Negative self-image of adolescents fosters increasingly damaging behaviors
Adolescents who think little of themselves tend to shy away from interactions with peers. This uncertainty and withdrawal then draws negative feedback from other students, prompting even more withdrawal and leaving them with few chances to have close friends and as targets for teasing or bullying.

Such are the findings of a comprehensive yearlong study led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and published in the July/August issue of the journal Child Development. The study looked closely at three time periods in the lives of 605 fifth and sixth graders in a Midwest school district, particularly at how the youth and their peer groups mutually influenced each other.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 27 Jul 2004
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.