J Youth Adolescence
DOI 10.1007/s10964-016-0598-8
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Assessing the Impact of Homophobic Name Calling on Early
Adolescent Mental Health: A Longitudinal Social Network
Analysis of Competing Peer Influence Effects
Dawn DeLay1 Laura D. Hanish1 Linlin Zhang1 Carol Lynn Martin1
● ● ●
Received: 25 August 2016 / Accepted: 19 October 2016
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract The goal of the current study was to improve
our understanding of why adolescence is a critical period
for the consideration of declining mental health. We did this
by focusing on the impact of homophobic name calling on
early adolescent mental health after the transition to middle
school. Because we know that homophobic name calling
emerges within a dynamic peer group structure, we used
longitudinal social network analysis to assess the relation
between homophobic name calling, depressive symptoms,
and self-esteem while simultaneously limiting bias from
alternative peer socialization mechanisms. A sample of
adolescents who recently transitioned to a large public
middle school (N = 299; 53 % girls; Mage = 11.13 years, SD
= 0.48) were assessed. Longitudinal assessments of peer
relationship networks, depressive symptoms, and self-
esteem were collected during the fall and spring of the
academic year. The results suggest that, after accounting for
the simultaneous effect of alternative peer socialization
processes, adolescent experiences of homophobic name
calling in the fall predict higher levels of depressive
symptoms and lower levels of self-esteem over the course of
the academic year. These findings provide evidence of a
significant influence of homophobic name calling on ado-
lescent mental health.
Keywords Social networks Peer relationships
● ●
Adolescence Homophobic name calling Mental health
● ●
* Dawn DeLay
dawn.delay@asu.edu
1
Arizona State University, PO Box 873701, Tempe, AZ 85287,
USA
Introduction
Adolescence is a critical developmental period, considered
by some to be the most significant turning point for
developmentally-related growth (or decline) that individuals
will experience in their lifetime (Rutter 1987). Adolescence
marks a period of rapid developmental, social, and ecolo-
gical changes, and these changes can impact well-being. For
instance, the transition from elementary to middle school
has been viewed as a major ecological disruption in the
lives of adolescents, such that social relationships are
overturned, academic demands drastically increase, physical
changes occur, and one’s self-concept and personal identity
becomes even more critical for well-being than during
childhood (Hamburg 1974; Seidman 1988). It is precisely
because of the many stresses and strains (e.g., increasingly
rigorous academic demands, increasingly complex social
dynamics, etc.) that mental health trajectories may shift in
early adolescence in ways that portend trajectories of later
development (Stormshak et al. 2011). This is particularly of
note because elevated rates of depressive symptoms and
decreased self-esteem typically follow the transition to
middle school (Way et al. 2007).
We focus on the transition from elementary to middle
school, as it brings significant change in youth’s social
experiences. As young adolescents move from the relatively
contained elementary school classroom to a middle school
environment they are, often for the first time, regularly
exposed to a considerably larger number of classmates, as
well as multiple classrooms that may vary with regard to the
size, composition, organization, and structure of the class-
room peer group (Pellegrini and Bartini 2000). Critical to
the success of the middle school years is adolescents’ ability
to negotiate their relationships with peers. As they do so,
new friendships may arise, providing sources of intimacy,

companionship, and support. But, new antipathetic rela-
tionships may also arise, such as those that involve peer
victimization. Thus, these antipathetic relationships may
also socialize youth, perhaps toward physical and mental
health problems and diminished self-esteem (McDougall
and Vaillancourt 2015). For these reasons, the changing
social world that characterizes the transition from childhood
to adolescence—in which peer relationships become
increasingly important and simultaneously more complex—
has been implicated in the rise in mental health problems
(i.e., increased depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem)
(Barber and Olsen 2004).
To illustrate how mental health declines may begin to
emerge during early adoles- cence, we focus on one factor
that may contribute to this decline. Specifically, we consider
homophobic name calling, a form of victimization invol-
ving contemptuous and disdainful language directed toward
peers to mock an individual’s presumed sexual minority
status or to degrade an individual’s sexual identity (Poteat
and Espelage 2007). Homophobic name calling by peers is
evident in adolescence, and has been associated with the
emergence of psychopathology and diminished mental
health (Poteat and Espelage 2007; Poteat et al. 2014).
Although homophobic name calling has been linked to early
adolescent well-being, it has been difficult to draw con-
clusions about its effect on mental health because no prior
studies have accounted for other social factors relevant to
the middle school transition that might similarly contribute
to changes in mental health. To pinpoint that homophobic
name calling is causally related to changes in mental health
requires the control of alternative peer network factors, such
as social status structures, selection into particular friend-
ships and friendship groups, and peer influence processes
that may similarly promote or diminish mental health out-
comes during early adolescence. Thus, we use the innova-
tions of longitudinal social network analysis to account for
the influence of homophobic name calling on mental health
as we simultaneously control for a variety of alternative
peer network features that may represent possible con-
founds on young adolescent mental health outcomes. The
use of this innovative approach allows us to carefully and
more reliably consider whether the observed increase in
homophobic name calling during early adolescence influ-
ences the observed developmental decline in adolescent
mental health (Plummer 2001; Poteat and Espelage 2007;
Roeser et al. 1999).
Homophobic Name Calling
Like other forms of victimization, homophobic name call-
ing is a social phenomenon, emerging during adolescence,
and occurring within the peer group (Birkett and Espelage
2015). Furthermore, homophobic name calling can be used,
J Youth Adolescence
in part, to define one’s own and others’ positions within the
social network. Homophobic name calling also has a par-
ticularly pernicious quality in that it targets the victim’s
gender and sexual identity. Because the consolidation of
identity is an important developmental process during the
adolescent years, occurring at the same time as rapid
changes in pubertal development, gender and sexual iden-
tity are quite salient. Thus, homophobic name calling,
unlike other forms of victimization, directly targets youth’s
gender and sexual identity formation at a critical period of
development that may alter identity formation as well as
other aspects of adolescents’ social and emotional lives
(Collier et al. 2013). Thus, the potential for psychological
damage resulting from homophobic name calling during
adolescence is of particular concern. For these reasons, we
hypothesize that homophobic name calling will predict
declining mental health, even after accounting for multiple
co-occurring social network dynamics and processes that
may similarly diminish mental health.
