Overt and Relational Aggression and Perceived Popularity: Developmental Differences in Concurrent and Prospective Relations.

Relations of overt and relational aggression with perceived popularity among children and early adolescents were examined in 2 studies (Ns = 607 and 1,049). Among older youths, positive concurrent relations found between overt aggression and perceived popularity became nonsignificant when relational aggression was controlled, whereas positive associations found between relational aggression and perceived popularity held when overt aggression was controlled. Aggression and perceived popularity were not positively related for the younger participants. The 2nd study also examined the temporal ordering of these relations over 6 months. For older girls, positive relations between relational aggression and perceived popularity were bidirectional. For older boys, relational aggression did not predict increased perceived popularity, but perceived popularity predicted increased relational aggression. Implications for intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining genetic and environmental effects on reactive versus proactive aggression.

This study compared the contribution of genes and environment to teacher-rated reactive and proactive aggression in 6-year-old twin pairs (172 pairs: 55 monozygotic girls, 48 monozygotic boys, 33 dizygotic girls, 36 dizygotic boys). Genetic effects accounted for 39% of the variance of reactive aggression and for 41% of the variance of proactive aggression. The remainder of the variance was explained by unique environmental effects. Genetic as well as unique environmental effects were significantly correlated across reactive and proactive aggression (genetic correlation = .87, environmental correlation = .34), but this overlap was largely due to a common underlying form of aggression (i.e., teacher-rated physical aggression). Once common etiological factors due to physical aggression were accounted for, reactive and proactive aggression shared no other genes and only a few environmental influences, although additional specific genetic and environmental effects were observed for both reactive and proactive aggression. These specific effects indicate that both reactive and proactive aggression may be influenced mostly by socialization experiences that are specific to each type of aggression and only to a very small degree by specific genes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overt and relational aggression in Russian nursery-school-age children: parenting style and marital linkages

Maternal and paternal parenting styles and marital interactions linked to childhood aggressive behavior as described in Western psychological literature were measured in an ethnic Russian sample of 207 families of nursery-school-age children. Results corroborated and extended findings from Western samples. Maternal and paternal coercion, lack of responsiveness, and psychological control (for mothers only) were significantly correlated with children's overt aggression with peers. Less responsiveness (for mothers and fathers) and maternal coercion positively correlated with relational aggression. Some of these associations differed for boys versus girls. Marital conflict was also linked to more overt and relational aggression for boys. When entered into the same statistical model, more marital conflict (for boys only), more maternal coercion, and less paternal responsiveness were found to be the most important contributors to overt and relational aggression in younger Russian children.     

Relational aggression, gender, and peer acceptance: Invariance across culture, stability over time, and concordance among informants.

It has been proposed that overt physical and verbal aggression are more prevalent among boys and that covert aggression in the context of interpersonal relationships is more typical of girls. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend American research on this topic to Italy. Italian elementary school pupils (n?=?314) and their teachers provided nominations for aggression and prosocial behavior on 2 occasions within a single school year. Both peer and teacher nominations were highly stable, though there was very poor concordance between them. Peer nominations for both overt and relational aggression were linked to peer rejection. Contrary to expectations, boys scored higher than girls in both overt and relational aggression. Nevertheless, on the basis of the gender composition of extreme groups, the authors conclude that the distinction between overt and relational aggression is as useful in facilitating research on aggressiveness among girls in Italy as it is in the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with perceived peer stress: Gender-specific and common pathways to symptoms of psychopathology.

This study investigated gender differences in the moderating and mediating effects of responses to stress on the association between perceived peer stress and symptoms of psychopathology. A sample of 295 middle school students (63.7% female; Mage = 12.39 years, SD = 0.99) completed self-report surveys on stress, coping, and behavioral problems. Involuntary responses to stress (e.g., physiological arousal, intrusive thoughts, impulsive action) mediated the association between perceived stress and anxiety/depression and aggression for girls and for boys. Disengagement coping (e.g., denial, avoidance) partially mediated the association between peer stress and anxiety/depression for boys and for girls. In contrast, disengagement coping mediated the association between peer stress and overt aggression for boys only. Finally, engagement coping (e.g., problem solving, emotion regulation, cognitive restructuring) buffered the indirect effect of peer stress on symptoms of psychopathology for girls only. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is aggression the same for boys and girls? Assessing measurement invariance with confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory.

