and internalizing problems were within the borderline
ranges. One possible explanation regarding the relationship between peer behaviors and effortful control is that the peer
group models strategies for behavior regulation that could be prosocial or antisocial in nature (e.g., seeking support versus
seeking revenge), which in turn affects the degree of self-regulation adopted by the adolescent. Consequently, increased
effortful control would decrease one's susceptibility to the emotionally dysregulated characteristics of internalizing problems.
The current study had several limitations. The lack of experimental or longitudinal designs precluded any causal con-
clusions. The SEM model was formulated based on our theoretical propositions. Although the model fits the data well, future
work needs more rigorous study designs. We recognize that the proposed model is only one way that these variables could
relate to each other. Longitudinally assessing peer relations across adolescence could offer an understanding of how changes
in peer influence affect effortful control and internalizing problems (Hooshmand, Willoughby, & Good, 2012; Rasco, 2008).
Experimentally manipulating peer behaviors could also be a promising avenue for testing these processes (Reijntjes, Stegge,
Terwogt, Kamphuis, & Telch, 2006, 2011).
All study variables were assessed via self-report, which has clear weaknesses (e.g., social desirability, recall bias). However,
given the private nature of the target variable (e.g., thoughts/cognitions), and maintaining confidentiality within a rural
setting, this method yielded the best balance between feasibility and data quality. Alternate considerations for sampling these
constructs would be helpful for future projects. Finally, the rural, primarily Caucasian sample characteristics pose a challenge
for generalization of the findings. Future research should collect data from multiple demographic groups to obtain a more
comprehensive sample.
Taken together, these results provide preliminary support for effortful control as a mediator between peer behaviors and
internalizing problems in adolescence. Future research needs to replicate these findings through experimental and longi-
tudinal studies in addition to identifying other intervening variables. Prevention efforts could target adolescent peer relations
and self-control as vehicles for decreasing risk for internalizing behaviors.

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