In addition to the damage caused by any form of victi-
mization, the risk of homophobic name calling is that it may
push adolescents into questioning whether they fit their
sought after and accepted identity after receiving what can
be construed as conflicting feedback from peers. Consider
these examples: being called “gay” when an adolescent has
not adopted that identity label may lead some youth to
question their sexual identity; being called “gay” if adoles-
cents do label themselves as gay may also lead to ques-
tioning as to why their sexual identity is notable and
remarked upon by peers. In both cases, the adolescent’s
sense of self is challenged by peers, and that may lead to
increased depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem. If an
adolescent has already experienced some declines in mental
health after the transition to middle school, this may be
further exacerbated by experiences of homophobic name
calling. Alternatively, if an adolescent is unaffected by
depressive symptoms and has high levels of self-esteem,
experiences of homophobic name calling may redirect this
pattern of stability or positive growth toward instability and
declining mental health. Therefore, experiences of homo-
phobic name calling during early adolescence may serve to
both exacerbate (or redirect) trajectories of adolescent
mental health (Cohen-Kettenis et al. 2003). Research also
supports the idea that homophobic name calling is dama-
ging to adolescent development. For example, homophobic
name calling predicted change over time in mental health
(e.g., increased depression and anxiety) and social adjust-
ment (e.g., feeling of belonging) during early adolescence
(Poteat and Espelage 2007; Poteat et al. 2014), as well as
declines in longer-term mental health outcomes throughout
the adolescent years (Copeland et al. 2009; Lewinsohn et al.
1999). What is unclear, however, is whether homophobic
name calling is causally or coincidentally related to these
J Youth Adolescence
changes through the multitude of social challenges facing
early adolescent peer networks.
A Peer Network Perspective on Homophobic Name
Calling
Although it is a time of historical change concerning gender
and some shifting of attitudes are apparent (Sweeting et al.
2014), the social environment is still dangerous (e.g., risk of
social rejection, victimization, and physical injury) for
youth who do not adapt to normative views of what it is to
be male or female (D’Augelli et al. 2006; Pilkington and
D’Augelli 1995; Yunger et al. 2004; Zucker and Bradley
1995). Furthermore, this kind of victimization is not limited
to sexual minority youth. Adolescents who engage in
homophobic name calling target both heterosexual and
homosexual peers, suggesting that this behavior reaches
throughout the peer network (Poteat and Espelage 2007)
and should, therefore, be assessed as a social dynamic
existing at the level of the peer network.
To better explain why homophobic name calling is a
behavior that needs to be conceptualized as a problem of the
peer network, we draw on findings from the larger peer
victimization literature. First, similar to other forms of
victimization, at minimum, homophobic name calling
requires the involvement of at least two members of the peer
network (i.e., aggressor and victim), however, even more
peers may be enmeshed in the behavior when social
enforcers or bystanders are involved (Salmivalli et al.
1996). Second, victimizing behaviors can be used to
manipulate social position for both the aggressor and the
victim, an effect that will change the structural dynamics of
the peer network (Garandeau and Cillessen 2006). Third,
for victims, other relational aspects of the peer network,
having friends form example, may buffer risks associated
with homophobic name calling compared to the effects of
homophobic name calling observed for those who are
friendless (Pellegrini et al. 1999). This is why the current
investigation was designed to directly assess the impact of
homophobic name calling on adolescent depressive symp-
toms and self-esteem at the level of the complete peer
network, thus allowing us to account for both friendships
and antipathetic peer relationships in the social network.
To offer one additional justification for the social net-
work approach adopted in the current study, it is noteworthy
that the effect of homophobic name calling, like other net-
work level effects, is unique in that it is not confined within
individuals. For example, homophobic name calling may be
an important and powerful predictor of adolescent mental
health because it not only affects the individual for whom it
is directed, but also the mental health of a wide range of
adolescents at the broader level of the peer network sur-
rounding that individual. That is, at the network level,
homophobic name calling may have a direct (e.g., I am
called homophobic names) or an indirect (e.g., my friends
are called homophobic names) effect on adolescent
depressive symptoms and self-esteem. Thus, homophobic
name calling is an inherently socially-embedded process
providing it with powerful potential to diminish mental
health outcomes during adolescence (e.g., Poteat and
Espelage 2007; Poteat et al. 2014).
It is precisely because of the social nature of homophobic
name calling that determining its effect on mental health is
so complicated. For example, selection and influence pro-
cesses may also bias the estimated impact of homophobic
name calling because these are two social processes that
have been shown to diminish mental health (Hogue and
Steinberg 1995; Prinstein and La Greca 2002). Selection is
the peer network process through which adolescents choose
their friends (Kandel 1978). Influence is the peer network
process through which relationships change the character-
istics (e.g., mental health) of the adolescent over time
(Snijders et al. 2010). Selection and influence have been
implicated in the rise of adolescent depressive symptoms
(Giletta et al. 2012; Prinstein 2007; Schaefer et al. 2011;
Van Zalk et al. 2010) and declining self-esteem (Bishop and
Inderbitzen 1995; Brown and Lohr 1987; Paxton et al.
1999; Shroff and Thompson 2006) because adolescents may
select friends that have low (or high) levels of mental health
and then be influenced by these friends towards increasingly
low (or increasingly high) levels of mental health. In this
way, assessing the influence of homophobic name calling
on declining mental health during adolescence may be
particularly biased by a failure to account for these pre-
viously documented, and simultaneously occurring, social
network effects on adolescent mental health. The current
study uses longitudinal social network analysis with the
RSiena program (Ripley et al. 2016) to account for the
influence of homophobic name calling, as well as the effect
of selection, influence, and other structural features of the
peer network, on changes in mental health in the context of
a dynamically developing peer network after the middle
school transition.
Limitations of Previous Research
The social network perspective adopted in the current
investigation moves beyond assessments of the linear effect
of homophobic name calling on adolescent mental health in
several ways. First, when researchers use linear models, as
has been done in prior studies, dynamic peer network fea-
tures are collapsed into composite measures (e.g., OLS
regression; Ahn and Rodkin 2014), leading to a direct loss
of information on the dynamic social processes the scholars
originally aimed to address (Cascio and Schanzenbach
2007). This is particularly problematic when assessing the

influence of homophobic name calling on mental health
because we know from previous research (e.g., Birkett et al.
2009; Hunter 2008; Wernick et al. 2013) that adolescent
mental health may also be affected by the social climate of
the peer group (e.g., social status hierarchies, sanctioned
behavioral norms) and by processes of peer selection and
influence. Further, when attempts are made to account for
social network features in linear models, subjective deci-
sions must be made for how best to transform data to meet
the requirements of linear models, while also maintaining
some representation of the social composition of peer net-
work. Decisions that, again, add bias to estimates of social
relationship dynamics (Yudron et al. 2014). The alternative
approach is a longitudinal social network assessment of peer
relationships dynamics.
A longitudinal social network analysis approach allows
scholars to address the previously described limitations of
linear models, but this approach is not without challenges.