Gender differences in aggression have typically been based on studies utilizing a mean difference method. From a measurement perspective, this method is inherently problematic unless an aggression measure possesses comparable validity across gender. Stated differently, establishing measurement invariance on the measure of aggression is prerequisite to making any inferences about gender differences. This paper investigated whether aggression functions in the same way across gender using teacher-rated aggression scales from the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). The samples for this study consisted of the BASC standardization samples, including 1,223 children (628 boys, 595 girls) and 788 adolescents (379 boys, 409 girls). The measurement invariance of the BASC aggression scales was examined with both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT). CFA results showed that there was not enough evidence to support the measurement invariance of the scales across gender at a scale level; IRT results found that only a few items were significantly different across gender. The two methods have similarities and differences in studying measurement invariance, so they can be complementary to each other. The implications of the findings for research and practice in school psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational and overt forms of peer victimization: A multiinformant approach.

This research addressed 2 limitations of past research on peer victimization: the tendency to study boys only and the tendency to focus on forms of peer maltreatment that are common in boys' peer groups (victimization through overt aggression) but occur much less frequently in girls' peer groups. Peer- and self-report instruments were used to assess a relational form of victimization in addition to the overt form that has been the focus of past research. Results showed that girls were more relationally victimized, whereas boys were more overtly victimized. Both forms of victimization were shown to predict concurrent sociopsychological adjustment problems significantly (e.g., peer rejection, loneliness) beyond aggression. Victims identified through a combination of self- and peer-reports were particularly maladjusted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of proactive and reactive aggression in the formation and development of boys' friendships.

This study tested the hypothesis that friends are more similar in proactive aggression than in reactive aggression. Interpersonal processes that may account for this similarity (i.e., selection and mutual influence) were also examined. In the fall and spring of the school year, the friendships of 185 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-grade boys were identified. Proactive and reactive aggressive behavior were assessed with a teacher-rating instrument for each boy. The results support the general hypothesis and suggest that proactively aggressive boys tend to select proactively aggressive peers as friends; however, mutual influence between stable friends does not appear to account for similarity. These findings are discussed within the framework of G. R. Patterson, J. B. Reid, and T. J. Dishion's (1992) theory of antisocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response decision processes in relational and overt aggression

Response decision processes of relationally and overtly aggressive children were assessed for both boys and girls. A hypothetical-situation instrument, adapted from past research, was used to assess children's evaluations of relationally aggressive and overtly aggressive responses to both relational and instrumental conflict situations for third-through sixth-grade children (n = 1,166). Findings revealed that both overtly aggressive boys and overtly aggressive girls evaluated overtly aggressive responses to instrumental conflict situations in relatively positive ways. Further, overtly aggressive girls, but not boys, evaluated overtly aggressive responses to relational conflict situations in relatively positive ways. Additionally, relationally aggressive boys evaluated relationally aggressive responses to instrumental conflict situations in relatively positive ways. Gender differences were also obtained. Boys evaluated overt aggression more positively, whereas girls evaluated relational aggression more positively. Implications of these findings for the role of gender, situation type, response type, and aggression type for our understanding of children's social information processing are discussed.     

Gender differences in the reciprocal relationships between parental physical aggression and children's externalizing problem behavior in China.

The study examines gender differences in the reciprocal relations between parental physical aggression and child externalizing problem behavior in China. Four hundred fifty-four Chinese elementary school-age children reported on three forms of their parents' physical aggression toward them (i.e., mild corporal punishment, severe corporal punishment, and physical abuse) and their externalizing problem behavior at two time points, 6 months apart. Structural equation modeling revealed that the three types of parental physical aggression predicted child externalizing problem behavior for girls but not boys, whereas child externalizing problem behavior predicted severe corporal punishment and physical abuse for boys but not girls; child externalizing problem behavior did not predict mild corporal punishment for either gender. The findings suggest that the intervention for and prevention of child externalizing problem behavior may be somewhat different for boys and girls in China. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups.

