Social exclusion, but not withdrawal, is diminished by a friend's level of acceptance: A provisions model

Using the Actor-Partner-Interdependence Model, a friend's level of peer acceptance on the stability of a child's social withdrawal and peer exclusion was assessed with a sample of 252 fifth- and sixth-grade girls and boys of European and North-African descent from lower- and upper-middle class neighborhoods in Montreal, Quebec, in 2015/2016. Sociometric choices at T1 were used to create 126 mutual friend dyads. Exclusion and withdrawal were measured at T1 and T2 with peer assessments, 8 weeks apart. Findings revealed that children who were highly excluded at T1 were relatively less excluded at T2 if their friend was highly accepted at T1 than if their friend was less accepted. These findings support the value of using provision indicators in studies of peer influence.