Peer assessment of social reputation in community samples of disruptive and nondisruptive children: utility of the revised class play method.

Examined the psychometric properties of the Revised Class Play (RCP), a peer assessment measure of social reputation, in epidemiological samples of disruptive (n = 220) and nondisruptive (n = 104) children in Grades 2 through 5. Principal components analyses yielded a four-factor solution that was similar for disruptive and nondisruptive children and to previous research with this instrument. Discriminative function analyses demonstrated that the four RCP dimensions were each successful in predicting group membership, with the leadership and social etiquette dimensions best able to differentiate disruptive and nondisruptive groups. Regression modeling showed that the variance accounted for by the four RCP dimensions was large and varied for specific dimensions based on the criterion variable chosen. The advantages of the RCP as a devise for tracking social competence and peer reputation in high-risk disruptive children are discussed.