Faculty

Scott D. Gest


Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1995

Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies

Program Areas: School-based Prevention Research

Contact Information

S110 Henderson Building

Email

Phone: 814-865-3464
Fax: 814-863-6207

Department Web Page

Research Interests

Developmental processes linking academic skills, peer experiences and socio-emotional adjustment during middle childhood and early adolescence; ways to conceptualize and measure peer experiences and peer social network dynamics in school settings

Examples of Current Prevention Projects

Head Start (Head Start REDI––Research-based, Developmentally Informed)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Start Date: 2003
This project will evaluate the impact of infusing current Head Start programs with social-emotional support curricula (Preschool PATHS) and language and emergent literacy skill support curricula. A randomized trial will examine the impact on child school readiness at the end of Head Start and on adjustment and achievement in kindergarten and first grade.

Classroom Peer Ecologies Project

William T. Grant Foundation and Spencer Foundation

Start Date: 2008

In this research project being conducted in collaboration with Phil Rodkin at the University of Illinois and Tom Farmer at Penn State (Special Education), we are studying teaching practices, peer social networks and student adjustment in

1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-grade classrooms. Our goals are to learn whether emerging features of peer networks (e.g., status hierarchies, behavioral norms) are related to individual student outcomes, and to identify teaching practices that are associated with these emerging peer network features.

PROSPER Peers

William T. Grant Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Start Date: 2007

Presentation on PROSPER Peers

This study of friendship networks and the emergence of substance use uses data from the PROSPER community-level randomized evaluation of evidence-based substance use prevention programs. Over 11,000 youth provided reports of their friendships and substance use patterns over five occasions between 6th grade and 9th grade. We are testing several hypotheses regarding the role of peers in the emergence of substance use, and in the impact of universal prevention programs on the structure of school-level peer networks.

Other Projects

Middle School Transition Project

Janet Welsh and I conducted this 5-year longitudinal study of 427 children enrolled in grades 3, 4 and 5, gathering twice-yearly assessments until each grade-cohort completed 7th grade. Our measures focused on students’ peer experiences (friendships, groups and reputations), relationships with adults at school and perceptions of the school environment. A unique feature of this study is the relatively complete data on friendships and peer groups across multiple assessments. We are collaborating with Jim Moody (Duke Department of Sociology) and Dan McFarland (Stanford School of Education) to conduct more comprehensive analyses of these peer network dynamics. (Funding from National Science Foundation, 2007–2009)

Conference organizer, Applications of Social Network Analysis to the Prevention of Substance Use & Delinquency

Friday, November 11, 2005

Penn Stater

The Pennsylvania State University

University Park Campus

Recent Publications

Gest, S. D. (2006). Teacher reports of children's friendships and social groups: Agreement with peer reports and implications for studying peer similarity. Social Development, 15, 248–259.

Gest, S. D., Masten, A. S., Sesma, A., & Tellegen, A. (2006). Childhood peer reputation as a predictor of competence and symptoms 10 years later. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(4), 507–524.

Gest, S. D., Holland-Coviello, R. H., Welsh, J. A., Eicher-Catt, D., & Gill, S. (2006). Language development sub-contexts in Head Start classrooms: Varying cognitive challenges in free play, mealtime and book reading contexts. Early Education & Development.

Gest, S. D. (2007). The Social Cognitive Map procedure for identifying peer groups and cliques. In W. A. Darity (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social sciences, 2nd ed. MacMillan Reference USA / Thomson Gale.

Gest, S. D., Moody, J., & Rulison, K. L. (2007). Density or distinction? The roles of data structure and group detection methods in describing adolescent peer groups. Journal of Social Structure, 4, http://www.cmu.edu/joss/content/articles/volume8/GestMoody/

Gest, S. D., Davidson, A. J., Rulison, K. L., Moody, J., & Welsh, J. A. (2007). Features of groups and status hierarchies in girls’ and boys’ early adolescent peer networks. In P. Rodkin & L. Hanish (Eds.), New directions for child and adolescent development, Special Issue: Social network analysis and children’s peer relationships. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gest, S. D., Rulison, K. L., Davidson, A. J., & Welsh, J. A. (2008). Children's academic reputations among peers: Longitudinal associations with academic self-concept, effort and performance. Developmental Psychology.

Kindermann, T., & Gest, S. D. (2009). Assessment of the peer group: Identifying naturally occurring social networks and capturing their effects. In K. Rubin, W. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships and groups. New York: Guilford Press.

Rodkin, P. C., & Gest, S. D. (2010). Teaching practices, classroom peer ecologies, and bullying behaviors among schoolchildren. In D. L. Espelage & S. Swearer (Eds.), Bullying in North American schools (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge, Taylor, Francis.

Davidson, A. J., Gest, S. D.,  & Welsh, J. A. (2010). Relatedness with teachers and peers during early adolescence:  An integrated variable-oriented and person-oriented approach. Journal of School Psychology, 48(6), 483–510. [PDF]

Rulison, K. L., Gest, S. D., Loken, E., & Welsh, J. A. (2010). Rejection, feeling bad, and being hurt: Sex differences in the developmental sequelae of affiliating with aggressive peers. Journal of Adolescence, 33(6), 787–800. [PDF]

Molloy, L., Gest, S. D., & Rulison, K. L. (in press). Peer influences on academic adjustment: Exploring multiple methods of assessing youths' most influential peer relationships. Journal of Early Adolescence.