For instance, it requires the assessment of a reliable long-
itudinal social network sample with (a) complete assess-
ments of all relationships in the social network, (b) the
simultaneous assessment of individual characteristics and
characteristic attributes, and (c) all assessments completed
longitudinally and at the same points in time. Thus, col-
lecting data for use in longitudinal social network analysis
is quite demanding. Another challenge is that longitudinal
social network analysis has typically been used to consider
a single peer relationship type (e.g., friendships) and to
make use of this peer relationship network to disentangle, or
control for the impact of friend selection, when assessing
the effect of friend influence on adolescent outcomes (see
Veenstra et al. 2013 for review). This ability to simulta-
neously account for social selection and influence in a
single model represents an important step forward in our
ability to reliably assess peer influence processes; however,
we know that peer relationship dynamics are even more
complex than the interplay between selection and influence
among friends. For example, in any peer network there is
likely to be the simultaneous impact of friendship processes,
like social selection and influence, and antipathetic rela-
tionship processes, like homophobic name calling. Both
friendship and antipathy dynamics may impact adolescent
outcomes. Longitudinal social network analysis can then be
used to simultaneously assess the role of friendship and
antipathetic peer relationships on adolescent outcomes. By
adopting a longitudinal social network analysis approach in
the current study, we illustrate how longitudinal social
network analysis can be modified to assess the impact of a
negative social process (e.g., homophobic name calling) on
adolescent mental health outcomes, while simultaneously
controlling for the potential effect of positive social pro-
cesses, like friendship dynamics (e.g., selection and influ-
ence), on the same adolescent outcomes.
J Youth Adolescence
The Current Study
To understand the influence of homophobic name calling on
changes in adolescent depressive symptoms and self-
esteem, we use longitudinal social network data coupled
with the simultaneous and longitudinal assessment of indi-
vidual mental health indicators (i.e., depressive symptoms,
self-esteem). In particular, we assess the predictive role of
homophobic name calling on changes in early adolescent
depressive symptoms and self-esteem at the peer network
level during the first year (i.e., 6th grade year) of middle
school. We do so to test the hypothesis that homophobic
name calling predicts increased levels of depressive symp-
toms and decreased levels of self-esteem after controlling
for the simultaneous impact of alternative peer socialization
mechanisms (e.g., peer selection and influence) after the
early adolescent transition to middle school.
The current investigation is necessary because—
although we know experiences of homophobic name calling
are associated with diminished mental health outcomes
during adolescence (e.g. Poteat and Espelage 2007; Poteat
et al. 2014) and we know that processes of peer selection
and influence have similarly been implicated in declining
mental health during the adolescent years (Hogue and
Steinberg 1995; Prinstein and La Greca 2002)—a failure to
consider the dynamic impact of these competing social
mechanisms on the observed declines in early adolescent
mental health can lead to statistical bias and inflated effect
estimates. Thus, we address this limitation of previous
research in the current investigation and, in doing so, we
will be able to determine with more precision whether
homophobic name calling is related to changes in mental
health during early adolescence.
Method
Participants
Participants consisted of 299 6th grade students (53 % girls;
Mage = 11.13 years, SD = 0.48 at the first data collection)
from a public middle school in the Southwest United States.
Participants were recruited during the fall (October) of the
6th grade academic year, which was the students’ first year
of middle school. Information packets and consent letters
were sent to parents two weeks prior to data collection to
allow parents sufficient time to either consent or opt their
child out of the current investigation. Students were also
given the opportunity to provide written assent. The final
participating student sample was ethnically diverse,
including Hispanic (37 %), European American (17 %),
Native American (8 %), African American (6 %), Asian
American (1 %), and mixed background (14 %) adolescents;
J Youth Adolescence
17 % were missing ethnicity data or provided information
that was not usable (e.g., Canadian). The majority of par-
ticipants also qualified for free (71 %) or reduced price
(6 %) meals.
During the first wave of data collection (fall), student
participation rates were over 90 %. However, given inno-
vations currently available in longitudinal social network
analysis models, students who joined (n = 21) or left (n =
18) the school during the academic year were coded as
missing at that measurement point, but had their network
data included in the model when it was available using
composition change options currently available in the
RSiena program (Ripley et al. 2016). Pearson chi-square
tests (for categorical variables) and independent sample t
tests (for continuous variables) were performed to examine
differences in demographic and study variables at T1
between non-attrited (n = 212; who participated in both
times) and attrited students (n = 39; who participated at T1
but not T2 for various reasons, e.g., left the school, absent,
no consent). Attrited and non-attrited students were not
significantly different in demographic (age, gender, ethni-
city, SES) or study (homophobic name calling, self-esteem,
depressive symptoms) variables.
Procedure
Participants were assessed twice during the school year. The
first wave of data collection was completed during the fall
semester (October) and the second wave of data collection
was completed during the spring semester (March) of the
6th grade academic year. The study was approved by the
university’s [blinded for review] Institutional Review Board
and by the school district.
At each assessment wave, researchers administered sur-
veys to students in 6th grade classrooms during a 45-minute
questionnaire period. Study questionnaires included infor-
mation on participants’ psychological well-being and peer
relationships. In each classroom, three to four graduate and
undergraduate research assistants proctored the assessment.
One research assistant read all the questionnaire items aloud
to keep the students on pace and to assist with reading
difficulties. The remaining research assistants were avail-
able in the room to answer participant questions. Students
were compensated with a small gift upon completion of the
questionnaire.
Measures
Peer Network Nominations
At both the fall and spring assessment periods, students
completed an unlimited peer nominations protocol of the
grademates at school whom they “most liked to spend time
with.” A roster of 6th grade peer names was provided in
case students did not remember a first or last name.
Depressive Symptoms
At both the fall and spring assessment periods, students
rated their depressive symptoms on a 4-point Likert scale (1
= not at all to 4 = much or most of the time) using the short
version of the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI 2;
Kovacs 2010). Twelve items (e.g., “I like myself
[reversed],” “I am sad,” and “I eat pretty well” [reversed])
assessed cognitive, affective, and behavioral signs of
depression. A depressive symptoms composite scale was
created by averaging these twelve items. Cronbach’s alpha
was .70 in the fall and .74 in the spring. To use the RSiena
program, the 4-point continuous variable scale was recoded
to a 4-category categorical variable scale by rounding to the
nearest category based on the distribution of the original
continuous variable scale.
Self-esteem
At both the fall and spring assessment periods, students
rated their self-esteem on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not at
all true to 5 = a lot true) using the Competence Scale for
Children (Harter 1982). Fourteen items assessed various
aspects of self-esteem, including general self-worth (e.g.,
“I’m confident with myself”), appearance-related self-esteem
(e.g., “I am happy with the way I look”), weight-related self-
esteem (“I like my weight”), and social competence (e.g., “I
am popular with other children”). A self-esteem composite
scale was created by averaging these 14 items. Cronbach’s
alpha was .86 in the fall and .89 in the spring. To use the
RSiena program, the 5-point continuous variable scale was
recoded to a 5-category categorical variable scale by
rounding to the nearest category based on the distribution of
the original continuous variable scale.
