Scholars@Duke
Steven R. Asher

Steven R. Asher CV

Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience
Psychology & Neuroscience
asher@duke.edu
Box 90086, Durham, NC 27708-0086
321 Reuben-Cooke, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
CV

Selected Publications

A Novel Approach for Evaluating a Schoolwide Antiracist Curriculum Intervention

Journal Article AERA Open · January 1, 2024 This manuscript describes our effort to apply a novel approach to understanding student outcomes associated with a schoolwide antiracist intervention. We report a multimethod quantitative approach to evaluate a 10-week antiracist intervention designed and ... Full text Cite

Social relationship provisions and loneliness in school: Child- and classroom-level effects.

Journal Article Journal of school psychology · August 2023 Building on social needs theory (Weiss, 1974), this study introduces the construct of classroom provision richness and examines the association between the exchange of social provisions among children in classrooms and children's feelings of loneliness in ... Full text Cite

Correction to: The Student Resilience and Well-Being Project: Opportunities, Challenges, and Lessons Learned (International Journal of Community Well-Being, (2021), 4, 4, (669-690), 10.1007/s42413-021-00138-2)

Journal Article International Journal of Community Well-Being · December 1, 2021 In this article The Student Resilience and Well-Being Project Research Group3 members are (in alphabetical order by institution and last name) Lauren A. Stutts (Department of Health and Human Values, Davidson College); Steven R. Asher, Rick H. Hoyle, Mark ... Full text Cite

Back to the Dyad: Future Directions for Friendship Research

Journal Article Merrill-Palmer Quarterly · October 1, 2021 Friendship is a developmentally significant relationship in childhood and adolescence that contributes to socioemotional, social-cognitive, and psychological development and well-being. It is a dyadic relationship based on mutual affec-tion, with both frie ... Full text Cite

Pacifists and Revenge-Seekers in Response to Unambiguous Peer Provocation.

Journal Article Journal of youth and adolescence · September 2018 In order to better understand why some children retaliate when they feel provoked and others do not, the present study identified "pacifistically-oriented" children who made negative interpretations in response to unambiguous provocations, yet did not endo ... Full text Cite

Friendships in Childhood

Chapter · January 1, 2018 Full text Cite

The Social Tasks of Friendship: Do Boys and Girls Excel in Different Tasks?

Journal Article Child Development Perspectives · March 1, 2017 Research documents the strengths of girls’ friendships compared to boys’ friendships leading to the inference that boys are not very skilled as friends. In this article, we use a friendship tasks framework to propose that this inference is premature and sh ... Full text Cite

Why do the chronically lonely stay lonely? Chronically lonely children and adolescents attributions and emotions in situations of social inclusion and exclusion.

Journal Article Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · November 2015 The goal of this study was to identify mechanisms associated with chronic loneliness by examining the effect of adolescents' accumulated history of loneliness on responses to new social situations. Specifically, this study investigated whether attributions ... Cite

Children as friends

Chapter · 2014 Cite

College students' revenge goals across friend, romantic partner, and roommate contexts: The role of interpretations and emotions

Journal Article Social Development · 2013 Residential college environments provide young people with distinctive relationship opportunities and challenges. A major purpose of the present study was to learn whether college students respond differently to conflict-of-interest vignettes in three diff ... Full text Cite

How girls and boys expect disclosure about problems will make them feel: implications for friendships

Journal Article Child Development · 2012 Although girls disclose to friends about problems more than boys, little is known about processes underlying this sex difference. Four studies (Ns=526, 567, 769, 154) tested whether middle childhood to mid-adolescent girls and boys (ranging from 8 to 17 ye ... Full text Cite

Loneliness in childhood: toward the next generation of assessment and research.

Journal Article Adv Child Dev Behav · 2012 Loneliness is a sad, even painful emotional experience that is thought to result from deficiencies in the quantity or quality of one's social relationships. Assessments of loneliness have evolved to typically include diverse item content that assesses the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Loneliness

Journal Article · December 1, 2011 This article reviews theory and empirical research on loneliness with an emphasis on late childhood through late adolescence and early adulthood. The authors first discuss theoretical perspectives on loneliness from various intellectual traditions - with a ... Full text Cite

Loneliness

Chapter · 2011 Cite

Loneliness, children

Chapter · 2009 Cite

The multisite violence prevention project: Impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive outcomes

Journal Article Prevention Science · 2008 This study evaluated the impact of a universal school-based violence prevention program on social-cognitive factors associated with aggression and nonviolent behavior in early adolescence. The effects of the universal intervention were evaluated within the ... Cite

Modifications in children's goals when encountering obstacles to conflict resolution

Journal Article Child Development · 2005 Previous studies have demonstrated that children's goals are associated with their success in peer relationships. The current study extends earlier findings by examining changes in children's goals during hypothetical conflicts. Participants were 252 child ... Cite

Effect of children’s perceived rejection on physical aggression

Journal Article Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · October 2004 Cite

Children's strategies and goals in response to help-giving and help-seeking tasks within a friendship

Journal Article Child Development · 2004 The present research tested whether children's responses to help-giving and help-seeking friendship tasks predicted how many friends they had and the quality of their best friendship. Fifth-grade children (N=511; typically 10 or 11 years old) responded to ... Cite

Evaluation of a multisite violence prevention study: Measures, procedures and baseline data

Journal Article American Journal of Preventive Medicine · 2004 Cite

The study designed by a committee: Design of the MVPP

Journal Article American Journal of Preventive Medicine · 2004 Cite

Community-Based multiple family groups to prevent and reduce violent and aggressive behavior: the GREAT Families Program.

Journal Article American journal of preventive medicine · January 2004 This paper describes the targeted intervention component of GREAT Schools and Families. The intervention-GREAT Families-is composed of 15 weekly multiple family group meetings (e.g., 4-6 families per group) and addresses parenting practices (discipline, mo ... Full text Cite

The Multisite Violence Prevention Project: Background and overview

Journal Article American Journal of Preventive Medicine · January 2004 Cite

Loneliness and peer relations in childhood

Journal Article Current Directions in Psychological Science · 2003 Although loneliness is a normative experience, there is reason to be concerned about children who are chronically lonely in school Research indicates that children have a fundamental understanding of what it means, to be lonely, and that loneliness can be ... Cite

Children's friendships

Chapter · 2000 Cite

Children's goals and strategies in response to conflicts within a friendship

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1999 Little is known about the skills required for friendship, as distinct from those required for peer acceptance. The present study examined whether children's goals and strategies in friendship conflict situations are predictive of their friendship adjustmen ... Cite

Loneliness, peer relations, and language disorder in childhood

Journal Article Topics in Language Disorders · 1999 Cite

A social goals perspective on children's social competence

Journal Article Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders · 1999 Developing a more comprehensive understanding of social competence and the reasons for social relationship difficulties requires attention to the kinds of goals children are pursuing in specific social situations. In this article, the authors describe seve ... Cite

Loneliness, Peer Relations, and Language Disorder in Childhood

Journal Article Topics in Language Disorders · 1999 Children with language disorders have higher than average rates of peer relationship problems, suggesting that they are also at risk for loneliness. A review of research on loneliness as an emotional consequence of peer relationship difficulties in childho ... Cite

Linkages between children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression and their behavior

Journal Article Social Development · January 1, 1998 The purposes of this study were to learn whether children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression can be reliably assessed and whether these beliefs relate to children's everyday social behavior with peers, as well as their responses to hypothetical a ... Full text Cite

Children's responses to peer conflicts involving a rights infraction

Journal Article Merrill-Palmer Quarterly · 1997 Examined here is whether the generalization about the prosocial style of well-accepted children applies to peer conflicts involving a rights infraction. Fourth- and fifth-grade children (N = 140) were individually interviewed about their strategies for han ... Cite

Children's social goals and self-efficacy perceptions as influences on their responses to ambiguous provocation

Journal Article Child Development · 1996 This study examined whether children who vary in their behavioral responses (aggression vs. withdrawal vs. problem solving) to ambiguous provocation but who are similar in their attributional processes differ in their social goals and self-efficacy percept ... Cite

Children's goals and strategies in peer conflict situations

Journal Article Merrill-Palmer Quarterly · 1996 This study was designed to investigate whether children's goals in peer conflict situations are related to the strategies they propose for resolving conflicts and to learn how children's strategies relate to their acceptance by the peer group. Fourth-throu ... Cite

The academic lives of neglected, rejected, popular, and controversial children

Journal Article Child Development · 1995 The purposes of this study were to examine academically relevant characteristics of different sociometric status groups and to learn about the academic orientations of behavioral subgroups of rejected children. Results from a sample of 423 sixth and sevent ... Cite

Peer relations

Chapter · 1994 Cite

Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1993 The distinction between friendship adjustment and acceptance by the peer group was examined. Third- through 5th-grade children (N = 881) completed sociometric measures of acceptance and friendship, a measure of loneliness, a questionnaire on the features o ... Cite

Peer rejection in middle school: Subgroup differences in behavior, loneliness, and interpersonal concerns

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1992 This research was designed to identify patterns of behavior and emotional response associated with peer rejection in early adolescence. Seventh- and eighth-grade middle-school students (N = 450) were administered positive and negative sociometric nominatio ... Cite

Assessment of loneliness at school among children with mild mental retardation

Journal Article American Journal of Mental Retardation · 1992 This study was designed to determine whether children with mild mental retardation understand the concept of loneliness, whether their feelings of loneliness at school can be reliably assessed, and whether there are differences in loneliness between childr ... Cite

Loneliness and peer relations in young children

Journal Article Child Development · 1992 Cite

Peer rejection in childhood

Book · 1990 This important collection brings together current research on children who encounter difficulty in gaining acceptance and having friendships among their peers. Translated into Japanese, 1996. ... Cite

Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk?

