Adolescents' peer status profiles and differences in school engagement and loneliness trajectories:A person-centered approach

This study used a person-centered approach to identify adolescents' peer status profiles and examined how these profiles differed regarding the development of school engagement and loneliness. A sample of 794 adolescents was followed from Grades 7 to 11 (M-ageWave1 = 13.81 years). Measures included peer nominations of peer status, and student reports of school engagement and peer-related loneliness. Latent class growth analysis identified three profiles: popular-liked, unpopular-disliked, and normative. The popular-liked class revealed the lowest levels of behavioral engagement and loneliness. The unpopular-disliked class had higher levels of behavioral engagement, less steep increases in behavioral disaffection, and showed more loneliness. The normative class revealed moderate trajectories of engagement and loneliness. Moreover, boys and girls differed in their academic and psychosocial development. Implications of the findings for school practitioners are discussed.