Homophobic Name Calling
At the fall assessment period, students indicated whether or
not they had experienced homophobic name calling using
an item adapted from the Homophobic Content Agent
Target Scale (HCAT; Poteat and Espelage 2005; see Collier
et al. 2013). Specifically, the item, “Some kids call each
other names such as gay, homos, or lesbian; How many
times in the last month did anyone call you these names?”
was rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = never or almost
never, 2 = 1 or 2 times, 3 = 3 or 4 times, 4 = 5 or 6 times, 5
= 7 or more times). Homophobic name calling was recoded
to two categories (1 = never or almost never, 2 = 1 or more
times) because the original distribution of this variable was
highly skewed (many students were not victimized).

Demographic Characteristics
Students reported their gender (1 = female, 0 = male) and
ethnicity (recoded as 1 = Latino, 0 = non-Latino). Lunch
status (recoded 1 = free or reduced, 2 = paid) was obtained
from the school and was used as an indicator of SES.
Plan of Analysis
Longitudinal social network analyses are complex. Here we
describe the progression of these analyses in a series of
steps. First, we begin by describing the data requirements
and the data restructuring that is needed to execute long-
itudinal social network models. Second, we describe control
parameters—control effects that may influence friendship
choices (network controls) and control effects that may
affect changes in mental health outcomes (behavioral con-
trols). We describe each unique set of control parameters in
turn. Third, we discuss additional control variables that
were added to the longitudinal social network model in
response to recent recommendations to test for goodness of
fit in the longitudinal network structure being assessed
(Ripley et al. 2016). Fourth, the final set of control para-
meters introduced are included to directly assess how
depressive symptoms and self-esteem may impact (if at all)
friendship choices (selection effects) and how depressive
symptoms and self-esteem may be influenced (if at all) by
the depressive symptoms and self-esteem of one’s close
friends and friendship groups (influence effects). Finally,
the Plan of Analysis section concludes with an introduction
and description of how we model our effect of primary
interest, namely the influence of homophobic name calling
on predicting change in early adolescent depressive symp-
toms and self-esteem. In this final section, it is worth noting
that this effect of primary interest (i.e., the influence of
homophobic name calling on mental health) will be mod-
eled simultaneously with all other network and behavioral
control effects previously described, indicating that the
effect estimate will be free of any bias that may have
resulted from the failure to account for one or more these
alternative social dynamics or social influence effects.
Data Requirements
The first step in the analysis was to create a peer network
from peer nomination data that included all 6th grade peer
network members, inclusive of those who did and those
who did not make or receive peer nominations. Thus, the
resulting peer network was a 299 × 299 matrix, in which a
“1” indicates that a nomination was made or received and a
“0” indicates that no nomination was made or received. A
composition change file was also created to account for the
students who left or joined the network between the fall and
J Youth Adolescence
spring semester of the 6th grade academic year. In addition,
a separate covariate data file and dependent variable data
file that included information on homophobic name calling,
depressive symptoms, and self-esteem were created and
longitudinally linked to the peer network and composition
change files using student ID numbers. Upon completion of
these steps we could engage in longitudinal social network
analysis to examine the influence of homophobic name
calling on depressive symptoms and self-esteem, control-
ling for potentially competing social process effects, such as
selection and influence. To further assess the unique effect
of homophobic name calling on depressive symptoms and
self-esteem—and to control for confounding social process
in the peer network, such as status seeking behaviors and
clique or sub-group dynamics—a series of network and
behavioral control parameters as well as selection and
influence effects for depressive symptoms and self-esteem
were included in the RSiena models (see Results for addi-
tional detail on analyses and control variables used).
Network Controls
Three basic network control parameters, outdegree, reci-
procity, and transitive triplets, were included to account for
fundamental characteristics of the peer network. The out-
degree parameter offers an indication of selectivity in
friendship choices, the reciprocity parameter offers an
indication that positive relationships tend to be mutual, and
the transitivity parameter offers an indication that the indi-
viduals tend to befriend the friends of their friends. Also, for
each covariate (gender, ethnicity, SES), similarity, ego, and
alter effects were included. For example, the gender simi-
larity effect indicates the tendency to select same gender
peers. The gender ego effect indicates the impact of gender
on given peer nominations (e.g., a positive value indicates
that girls tend to make more peer nominations than boys).
The gender alter effect indicates the impact of gender on
received peer nominations (e.g., a positive value indicates
that girls tend to receive more nominations than boys). For
the variables of primary interest in the current investigation
(i.e., homophobic name calling, depressive symptoms, self-
esteem), the effects of tendencies to nominate or to be
nominated by peers in the social network were similarly
controlled using similarity, ego, and alter effects.
Behavioral Controls
For each dependent variable (i.e., depressive symptoms,
self-esteem), linear tendency and quadratic shape were
included to control for the distributional characteristics of
the dependent variables (i.e., any network tendencies
toward higher or lower values on the dependent variable or
any network tendencies toward dispersion or regression
J Youth Adolescence
toward the mean on the dependent variable). The effect of
demographic covariates (gender, ethnicity, SES) on changes
in depressive symptoms and self-esteem (e.g., effect of
gender on depressive symptoms, effect from gender on self-
esteem) were also included as behavioral control effects.
Goodness of Fit (GOF) Controls
In addition to adding the typically used (e.g., Veenstra et al.
2013) structural control parameters, we engaged in good-
ness of fit tests recommended in the RSiena manual (Ripley
et al. 2016). Goodness of fit tests are recommended to
match one’s model specification to the unique peer network
under investigation. Goodness of fit tests indicated that
several additional control parameters should be included.
Thus, we added transitive reciprocated triplets type 2,
transitive ties, number of actors at distance 2, dense triads,
geometrically weighted edgelist shared partners, indegree-
related popularity, and reciprocal degree-related activity to
account for these features of our social network. The tran-
sitive reciprocated triplets (type 2) effect is an interaction
between transitive triplets and reciprocity, describing the
tendency for those in non-mutual relationships to nominate
the same peer partner. The transitive ties effect describes the
number of peers that students are directly or indirectly
connected to. The number of actors at distance 2 effect
describes the tendency to have indirect social connections.
The dense triads effect describes the number of densely
connected triads, or the number of peer groups comprised of
3 members that have at least 5 unidirectional connections
within the group. The geometrically weighted edgelist
shared partners effect describes transitivity that allows for
weighting intermediaries, or weighting of the contribution
of individuals that bring other individuals together. The
indegree-related popularity effect describes the tendency
for students who receive many nominations to receive more
nominations. The reciprocal degree-related activity effect
describes the association between having reciprocal rela-
tionships and an individual’s level of social activity (with
social activity defined as the tendency to make or receive
peer nominations).
Friend Selection Effects
To reliably estimate the influence of homophobic name
calling on depressive symptoms and self-esteem, we con-
trolled for selection effects on these same outcomes (Kandel
1978). Therefore, we included selection for similarity on
depressive symptoms and selection for similarity on self-
esteem. The depressive symptoms and self-esteem similarity
parameters describe the tendency for adolescents to select
friends who are similar to themselves in levels of depressive
symptoms or self-esteem (e.g., a positive effect for
depressive symptoms or self-esteem similarity means that
adolescents select friends with similar levels of depressive
symptoms and self-esteem, respectively; a negative
depressive symptoms and self-esteem similarity effect
means that adolescents select friends with dissimilar levels
of depressive symptoms and self-esteem, respectively).