In Study 1, a teacher-rating instrument was developed to assess these behaviors in elementary school children (N?=?259). Reactive and proactive scales were found to be internally consistent, and factor analyses partially supported convergent and discriminant validities. In Study 2, behavioral correlates of these forms of aggression were examined through assessments by peers (N?=?339). Both types of aggression related to social rejection, but only proactively aggressive boys were also viewed as leaders and as having a sense of humor. In Study 3, we hypothesized that reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) would occur as a function of hostile attributional biases and intention-cue detection deficits. Four groups of socially rejected boys (reactive aggressive, proactive aggressive, reactive-proactive aggressive, and nonaggressive) and a group of average boys were presented with a series of hypothetical videorecorded vignettes depicting provocations by peers and were asked to interpret the intentions of the provocateur (N?=?117). Only the two reactive-aggressive groups displayed biases and deficits in interpretations. In Study 4, attributional biases and deficits were found to be positively correlated with the rate of reactive aggression (but not proactive aggression) displayed in free play with peers (N?=?127). These studies supported the hypothesis that attributional biases and deficits are related to reactive aggression but not to proactive aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational and overt aggression in preschool.

This research was designed as an initial attempt to assess relational aggression in preschool-age children. Our goal was to develop reliable measures of relational aggression for young children and to use these instruments to address several important issues (e.g., the relation between this form of aggression and social–psychological adjustment). Results provide evidence that relationally aggressive behaviors appear in children's behavioral repertoires at relatively young ages, and that these behaviors can be reliably distinguished from overtly aggressive behaviors in preschool-age children. Further, findings indicate that preschool girls are significantly more relationally aggressive and less overtly aggressive than preschool boys. Finally, results show that relational aggression is significantly related to social–psychological maladjustment (e.g., peer rejection) for both boys and girls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School functioning in early adolescence: Gender-linked responses to peer victimization.

Research indicates that peer victimization contributes to poor school functioning in childhood and adolescence, yet the processes by which victimization interferes with school functioning are unclear. This study examined internalizing and externalizing problems as domain-specific mediators of the association between subtypes of peer victimization (relational, physical) and school functioning (engagement, achievement) with a cross-sectional sample of 337 early adolescents. School engagement was examined further as a proximal process that intervenes in the associations between internalizing and externalizing problems and achievement. Gender differences in these associations were assessed. As expected, internalizing problems showed stronger links with relational than with physical victimization and partially mediated the influence of both on engagement for girls but not boys. Externalizing problems partially mediated the influence of both subtypes of victimization on school functioning for girls and physical victimization for boys. Notably, engagement was a robust mediator of the contributions of internalizing problems and physical victimization to achievement for girls and externalizing problems to achievement for girls and boys. Findings also suggest that physical (but not relational) victimization partially mediates the link between internalizing and externalizing problems and school functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relational benefits of relational aggression: Adaptive and maladaptive associations with adolescent friendship quality.

Two longitudinal studies examined associations between relational aggression and friendship quality during adolescence. In Study 1, 62 adolescents in Grades 6 (25.8%), 7 (32.3%), and 8 (41.9%) completed assessments of friendship affiliations, relational and overt aggression, and friendship quality at 2 time points, 1 year apart. Results using actor partner interdependence modeling indicated that high levels of relational aggression predicted increases in self-reported positive friendship quality 1 year later. In Study 2, 56 adolescents in Grades 9 (66.7%) and 10 (33.3%) attended a laboratory session with a friend in which their conversations were videotaped and coded for relationally aggressive talk. Target adolescents completed measures of positive and negative friendship quality during the laboratory session and during a follow-up phone call 6 months later. Analyses revealed that high levels of relationally aggressive talk at Time 1 predicted increases in negative friendship quality 6 months later. In addition, among adolescents involved in a reciprocal best friendship, high levels of observed relationally aggressive talk predicted increases in positive friendship quality over time. Taken together, these studies provide support for the idea that relational aggression may be associated with adaptive as well as maladaptive outcomes within the dyadic context of adolescent friendship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk models of dating aggression across different adolescent relationships: A developmental psychopathology approach.

