Unsociability, peer relations, and psychological maladjustment among children: A moderated-mediated model

The goal of this study was to evaluate a complex theoretical model linking gender, unsociability, peer relations, and indices of psychological maladjustment among children in the People's Republic of China. Participants were 711 (395 boys) Grade 4 to Grade 8 (M_age = 10.98 years, SD = 1.56) students selected from 4 public schools in Shanghai. Multi-source assessments were employed, including peer nominations of unsociability, sociometric nominations to measure peer preference, as well as child self-reports of friendship quality, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and self-worth. Among the results, both peer preference and friendship quality mediated the associations between unsociability and psychological maladjustment. Further analyses revealed that such mediating effects were significantly moderated by gender. Specifically, the mediating effects of friendship quality in the associations between unsociability and psychological maladjustment only existed for boys. In addition, peer preference played a mediation role in the associations between unsociability and psychological maladjustment for both boys and girls, although the strength of the associations was stronger among boys than girls. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of considering gender and different types of peer experiences in studies of unsociable children in Mainland China.