Peer Alienation: Predictors in Childhood and Outcomes in Adulthood

The paper examines whether individuals who are alienated from their peer group in childhood are at higher risk of depressive symptoms and less able to acquire and use economic and social capital in adulthood. Analyses are undertaken using longitudinal data from a 1970 cohort of British births. Existing literature is used to form hypotheses about the characteristics of children who are peer rejected and victimised, and data at age five and ten are used to test these hypotheses. The second part of the paper examines the adult outcomes associated with being alienated from peers as a child, using mental health and social and economic capital as outcomes at age 29. Evidence is found that peer alienation increased the odds of poor mental health, decreased the odds of having a partner, and decreased the odds of having a university degree. Peer alienation, however, was found to increase the likelihood of civic engagement. Findings are discussed in terms of the lifecourse perspective as well as Bourdieu’s concept of habitus.