Thus, the interpretation of depressive symptoms and self-
esteem similarity mirrors the interpretation of the similarity
effects for the network control parameters.
Friend Influence Effects
After accounting for friend selection effects, we could next
reliably estimate peer influence effects on depressive
symptoms and self-esteem. Simultaneously estimating
friend selection and influence on depressive symptoms and
self-esteem allowed us to disentangle the impact of these
effects on changing levels of early adolescent mental health
from the influence of homophobic name calling on chan-
ging levels of early adolescent mental health. The influence
parameters of interest in the current investigation are peer
influence on depressive symptoms and peer influence on
self-esteem. We modeled peer influence as change toward
peer similarity on depressive symptoms and self-esteem.
The depressive symptoms total similarity parameter was
used to account for peer influence on depressive symptoms
and the self-esteem total similarity parameter was used to
account for peer influence on self-esteem. A positive peer
influence effect on the depressive symptoms or self-esteem
influence parameters indicates that adolescents change their
level of depressive symptoms and self-esteem to increase
the similarity between themselves and their friends on
depressive symptoms and self-esteem, respectively. A
negative peer influence on depressive symptoms or self-
esteem influence parameter indicates that adolescents
change their level of depressive symptoms and self-esteem
to decrease the similarity between themselves and their
friends on depressive symptoms and self-esteem,
respectively.
Homophobic Name Calling Effects
The effect of primary interest in the current investigation
was the effect of homophobic name calling on changes in
adolescent depressive symptoms and self-esteem following
the middle school transition. After accounting for structural
features of the developing peer network (i.e., network
controls, behavioral controls, and goodness of fit controls),
we increase our confidence in the estimation of the effect of
homophobic name calling on adolescent depressive symp-
toms and self-esteem following the middle school transi-
tion. However, even more importantly, we were able to
simultaneously control for the previously documented

impacts of friend selection and influence on changes in
depressive symptoms and self-esteem.
To obtain the estimated effect of homophobic name
calling on changes in adolescent mental health we included
the effect of homophobic name calling on depressive
symptoms parameter and the effect of homophobic name
calling on self-esteem parameter. The effect of homophobic
name calling on depressive symptoms parameter describes
the impact of homophobic name calling by peers on chan-
ges in depressive symptoms (e.g., a positive value indicates
that adolescents who experience higher levels of homo-
phobic name calling tend to increase in depressive symp-
toms across the academic year; a negative value indicates
that adolescents who experience higher levels of homo-
phobic name calling tend to decrease in depressive symp-
toms across the academic year). The effect of homophobic
name calling on self-esteem describes the impact of
homophobic name calling by peers on changes in self-
esteem (e.g., a positive value indicates that adolescents who
experience higher levels of homophobic name calling tend
to increase in self-esteem across the academic year; a
negative value indicates that adolescents who experience
higher levels of homophobic name calling tend to decrease
in self-esteem across the academic year).
Results
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics for peer network and study variables
are presented in Table 1. On average, students nominated
Table 1 Behavioral and network descriptive and change statistics
Fall
Network descriptives
Friendship nominations 6.64
Number of network ties 1550
Behavioral descriptives
Mean levels of depressive symptoms 1.98
Mean levels of self-esteem 3.87
Network change Fall to Spring
Children joining the classroom 21
Children leaving the classroom 18
Stability of friendships (Jaccard index) 0.25
Behavioral change Fall to Spring
Depressive symptoms temporal autocorrelation .61***
Self-esteem temporal autocorrelation .70***
Note: N = 299 in the peer network sample assessed
*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
J Youth Adolescence
about 7 peers in the fall and about 9 peers in the spring. The
total number of network ties increased across the 6th grade
academic year, indicating that students were actively
building relationships at school and, as a consequence, had
(on average) more friendships in the spring (end of the
academic year) than they did in the fall (beginning of the
academic year). One quarter of the peer relationships were
stable from fall to spring, as indicated by a Jaccard index of
.25. This level of stability (e.g., one quarter stable ties) in
the peer network provided confidence in the reliable esti-
mation of longitudinal social network models (Snijders
et al. 2010). Across the academic year, 18 students left the
school and 21 students joined the school. The individuals
who left and who joined the participating school were
included in all analyses because this type of composition
change can be accounted for using RSiena. Finally,
depressive symptoms and self-esteem were also adequately
stable across time (rs = .61 and .70, ps < .001, respectively).
All descriptive information was within an acceptable range
for analysis.
Longitudinal Social Network Effects
Homophobic name calling effects, selection effects, influ-
ence effects, as well all network, behavioral, and goodness
of fit control estimates are presented in Table 2. To avoid
distraction from the goals of the current investigation, only
significant control effects will be described below; however,
a complete summary of all estimated effects can be found in
Table 2.
Network Controls
As expected, the outdegree parameter was negative (Snij-
ders et al. 2010), indicating that children showed selectivity
Spring in peer nominations given. Peer nominations were more
likely to be mutual (reciprocity) than unilateral and friends
of friends tended to also be friends (transitivity). Finally,
8.87
there was some evidence that adolescents were more likely
2010
to nominate same- rather than other-gender peers (gender
similarity) and same- rather than other-ethnicity peers
2.05
(ethnicity similarity).
3.91
Behavioral Controls
There was evidence of a significant and negative quadratic
shape effect in depressive symptoms. This significant and
negative quadratic shape effect was an indication that
adolescents tended to move toward the average level of
depressive symptoms in the peer network, or that there was
evidence of a developmental trend among all peers in the
network toward changes in depressive symptoms after the
J Youth Adolescence

Table 2 The impact of peer selection, peer influence, and peer feedback (homophobic name calling) on adolescent’s depressive symptoms and
self-esteem
Network effects/Dependent variables Depressive Self-esteem
symptoms
Est. S.E. Est. S.E.

