The curse of the 'cool kids': Children who are popular at school become losers later in life, claims study

Study looked at the lives of 184 US teens over a decade
Those who were 'cool' in school more likely to have problems in later life
Had higher risk of alcohol, drugs, and to have taken part in crimes
Say James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause and Mean Girls were wrong

By Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:43 EST, 31 July 2015 | Updated: 15:21 EST, 31 July 2015

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It is bad news for the rebels without a cause and mean girls.

Being a 'cool kid' can come back to bite you in later life, researchers have warned.

They found that teens who 'acted cool' at school were far more likely to struggle as an adult, and were at higher risk of alcohol and drugs, and more likely to have taken part in criminal activities.

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Tina Fey's Mean Girls: Researchers say those who were 'cool kids' at school were far more likely to have problems in later life.

WHAT MAKES A TEEN COOL?

Teens who were romantically involved at an early age, engaged in delinquent activity, and placed a premium on hanging out with physically attractive peers were thought to be popular by their peers at age 13.

But over time, this sentiment faded: By 22, those once-cool teens were rated by their peers as being less competent in managing social relationships.

They were also more likely to have had significant problems with alcohol and drugs, and to have engaged in criminal activities, according to the study.

Overall, teens who tried to act cool in early adolescence were more likely than their peers who didn't act cool to experience a range of problems in early adulthood.

'It appears that while so-called cool teens' behavior might have been linked to early popularity, over time, these teens needed more and more extreme behaviors to try to appear cool, at least to a subgroup of other teens,' says Joseph P. Allen, Hugh P. Kelly Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, who led the study.

'So they became involved in more serious criminal behavior and alcohol and drug use as adolescence progressed.

'These previously cool teens appeared less competent--socially and otherwise--than their less cool peers by the time they reached young adulthood.'

The new decade-long study, by researchers at the University of Virginia, appears in the journal Child Development.

Researchers warn that cool teens are often idolized in popular media, such as James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause and Tina Fey's Mean Girls.

However, they discovered that seeking popularity and attention by trying to act older than their age may not yield the expected benefits, according to the study.

Researchers followed 184 teens from age 13, when they were in seventh and eighth grades, to age 23, collecting information from the teens themselves as well as from their peers and parents.

James Dean with Natalie Wood in the 1956 film Rebel Without a Cause: Researchers say that teens who were romantically involved at an early age, engaged in delinquent activity, and placed a premium on hanging out with physically attractive peers were thought to be popular by their peers at age 13.

The teens attended public school in suburban and urban areas in the southeastern United States and were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

But over time, this sentiment faded, the team found.

By 22, those once-cool teens were rated by their peers as being less competent in managing social relationships.

They were also more likely to have had significant problems with alcohol and drugs, and to have engaged in criminal activities, according to the study.