Journal Article Psychological Bulletin · 1987 In this review, we examine the oft-made claim that peer-relationship difficulties in childhood predict serious adjustment problems in later life. The article begins with a framework for conceptualizing and assessing children's peer difficulties and with a ... Cite

The social adaptation of mainstreamed mildly retarded children

Journal Article Child Development · 1987 The purpose of the present study was to assess the social adaptation of mainstreamed mildly retarded children, comparing them to a matched sample of regular education students. Results indicated that mildly retarded children were quite rejected by their pe ... Cite

The relationship between social competence and achievement in elementary school children

Journal Article Journal of Clinical Child Psychology · 1986 Cite

Coaching in social skills for children who lack friends in school

Journal Article Social Work in Education · 1986 Cite

Identifying children who are rejected by their peers

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1986 Recent research indicates the importance of distinguishing between sociometrically neglected children and sociometrically rejected children. Overall, rejected children exhibit more serious adjustment problems in childhood and in later life. However, making ... Cite

Children's loneliness: a comparison of rejected and neglected peer status.

Journal Article Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · August 1985 Full text Cite

The study of children's goals: A reply to Gresham's commentary

Journal Article Merrill-Palmer Quarterly · 1985 Cite

Loneliness in children

Journal Article Child Development · 1984 Cite

Children's goals and strategies for social interaction

Journal Article Merrill-Palmer Quarterly · 1983 Cite

Social skill training with children: Evaluating processes and outcomes

Journal Article Studies in Educational Evaluation · January 1, 1982 Full text Cite

The development of children's friendships

Book · 1981 From the perspectives of a wide range of disciplines, this volume studies a variety of cognitive and affective processes in the context of children's friendships. ... Cite

Social outcomes of mainstreaming: Sociometric assessment and beyond

Journal Article Exceptional Education Quarterly · 1981 Cite

Influence of comparison training on children's referential communication

Journal Article Journal of Educational Psychology · 1981 Cite

Children's friendships and social competence

Journal Article International Journal of Psycholinguistics · 1980 Cite

A reliable sociometric measure for preschool children

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1979 Cite

Cross-race acceptance in integrated schools

Journal Article Equity and Excellence in Education · January 1, 1978 Full text Cite

The effect of verbal instructions on preschool children's aggressive behavior

Journal Article Journal of School Psychology · 1978 Cite

Cross-race acceptance in integrated schools

Journal Article Integrateducation · 1978 Cite

Influence of topic interest on children's reading comprehension

Journal Article Journal of Reading Behavior · 1978 Cite

Peer preferences and social interaction among third-grade children in an integrated school district

Journal Article Journal of Educational Psychology · August 1, 1977 Assessed social interaction among Black and White 3rd-grade children in 9 classrooms. The children were in integrated schools since kindergarten. Two methods were employed: a roster-and-rating sociometric technique and a classroom behavioral observation pr ... Full text Cite

Coaching children in social skills for friendship making

Journal Article Child Development · 1977 Cite

Children's ability to appraise their own versus another person's communication performance

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1976 Previous research has found that younger children are less accurate communicators to a listener. In the present research, children's ability to appraise or evaluate the quality of communication performance was investigated. In Exp I, 90 2nd-, 4th-, and 6th ... Cite

Children's failure to communicate: An assessment of comparison and egocentrism explanations

Journal Article Developmental Psychology · 1976 Studied 2 possible explanations of why many young children communicate poorly on tasks that require them to discriminate referents from nonreferents: (a) poor communicators do not compare the associative strength of potential messages to the referent and n ... Cite

The influence of sampling and comparison processes on the development of communication effectiveness

Journal Article Journal of Educational Psychology · 1975 Children's communication performance improves with age, which could result from increases in children's vocabularies, changes in their strategies of selecting messages from their vocabularies, or both. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate these exp ... Cite

Sex differences in comprehension of high- and low-interest reading material

Journal Article Journal of Educational Psychology · 1974 Investigated whether sex differences in reading comprehension are affected by variations in the interest level of the material. 49 male and 38 female 5th graders' interests were assessed using a picture-rating technique. Each child then read material that ... Cite

Sex of teacher and student reading achievement

Journal Article Journal of Educational Psychology · 1973 Conducted 2 experiments to assess the effects of 5th-grade teacher sex on male and female student reading performance. Exp. I served as a pretest measure; the Iowa Test of Basic Skills Reading Comprehension subtest was administered to 534 5th graders havin ... Cite

Racial preference and social comparison processes

Journal Article Journal of Social Issues · 1969 Cite