The present study examined physical dating aggression in different adolescent relationships and assessed linear, threshold, and moderator risk models for recurrent aggressive relationships. The 621 participants (59% girls, 41% boys) were drawn from a 1-year longitudinal survey of Canadian high school youths ranging from Grade 9 through Grade 12. Approximately 13% of participants reported recurrent dating aggression across 2 different relationships. Using peer and dyadic risk factors from Time 1 of the study, the authors confirmed a linear risk model, such that adolescents in 2 different violent relationships had significantly more contextual risk factors than did adolescents in 1 or no violent relationship. Further, structural equation modeling assessing moderation of contextual risk factors indicated that, for adolescents with high acceptance of dating aggression, peer aggression and delinquency significantly predicted recurrent aggression in a new relationship. In comparison, for adolescents with low acceptance of dating aggression, negative relationship characteristics significantly predicted recurrent aggression. Acceptance did not moderate concurrent associations between risk factors and aggression in 1 relationship. Results support a developmental psychopathological approach to the understanding of recurrent aggression and its associated risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathways from proactive and reactive aggression to substance use.

Childhood aggression is a known risk factor for adolescent substance use; however, aggression is a complex construct, and developmental researchers have identified a variety of subdimensions that may be germane to substance use. Very little research has examined risk pathways from subdimensions of aggression. The current study examined a developmental model and tested whether childhood proactive aggression, reactive aggression, or both were related to the development of substance use in adolescence in a sample of 126 children (mean age at initial assessment = 10.4 years, SD = 0.51). Peer rejection and peer delinquency were examined as potential mediators of these relations. The findings suggest that proactive aggression was indirectly associated with substance use through peer delinquency. Reactive aggression was also indirectly associated with substance use through a complex mediational chain, such that high levels of reactive aggression were associated with high levels of peer rejection, which in turn were associated with peer delinquency (p = .06), which subsequently predicted substance use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental investigation of social aggression among children.

Social aggression consists of actions directed at damaging another's self-esteem, social status, or both, and includes behaviors such as facial expressions of disdain, cruel gossiping, and the manipulation of friendship patterns. In Study 1, 4th, 7th, and 10th graders completed the Social Behavior Questionnaire; only boys viewed physical aggression as more hurtful than social aggression, and girls rated social aggression as more hurtful than did boys. In the 1st phase of Study 2, girls participated in a laboratory task in which elements of social aggression were elicited and reliably coded. In the 2nd phase of Study 2, another sample of participants (elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls) viewed samples of socially aggressive behaviors from these sessions. Girls rated the aggressor as more angry than boys, and middle school and high school participants viewed the socially aggressive behaviors as indicating more dislike than elementary school children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-cultural study of the psychometric properties of the Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire among Italian nonclinical adolescents.

Five independent studies were used to test the hypothesis that a reliable 2-factor structure underlies the Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) items and that the 2 scales show distinct patterns of association with personality and bullying behavior measures. Study 1 (N = 1,447) gave evidence of a clear 2-factor structure of RPQ items with factor loading matrices closely matching reactive (congruence coefficient = .90) and proactive (congruence coefficient = .91) models of item assignment. The RPQ 2-factor structure was consistently replicated in Study 2 (N = 662), as well as across the remaining 3 studies. In Study 3 (N = 536), Neuroticism differentiated reactive and proactive forms of aggression. In Study 4 (N = 674), self-reports of bullying behaviors were selectively correlated with proactive aggression. Findings confirm and extend the differential correlates of proactive–reactive aggression and also support the psychometric properties of the RPQ in a different cultural context. Finally, in Study 5 (N = 347), the RPQ scales showed adequate 2-month test–retest reliability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vicarious reinforcement and imitative learning.

The present experiment was designed to study the influence of response-consequences to the model on the imitative learning of aggression. Nursery school children were assigned randomly to 1 of the following groups: aggressive model-rewarded; aggressive model-punished; a control group shown highly expressive but nonaggressive models; and a 2nd control group which had no exposure to models. The children were then tested for the incidence of postexposure imitative and nonimitative aggressive responses. Children who witnessed the aggressive model rewarded showed more imitative aggression and preferred to emulate the successful aggressor than children in the aggressive model-punished group who both failed to reproduce his behavior and rejected him as a model for emulation. Control over aggression was vicariously transmitted to boys by the administration of aversive stimuli to the model, and to girls by the presentation of incompatible prosocial examples of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between overt and fantasy aggression as a function of maternal response to aggression.

44 boys and their mothers were studied in order to explore the relationship between fantasy and overt expressions of aggression as a function of maternal attitudes and practices towards aggression. "Support was found for the hypothesis that under conditions of maternal encouragement of aggression, a greater degree of correspondence exists between fantasy and overt aggression of children than under conditions of maternal discouragement of aggression." 19 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)