LONELINESS AND SOCIAL DISSATISFACTION: ITS RELATION WITH CHILDRENS SELF-EFFICACY FOR PEER INTERACTION

We examined the relation of childrenʹs loneliness and social dissatisfaction in school to self-efficacy for peer interaction in the same context. Two hundred thirty-eight fourth- and sixth-grade Greek children completed Asher, Hymel, and Renshawʹs (1984) Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire--Greek version, and Wheeler and Laddʹs (1982) Childrenʹs Self-Efficacy for Peer Interaction Scale-Greek version. The instruments showed adequate reliability and validity. Results indicated a modest but significant negative correlation between the variables studied. The correlation was stronger for social dissatisfaction than for loneliness; also, loneliness and social dissatisfaction were higher for the . nonconflict than for the conflict peer interactions, and this finding was consistent across grade and sex. Sixth graders had marginally significantly higher loneliness scores than fourth graders, and girls had marginally significantly higher loneliness scores than boys. School achieveent was negatively related to social dissatisfaction. Results are disussed in terms of the existing literature on childrenʹs loneliness and elf-efficacy.