Tweens Growth & Development Sociometric Status and Your Teen By Rebecca Fraser-Thill Rebecca Fraser-Thill LinkedIn Twitter Rebecca Fraser-Thill holds a Master's Degree in developmental psychology and writes about child development and tween parenting. Learn about our editorial process Updated on June 10, 2021 Fact checked by Emily Swaim Fact checked by Emily Swaim LinkedIn Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell. Learn about our editorial process Print DUEL / Cultura / Getty Images Table of Contents View All Table of Contents How Sociometric Status Is Measured Status and Health Status and Interpersonal Skills Having strong social connections is important to a person's physical and emotional well-being. In fact, research shows that kids who have a strong sociometric status tend to have lower levels of inflammation and have better interpersonal skills. Overall, your teen's sociometric status is an indicator of how they are viewed by their peers. Researchers measure sociometric status to better understand the behaviors and outcomes of kids who have different types of peer relationships. Sociometric status is also known as peer status. Your teen's sociometric status can affect their future in terms of social functioning in both friendships and relationships. Sociometric status may also have a bearing on how your teen views themselves. 7 Social Skills You Can Start Teaching Your Child Now How Sociometric Status Is Measured Sociometric statuses are determined in a variety of ways by different researchers. Most methods involve asking kids what they think of the other children in their class. For instance, kids may be asked to nominate three kids that they like the most and three kids they like the least. Sometimes kids may even be asked to rank every child in the class in terms of likability. Some researchers prefer to directly observe kids' interactions instead of asking them for their opinions, while other researchers ask teachers instead of the children. Overall, many researchers use a five-category system to measure sociometric status. These categories include: Rejected Neglected Average Popular Controversial It's important to note that not all researchers agree with these categories, though. There is also some debate about the usefulness of sociometric categories in general. But, regardless, most researchers agree that helping your kids develop social skills and make friends may benefit them in the long run, especially with regard to their health. Status and Health Most teens spend the bulk of their time at school. Consequently, researchers have found that the interactions that they have with their peers has significant implications. For instance, researchers have discovered that a teen's status at school is associated with significant long-term health outcomes and even healthcare expenses. One study found that teens with one friend or fewer had significantly higher healthcare costs than teens with eight friends or more. The difference in expenses was $4,400 over the course of five years. Likewise, another study found that 11- to 15-year-olds who had a high sense of school belonging were 30% more likely to report good health. Conversely, teens with a low sense of school belonging were twice as likely to report "feeling low each week." They were also more likely to drink. Poor social status can even increase the likelihood of depression and anxiety among teenagers, especially if they feel like they are missing out. And the impact of sociometric status on teen health is not limited to adolescence. One study looked at tweens between the ages of 8 and 12 years of age, and it followed up when they were between 45 and 52 years old. It found that tweens with higher peer status in school reported better health as adults than tweens with lower peer status. How FOMO Impacts Teens and Young Adults Status and Interpersonal Skills When teens are accepted by their peer group, it may be a good thing for their interpersonal skills as they mature into adulthood. However, don't stress out too much if they have low sociometric status during the teen years. Negative outcomes don't necessarily mean that your teen will automatically have trouble developing social skills. What seems to matter most is how your teen feels about their own social success. In fact, teens who are comfortable with where they fit in socially seem to do better at developing positive interpersonal skills. While sociometric status matters for social functioning in teens, if your teen puts little importance on peer acceptance, they may be better at adjusting in different social situations. They also may have more established relationships than teens who place a high importance on social acceptance. A Word From Verywell There's a balancing act between raising a teen to be resilient socially and to also have self-acceptance. While it's important to help your teen develop social connections, if you teach your teen to put less importance on what others think, you will equip them with the tools to be successful socially well into adulthood. Additionally, strong social skills also can be a deterrent for bullying and build self-esteem. 7 Ways to Build Social Skills and Prevent Bullying 8 Sources Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. de Bruine M, Giletta M, Denissen JJA, Sijtsema JJ, Oldehinkel AJ. A healthy peer status: Peer preference, not popularity, predicts lower systemic inflammation in adolescence. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2019;109:104402. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104402 Kulawiak P, Wilbert J. Introduction of a new method for representing the sociometric status within the peer group: The example of sociometrically neglected children. Int J Res Method Educ. 2020;43(2):127–145. doi:10.1080/1743727X.2019.1621830 Mundt MP, Zakletskaia LI. That's what friends are for: Adolescent peer social status, health-related quality of life and healthcare costs. Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2014;12(2):191-201. doi:10.1007/s40258-014-0084-y Morgan A, Haglund BJ. Social capital does matter for adolescent health: Evidence from the English HBSC study. Health Promot Int. 2009;24(4):363-372. doi:10.1093/heapro/dap028 Platt B, Cohen Kadosh K, Lau JY. The role of peer rejection in adolescent depression. Depress Anxiety. 2013;30(9):809-21. doi:10.1002/da.22120 Ostberg V, Modin B. Status relations in school and their relevance for health in a life course perspective: Findings from the Aberdeen children of the 1950's cohort study. Soc Sci Med. 2008;66(4):835-848. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.10.018 McElhaney KB, Antonishak J, Allen JP. "They like me, they like me not": Popularity and adolescents' perceptions of acceptance predicting social functioning over time. Child Dev. 2008;79(3):720-731. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01153.x Koiv K. Social Skills Training as a mean of improving intervention for bullies and victims. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2012;45(2012):239-246. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.560 By Rebecca Fraser-Thill Rebecca Fraser-Thill holds a Master's Degree in developmental psychology and writes about child development and tween parenting. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit