Peer Relationships and Psychopathology in Developmental Perspective: Reflections on Progress and Promise

Articles in this special section illuminate progress, challenges, gaps, and future directions for theory and research concerned with peer relations and psychopathology. Advances reflect the emergence of developmental psychopathology, with its emphasis on systems theory, dynamic interactions of individuals in context, processes and change, complexity, integration of normative and pathological development, and longitudinal designs. Gaps reflect the challenges and exciting future ahead for research on peer processes in developmental psychopathology across multiple levels of analysis.