Selection effects
DV: Selection similarity (tendency to select peers with similar levels of the DV) 0.14 0.28 −0.28 0.24
Influence effects
DV: Total similarity effect (influence of peers toward increased similarity on DV) −0.27 0.42 −1.40 0.86
Peer feedback (homophobic name calling) effects
Hypothesized effect on DV (the impact of experiencing homophobic name calling on changes on DV) 1.33** 0.46 −1.13* 0.48
Network control parameters
Outdegree (the tendency that the partners are selectively chosen) −2.23*** 0.11 −2.24*** 0.09
Reciprocity (the tendency for peer relationships to be mutual) 2.17*** 0.13 2.16*** 0.13
Transitive triplets (the tendency for students to nominate friends of their friends) 0.26** 0.10 0.26** 0.09
Transitive reciprocated triplets type 2 (the tendency to like pairs of peers who like each other) −0.48** 0.16 −0.47** 0.15
Transitive ties (the number of peers students are directly or indirectly connected) 0.31*** 0.09 0.31*** 0.09
Number of actors at distance 2 (the tendency for students to have indirect ties) −0.13*** 0.02 −0.13*** 0.02
Dense triads (number of triads with at least 5 ties) −0.13** 0.04 −0.13** 0.04
Geometrically weighted edgewise shared partners (transitivity expression that allows for weighting 0.70** 0.26 0.69** 0.24
intermediaries)
Indegree-related popularity (the sum of in-degrees of peers to whom a student is connected) 0.04*** 0.01 0.04*** 0.01
Reciprocal degree-related activity (the product of one’s degree and reciprocal degree) −0.05*** 0.01 0.05*** 0.01
Gender similarity (tendency to select same-gender peers) 0.43*** 0.04 0.43*** 0.04
Gender ego (the impact of gender on peer nominations given) 0.07 0.05 0.05 0.05
Gender alter (the impact of gender on peer nominations received) −0.06 0.05 −0.07 0.05
Ethnicity similarity (tendency to select same-ethnic peers) 0.09* 0.04 0.10* 0.04
Ethnicity ego (the impact of ethnicity on peer nominations given) 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.04
Ethnicity alter (the impact of ethnicity on peer nominations received) −0.02 0.04 −0.02 0.05
SES similarity (tendency to selection similar SES peers) 0.03 0.05 0.03 0.05
SES ego (the impact of SES on peer nominations given) −0.08 0.06 −0.07 0.06
SES alter (the impact of SES on peer nominations received) −0.02 0.05 −0.02 0.05
Homophobic name calling similarity (tendency to select peers experiencing similar levels of 0.00 0.05 0.00 0.05
homophobic name calling)
Homophobic name calling ego (the impact of homophobic name calling on peer nominations given) −0.02 0.05 −0.05 0.05
Homophobic name calling alter (the impact of homophobic name calling on peer nominations 0.04 0.05 0.02 0.05
received)
DV ego (the impact of depressive symptoms or self-esteem on peer nominations given) −0.14 0.08 0.05 0.04
DV alter (the impact of depressive symptoms or self-esteem on peer nominations received) −0.08 0.09 0.03 0.04
Behavioral control parameters
DV: linear tendency (indicates tendency toward higher levels of DV) 0.33 0.21 0.38 0.22
DV: quadratic tendency (indicates tendency for dispersion on DV) −2.30* 0.92 −1.22 0.72
DV: Effect from gender (indication of gender differences in changes in DV) 0.28 0.39 −0.61 0.37
DV: Effect from ethnicity (indication of ethnic differences in changes in DV) 0.08 0.41 0.07 0.31
DV: Effect from SES (indication of SES differences in changes in DV) −0.78 0.46 0.68 0.43
Note: N = 299. Convergence t-ratios are between −.10 and .10. Gender: girls = 1, boys = 0. Ethnicity: Latino = 1, Non-Latino = 0. SES: Free or
reduced lunch = 1, paid lunch = 2. DV represents the dependent variable (depressive symptoms or self-esteem)
***p < .001, ** p < .01, * p < .05

middle school transition. Nevertheless, some adolescents
changed more than others in their depressive symptoms.
Goodness of Fit (GOF) Controls
All parameters (i.e., transitive reciprocated triplets type 2,
transitive ties, number of actors at distance 2, dense triads,
geometrically weighted edgelist shared partners, indegree-
related popularity, and reciprocal degree-related activity)
that were added to improve model fit were significant (see
Table 2 for details). After the inclusion of these goodness of
fit control parameters, the model fit for indegree, outdegree,
and triadic census distributions went from a significant, or
poor, model fit (p < .05) to a non-significant, or good,
model fit (p > .05). The fit of geodesic distribution was also
improved toward non-significance, or a good model fit.
Thus, we sufficiently met the assumptions for good model
fit described in the RSiena manual when using longitudinal
social network analysis (Ripley et al. 2016).
Friend Selection Effects
There were no significant selection effects based on
depressive symptoms or self-esteem over the course of the
6th grade academic year. This indicates that, after the tran-
sition to middle school, the developing peer network may
not use similarity on depressive symptoms or self-esteem as
a criterion for peer relationship formation over and above the
other estimated effects included in the models.
Friend Influence Effects
There were no significant influence effects based on
depressive symptoms or self-esteem over the course of the
6th grade academic year. This indicates that, after the tran-
sition to middle school, the new friendships that formed over
the course of the school transition year may not, or may not
yet, have a significant impact on observed changes in ado-
lescent depressive symptoms and self-esteem over and
above the other estimated effects included in the models.
Homophobic Name Calling Effects
After accounting for structural features of the developing
peer network after the transition to middle school (i.e.,
network, behavioral, and goodness of fit controls) as well as
simultaneous peer selection and influence effects, it was
determined that experiencing homophobic name calling was
a significant predictor of changes in depressive symptoms
and self-esteem over the 6th grade academic year. As can be
seen in Table 2, the effect of homophobic name calling on
depressive symptoms as drawn from RSiena output was
positive and significant (est. = 1.33, SE = 0.46, odds ratio =
J Youth Adolescence
1.56), indicating that adolescents who experienced higher
levels of homophobic name calling by peers at the begin-
ning of the academic year were more likely to show
increases in their depressive symptoms over the course of
the academic year than adolescents who experienced lower
levels of homophobic name calling by peers at the begin-
ning of the academic year. Furthermore, the effect of
homophobic name calling on self-esteem was negative and
significant (est. = −1.13, SE = 0.48, odds ratio = 0.75),
indicating that adolescents who experienced higher levels of
homophobic name calling by peers at the beginning of the
academic year were more likely to show decreases in their
self-esteem over the course of the academic year than
adolescents who experienced lower levels of homophobic
name calling by peers at the beginning of the academic year.
To illustrate these findings more clearly, we produced a
figure that shows these effects in comparison to one another.
Specifically, Fig. 1 represents a visual presentation of effect
estimates which have been standardized for the sake of
comparison using a t-ratio calculation for an approximate
normal distribution (i.e., effect estimate divided by the
standard error of the estimate). Estimates were standardized
in this way in Fig. 1 in order to be compared to one another
because the unstandardized estimate—that is, those that are
drawn directly from the RSiena output file and presented in
Table 2—are not directly comparable without also
accounting for the standard error of the estimate when
assessing the reported effect estimate.
