Relation of Age of Onset to the Type and Severity of Child and Adolescent Conduct Problems

In a cross-sectional household sample of 9-through 17-year-old youths from 4 U.S. communities, youths with earlier ages of onset of conduct problems engaged in more conduct problems than youths with later ages of onset when current age and gender were controlled. Specifically, youths with earlier ages of onset were more likely to engage in several types of physical aggression, frequent lying, theft, and vandalism and were less likely to engage in only truancy. There also was an inverse relation between age of onset and level of functional impairment, mental health service use, and meeting diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. Within the limits of cross-sectional data, these results support the hypothesis that key aspects of the heterogeneity of conduct problems among youths are related to the age of onset of conduct problems.     

The Development of Aggression in 18 to 48 Month Old Children of Alcoholic Parents

This study examined the development of aggressive and oppositional behavior among alcoholic and nonalcoholic families using latent growth modeling. The sample consisted of 226 families assessed at 18, 24, 36, and 48 months of child age. Results indicated that children in families with nonalcoholic parents had the lowest levels of aggressive behavior at all time points compared to children with one or more alcoholic parents. Children in families with two alcoholic parents did not exhibit normative decreases in aggressive behavior from 3 to 4 years of age compared to nonalcoholic families. However, this association was no longer significant once a cumulative family risk score was added to the model. Children in families with high cumulative risk scores, reflective of high parental depression, antisocial behavior, negative affect during play, difficult child temperament, marital conflict, fathers’ education, and hours spent in child care, had higher levels of aggression at 18 months than children in low risk families. These associations were moderated by child gender. Boys had higher levels of aggressive behavior at all ages than girls, regardless of group status. Cumulative risk was predictive of higher levels of initial aggressive behavior in both girls and boys. However, boys with two alcoholic parents had significantly less of a decline in aggression from 36 to 48 months compared to boys in the nonalcoholic group.     

Gender Differences in Patterns of Association Between Prosocial Behavior, Personality, and Externalizing Problems

This study examines whether prosocial behavior and personality have independent or overlapping associations with adolescent externalizing problems. A total of 128 female and 103 male early adolescents (M = 13.6 years old) completed personality inventories. Prosocial behavior was assessed by peer nominations (N = 663). Composite aggression and delinquency scores were derived from maternal and self-reports. Path analyses indicated gender differences in patterns of association. For girls, links between prosocial behavior and both aggression and delinquency were fully mediated by agreeableness and partially mediated by conscientiousness. For boys, prosocial behavior, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were independently and negatively associated with aggression and delinquency. The findings suggest that personality and prosocial behavior are uniquely related to boys' behavior problems but cannot be readily disentangled when it comes to girls' behavior problems.     

Trajectories of Peer-Nominated Aggression: Risk Status,Predictors and Outcomes

Developmental trajectories of peer-nominated aggression, risk factors at baseline, and outcomes were studied. Peer nominations of aggression were obtained annually from grades 1 to 3. Three developmental trajectories were identified: an early-onset/increasers trajectory with high levels of peer-nominated aggression at elementary school entry and increasing levels throughout follow-up; a moderate-persistent trajectory of aggression in which children were characterized by moderate levels of physical aggression at baseline; and a third trajectory with stable low levels of aggression. Children following the early-onset/increasers trajectory showed physical forms of aggression at baseline. Male gender and comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity problems, oppositional defiant problems and poor prosocial behavior plus negative life events predicted which children would follow the early-onset/increasers trajectory of aggression. The outcomes associated with the early-onset/increaser children suggest high risk for chronically high levels of aggressive behavior.     

Parenting practices and child disruptive behavior problems in early elementary school. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group

Examined the hypothesis that distinct parenting practices may be associated with type and profile of a child's disruptive behavior problems (e.g., oppositional, aggressive, hyperactive). Parents of 631 behaviorally disruptive children described the extent to which they experienced warm and involved interactions with their children and the extent to which their discipline strategies were inconsistent and punitive and involved spanking and physical aggression. As expected from a developmental perspective, parenting practices that included punitive interactions were associated with elevated rates of all child disruptive behavior problems. Low levels of warm involvement were particularly characteristic of parents of children who showed elevated levels of oppositional behaviors. Physically aggressive parenting was linked more specifically with child aggression. In general, parenting practices contributed more to the prediction of oppositional and aggressive behavior problems than to hyperactive behavior problems, and parenting influences were fairly consistent across ethnic groups and sex.     

