A Cross-Lagged Model of the Social withdrawal and Peer Relationships in Obese Children

Abstract

This study uses cross-lagged path modeling to examine the longitudinal associations between obese childrens social withdrawal and peer relationships. Participants were 75 school-aged children from Korea, who were reported to be obese in the 4th grade. The participants belonged to the first elementary school cohort panel of the KCYPS. The 3-year longitudinal data collected from 4th grade, 6th grade, and 7th grade students were used in this study. Social withdrawal and peer relationships were continued from 4th grade to 7th grade with significant stability. Peer relationships from Elementary school to Middle school were consistently predicted by previous social withdrawal tendencies. Likewise, social withdrawal has a significant predictive effect on subsequent peer relationships. The findings suggest the importance of psychological interventions with obese children, to reduce the negative influence of social withdrawal on peer relationships.