Alternative Models
To ensure that the hypothesized direction of effects from
homophobic name calling to the prediction of change in
depressive symptoms and self-esteem could not be reversed
so that depressive symptoms and self-esteem also predicted
change in homophobic name calling over the course of the
academic year, we assessed alternative models with the
effect estimates reversed. The alternative models were
identical to the hypothesized models in all ways, except that
homophobic name calling became the dependent variable
and mental health indicators (i.e., depressive symptoms,
self-esteem) became the independent variables. The results
of these alternative models indicated that the effects could
not be reversed. In other words, homophobic name calling
was a predictor of change in depressive symptoms and self-
esteem; however, depressive symptoms and self-esteem
were not predictors of change in homophobic name calling.
Discussion
The goal of the current study was to improve our under-
standing of why adolescence is a critical period for the
J Youth Adolescence
Fig. 1 Comparison of the
estimated likelihood of
selection, influence, and peer Peer Selection
feedback (homophobic name
calling) effects using
recalculated effect estimates that
have been standardized as a
function of t-ratios based on an
approximate normal distribution.
Note In RSiena, t-ratios are
calculated using an approximate
Peer Influence
normal distribution in which
obtained effect estimates are
divided by the standard error of
the estimate. A similar approach
is used in linear regression
models. *p < .05. **p < .01
Peer Feedback
(Homophobic
name calling)
consideration of declining mental health. We did this by
focusing on the impact of homophobic name calling on
young adolescent mental health after the transition to mid-
dle school (Poteat and Espelage 2007; Poteat et al. 2014).
We targeted the first year of middle school because this is
an important time of social transition for students, and thus
students could be particularly susceptible to peer influence.
To fully explore this issue, we used a longitudinal social
network approach to give careful attention to the peer
context surrounding experiences of homophobic name
calling. Longitudinal social network analysis was useful
because we know that each student is unique, however,
each student is also embedded within a peer group that
holds its own social pressures, norms, expectations, and
experiences. Finally, we accounted for the fact that indivi-
duals have agency to make choices about new friendships
(selection) and behaviors (influence) that will each, in turn,
alter the broader social context and norms of the developing
peer network. By adopting an analytic approach (i.e.,
longitudinal social network analysis) that allowed us to
model and account for these social complexities as well as
the interactions between individual level and network level
effects, we were able to offer a first assessment of the
impact of homophobic name calling free from the bias of
many alternative peer socialization mechanisms.
The findings demonstrate the influence of experiencing
homophobic name calling on early adolescent depressive
symptoms and self-esteem. Experiencing homophobic name
calling following the transition to middle school had a
significant and lasting influence (across the 6th grade aca-
demic year) on adolescent mental health by increasing
depressive symptoms and diminishing self-esteem. This
finding hints at the potential power that homophobic name
0.50
Depressive
-1.67 Symptoms
-1.40
-1.63
2.89** Self-Esteem
-2.35*
calling may hold during middle school. Adolescents who
were previously not at-risk for declining mental health who
experience homophobic name calling may begin to
experience shifts toward mental health deficits associated
with increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in
self-esteem. The results also suggest that some adolescents
may experience especially dramatic mental health declines
if they are already at-risk for declining mental health.
Homophobic name calling may further result in changes to
adolescents’ nascent social and personal identities. Because
core aspects of identity (e.g., gender identity, sexual iden-
tity) also develop at this time, peer assault in the form of
homophobic name calling on these developing identities
could lead to identity confusion. Understanding the most
significant predictors of declining mental health during
early adolescence is important given the possibility of a
long-term effect on adjustment outcomes that begins during
adolescence and potentially persists into adulthood (Kazdin
1993).
These findings also address an important question related
to the impact of homophobic name calling in the peer net-
work. Although others have considered the impact of
homophobic name calling on adolescent mental health (e.g.,
Poteat and Espelage 2007; Poteat et al. 2014), we are the
first to do so using longitudinal social network analysis that
allowed us to control for a multitude of individual differ-
ences, peer influences, and social process that have the
potential to bias the results of linear models. To be precise,
social status structures that develop in middle school were
accounted for and controlled, an individual’s social standing
in the transitioning 6th grade peer group was accounted for
and controlled, selection into particular friendships and
friendship groups was accounted for and controlled, and

early adolescent peer influences to promote homophily (or
similar levels of depressive symptoms and self-esteem)
were accounted for and controlled. This ability of long-
itudinal social network analysis to capture the complex
individual and social features of adolescent peer networks
during periods of developmental change and transition is a
major benefit of adopting a longitudinal social network
approach.
The decision to use longitudinal social network analysis
also allowed us to test competing models. We simulta-
neously modeled known predictors of change in adolescent
mental health (e.g., peer influence) when assessing the
influence of homophobic name calling on mental health.
Understanding that homophobic name calling may increase
depressive symptoms and diminish self-esteem, over and
above the impact of other potential social mechanisms for
these effects, opens the door for future research to begin to
understand how and why homophobic name calling devel-
ops in the social context of the middle school peer group
following the middle school transition. Questions of who is
most vulnerable to this type of peer victimization (e.g.,
adolescents who express themselves as being gender aty-
pical vs. typical), as well as who is most likely to use this as
a tool to victimize others (e.g., aggressive students; students
varying in gender typicality) also represent worthy candi-
dates for future research. Gaining this level of knowledge
may open the door to targeted interventions to address the
source, as well as the consequences, of homophobic name
calling during early adolescence. Such efforts stand to not
only support victimized youth but also to change the social
milieu of youths’ early middle school years and consequent
social experiences and outcomes. Finally, understanding the
key elements of network level change could serve to
potentially redirect some of the most detrimental mental
health trajectories of the early adolescent years and support
the general well-being of all transitioning youth. Thus,
some work has already begun on social network interven-
tion strategies that can be applied and used to improve the
social health of middle school peer groups (DeLay et al.
2016; Farmer et al. 2007).
However, it should be noted that, when adopting a social
network approach for school-based intervention, individual
differences cannot and should not be ignored. To use the
question of peer influence as an example of how individual
differences can be used in peer network interventions, it is
understood that change at the network level begins with a
social shift that may occur among individuals in mean-
ingfully influential positions (e.g., high status peers) in the
social network. The presence of both high and low status
peers within a single social network is one example of the
kinds of individual differences that exist within a single
social context. Such individual differences can be critical to
the success of a social network intervention because a
J Youth Adolescence
behavioral shift in a complete social network could happen
if a critical adolescent (e.g., most popular student in school)
shifts their behaviors and opinions and others follow, for
example. To put this another way, as those who connect
others—either as a desirable high status peer or as a positive
social relationship partner—are observed changing their
behaviors, other peers in the social network may also
change their behaviors in a similar way. In this way, it is the
very presence of individual differences (in this example,
status differentials) that may inform the interventionist as to
who in the social network is most likely to impact broad
social change. To consider one additional individual dif-
ference, we know that not all adolescents will respond to the
experience of homophobic name calling in the same way.
But, if the intervention is aimed at the complete social
network, rather than at only a target individual who may be
experiencing a detrimental effect from homophobic name
calling, changing the social context of the peer network will
support all youth, including those who are more or less
affected by homophobic name calling in the network.
