430 primary students from Grades 3 - 5 were investigated in 2003 and 2004 and cross-lagged analysis was made to examine the relation between peer interaction and loneliness. The results suggest that when self-perceived social competence was controlled, a significant cross-lagged effect was found between friendship quality and loneliness, but there was no significant interaction between social preference（or social behavior） and loneliness. Self-perceived social competence was a powerful predictor of loneliness and vise versa. Among variables o...
