Negative Peer Relationships

Peer relationships play an important role in the development of children. They have the ability to affect psychological, academic, and social development in positive or negative ways. Positive peer relationships involve receiving and reciprocating prosocial behavior, and can result in quality friendships (Card, Isaacs, & Hodges, 2009). Negative peer relationships, however, increase risk for mental health problems and has become a world wide issue with adverse short- and long-term consequences (Tsaousis, 2016).
Negative Peer Relationships and Bullying
Negative peer relationships are often indicated through the form of bullying, being bullied or bullying others. Approximately 10-20% of children are considered to be frequent victims of bullying.

While bullying others mostly has negative effects on the bullying, it can also be associated with positive feelings of power and happiness (Card et al., 2009). However, the "happiness" is not substantial, as bullies are often disliked by their peers (Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995) and bullying boys may participant in delinquent behavior and/or associate with delinquent individuals (Dishion, Spracklen, Andrews, & Patterson, 1996). They also have poor academic standing that can lead to suspensions or expulsions (Card et al., 2009). Long-term effects of bullying others can result in negative actions like continued delinquency, substance use, dropping out of school, criminal activity, poor martial relationships, and un-/under-employment (Farrington,

The actions are often taken to evoke an reaction (usually anger) in the victim or for the victimizer to obtain revenge (Paquette & Underwood, 1999). This can cause the victim to feel sad and bad about themselves, creating more psychological damage than aggression (physical aggression). This most commonly involved and impacts girls, and it damages relationships that they value (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Although girls are more likely to engage in social aggression than physical aggression, both genders can be involved in both situations (Paquette & Underwood,