It would also be interesting to have future research
efforts aimed at targeting how individual characteristics
and/or specific social processes may moderate the impact of
homophobic name calling on adolescent mental health. One
notable example of a social network effect that may either
bolster or create an additive effect on mental health out-
comes is the intersection of multiple forms of peer victi-
mization (see Collier et al. 2013). This is an important next
step for research because we know that, in addition to
homophobic name calling, adolescents may experience
other types of shaming around identity, body, ethnicity, or
gender in the peer group. It is our view that such experi-
ences could create an accumulation of social stressors that,
over time, may be responsible for diminished mental health
among some adolescents. Thus, just as we have controlled
for a series of alternative social network processes that may
impact change in early adolescent mental health over and
above the influence of homophobic name calling, future
studies may be able to similarly use longitudinal social
network analysis to disentangle the unique and additive
effects of multiple sources of peer victimization as they
simultaneously (uniquely or accumulatively) impact early
adolescent mental health outcomes. Thus, understanding the
role of homophobic name calling on depressive symptoms
and self-esteem over and above positive social network
dynamics, such as friend selection and influence, can be
viewed as a first step toward opening the door to this
important line of research. More precisely, understanding
the effect of homophobic name calling above and beyond
other forms of peer victimization would allow scholars to
understand which social processes are most influential on
early adolescent mental health and to account for these
effects during intervention and prevention design.
J Youth Adolescence
It is also of note that no peer selection or influence effects
were detected in the current study. Given that previous
research has demonstrated these effects on changes in
adolescent mental health, it would be interesting to have
additional research aimed at understanding when (and under
what conditions) selection and influence effects are most
likely to take hold on changes in early adolescent mental
health, as well as when (and under what conditions) pro-
cesses of peer victimization may have the greatest impact on
changing early adolescent mental health outcomes. Thus,
we again view the current study as a first demonstration of
how future researcher might begin to use longitudinal social
network analysis to disentangle the complexity of multiple
and overlapping peer processes by taking into account that
some peer experiences are positive (e.g., friendship
dynamics) and other peer experiences are negative (e.g.,
bully-victim dynamics), but all may be occurring simulta-
neously and exerting influence on individuals as well as the
developing peer network.
Although we view the current study as having many
strengths, this investigation is not without limitations. First,
additional attention is needed on the measurement of
homophobic name calling. For instance, the current study
adopts a single item scale and, although this scale has been
demonstrated to be valid through its use in previous
research on homophobic name calling (e.g., Collier et al.
2013; Poteat and Espelage 2005), it would be useful to
assess the reliability of these assessments using multi-item
report. The predictive power of the current measurement
protocol points to the need for future research on homo-
phobic name calling and its impact on adolescent outcomes.
For instance, does the type of name(s) that adolescents are
called matter; are some names more destructive than others?
Second, the current study was not able to test some of the
more complex questions of moderation at the network level.
For example, we do not know if the homophobic name
calling effects observed in the current study will hold across
more or less diverse middle school samples, across variable
cultural and national contexts, or across various peer group
structures (e.g., dominant social hierarchies vs. egalitarian
networks). Therefore, future research might collect similar
data among larger samples of networks (e.g., more and
more diverse schools). Additional moderators may be the
gender of peers in the social network and the age range of
peers in the social network. For example, expanding the
social network to the level of the entire middle school peer
group may further highlight how experiences in multiple
social domains (i.e., interactions with same- vs. other-age
peers) may accumulate to impact mental health. Finally,
school policy is another important moderator to consider. It
is our belief that school policies (if executed effectively) can
serve to set a level of expectation for the adolescent peer
group and perhaps even provide information on levels of
tolerance that may either expand or constrain positive and
negative social dynamics in the peer network. Each of these
potential moderators are important to consider, and offer
innovative directions for future research.
Conclusions
Findings from the present study resulted in better under-
standing of the role of homophobic name calling on the
mental health of adolescents after the middle school tran-
sition. We demonstrated the detrimental nature of experi-
encing homophobic name calling by peers on the declining
mental health of its early adolescent victims. We hope that
these findings will promote future research that informs
more targeted intervention and prevention efforts aimed at
supporting the mental health of early adolescents. Because
peer relationship experiences are important for healthy
adolescent development, understanding their role in
exacerbating (or redirecting) mental health trajectories is
critical to the promotion of long-term mental health across
adolescence and into adulthood. By understanding the role
of such predictors of change in mental health (e.g., homo-
phobic name calling) at crucial developmental periods (e.g.,
the early adolescent transition to middle school) we may
stand to be better informed about when and how to execute
effective intervention and prevention strategies toward the
promotion of mental health during adolescence.
Funding This research was supported by funding from the T.
Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics.
Author Contributions D.D. conceived of the study, performed the
statistical analyses and interpretation of the results, and led the writing
of the manuscript. L.H. contributed to the conceptualization and
writing of the study. L.Z. assisted in data analysis, writing of the
manuscript, and reviewed drafts. C.M. assisted in the conceptualiza-
tion of the study and reviewed drafts. D.D., L.H., and C.M. oversaw
implementation and administration of the larger study from which the
data are drawn. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no compet-
ing interests.
Ethical Approval All procedures performed in studies involving
human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of
the institution and/or national research committee and with the 1964
Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical
standards.
Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from all indi-
vidual participants included in the study.
 J Youth Adolescence

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Dawn DeLay is an Assistant Professor in the T. Denny Sanford
School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University.
She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Florida
Atlantic University. Her research focuses on how social relationships
impact child and adolescent adjustment outcomes. Key themes include
peer relationships, school related contexts, and longitudinal social
network methods. Dr. DeLay has a related interest in the advancement
and evaluation of new methodologies for developmental science.
Laura D. Hanish is a Professor of Child Development and the
Deputy Director of the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family
Dynamics at Arizona State University. She received her Ph.D. in
Developmental and Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois
at Chicago. Her research focuses on the development of harmonious
social relationships that are free from aggression and bullying. Key
themes in her research include peer relationships, aggression and
victimization, gender, and school-related contexts and outcomes.
Linlin Zhang is a doctoral student in the T. Denny Sanford School of
Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. She received
her Masters of Science degree in Developmental Psychology from
Peking University, China. Her research focuses on social and academic
adjustment of socially withdrawn children and adolescents in various
cultural contexts, with a particular focus on longitudinal data analyses
and innovative statistical methodologies (e.g., social network analysis)
for developmental science.
Carol Lynn Martin is a Cowden Distinguished Professor of Child
Development in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family
Dynamics at Arizona State University. She received her Ph.D. from
the University of Georgia in Child and Family Development. Her
research interests include gender development and relationships in
children and adolescents, with particular focus on the development of
gender identity, stereotypes, attitudes and beliefs, and the role of
gender and sex segregation in peer relationships in school adjustment
and functioning. She has also been involved in the development of
school-based interventions to promote inclusion and to break down
social barriers.