Experiences of Being Ignored by Peers During Late Adolescence: Linkages to Psychological Maladjustment

In this study on being ignored by peers, 934 twelfth-grade students reported on their experiences of being ignored, victimized, and socially withdrawn, and completed measures of friendship and psychological adjustment (depression, self-esteem, and global satisfaction). Peer nominations of being ignored, victimized, and accepted by peers were also collected. Self-reports and peer reports of being ignored were associated with the psychological outcomes, after accounting for other peer experiences and social withdrawal. The associations between the ignore variables and certain outcomes were weaker for adolescents who were highly accepted, made many friendship nominations, and received many friendship nominations. Results suggest that being ignored by schoolmates may represent a specific understudied negative group-level peer difficulty that poses significant and unique psychological risk during late adolescence.