Pubertal Timing and Youth Internalizing Psychopathology: The Role of Relational Aggression

The current study examined relational aggression as a potential mechanism that explains the association between off-time pubertal development and internalizing problems in youth. Youth gender was also examined as a moderator for the association between these variables. It was hypothesized that early pubertal maturation would be associated with higher levels of relationally aggressive behavior which, in turn, would be associated with elevated levels of internalizing problems. Parents of 372 children between the ages of 8 and 17 were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Parents responded to demographic information about themselves, as well as information about their child’s pubertal timing, relationally aggressive behavior, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Findings indicated that early pubertal timing was associated with higher levels of anxiety directly, and higher levels of both anxiety and depressive symptoms indirectly through higher levels of relational aggression. In all but one of the pathways examined, gender was not found to moderate the associations between the study variables of interest. This study is the first to examine relational aggression as a mechanism by which early pubertal timing leads to internalizing problems. The findings suggest that relational aggression could be a target for intervention among early developing youth who are at risk for internalizing problems.     

How Do Mothers in Prison Differ From Non-Mothers?

Adjustment patterns and criminal characteristics of 350 incarcerated mothers of children under 21 years of age were contrasted to those of 166 women from the same institution that had never had children. There were no observed differences between mothers and non-mothers in terms of self-reported mental illness symptoms, emotional distress, or conflict with other individuals at the prison. There were also no differences in terms of institutional infractions observed by prison officials. Consistent with previous research with the same sample, there were adjustment differences between mothers reporting high versus low levels of parenting stress, but neither group of mothers evidenced different adjustment patterns relative to non-mothers. However, there were differences in criminal characteristics. Mothers were more likely than non-mothers to be incarcerated for property or drug offenses, and were more likely to have at least one current or previous drug offense in their criminal history. Non-mothers were more likely than mothers to be incarcerated for violent offenses, including homicide. Results indicate that although there are differences between mothers and non-mothers in the contexts associated with criminal behavior, both groups show the same range of adjustment problems once in prison.     

The aggression-coercion cycle: Use of seclusion and restraint in a child psychiatric hospital

The widespread use of seclusion and restraint in child psychiatric hospitals to manage aggression and noncompliance is based on the assumption that coercive consequences reduce the frequency of undesirable behaviors exhibited by the patients. We report a study of the use of seclusion and restraint in a public child psychiatric hospital during a 3-year period. Twenty-eight percent of the patients had been secluded or restrained a total of 1670 times. About 25% of these patients had been secluded more than five times during their hospitalization, and 32% had been placed in restraints more than once. Behaviors that typically resulted in repeated seclusion included physical aggression toward staff, verbal aggression toward peers, non-compliant or oppositional behavior, and self-harm. Variables that predicted patients most at risk for repeated seclusion included age, gender, and psychiatric diagnosis. The predictor variables for those most at risk for repeated restraint included age, property destruction, and self-harm. The high rates of use of seclusion and restraint suggest that these methods for controlling the behavior of children and adolescents in this child psychiatric hospital may not have been therapeutic. We suggest that staff in such hospitals engage in a pattern of behavior characterized by an aggression-coercion cycle, in which increasingly aggressive and coercive behaviors are exhibited by both patients and staff.     

Connected and Isolated Victims of Relational Aggression: Associations with Peer Group Status and Differences between Girls and Boys

Some adolescents who are relationally victimized by gossip and ostracism have limited close connections to a peer or friendship group, but victimization also can be group-based, occurring between or within friendship groups. The purpose of this study was to test gender differences in these two forms of victimization, referred to as isolated and connected victimization, and to test associations of each form with peer status (social prominence and preference within the peer group) and aggressive behavior. We expected that associations between victimization, especially connected victimization, peer status and aggressive behavior would differ for boys and girls. Australian students (N = 335, M _age = 12.5 years) self-reported victimization, and nominated peers who were victimized, accepted, rejected, socially prominent, and unpopular. Connected and isolated forms of victimization were correlated, but differences were found in their correlations with other measures and by gender. Especially when reported by peers, adolescents higher in connected victimization were also higher in both aggression and social prominence (i.e., they were more popular and considered leaders); yet, they were also more disliked (rejected). In contrast to connected victimization, isolated victimization was associated with negative peer status only, and weakly and inconsistently associated with aggression. Finally, gender moderation was found, which showed a pattern of aggression, prominence and dislike among adolescent females who were connected victims, but this pattern was not nearly as pronounced in their male counterparts.     

An outcome evaluation of Functional Family Therapy for court‐involved youth

This article presents results of a study on the effectiveness of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a family intervention designed to prevent delinquency. The sample includes 155 court‐involved youth. This study employs two complementary outcomes: court‐obtained data on recidivism and the clinical data on clients’ psychosocial functioning, the Strengths and Needs Assessment (SNA). Adolescents in the treatment and in the comparison groups experienced statistically significant improvements on the majority of the SNA domains. Although youths in the treatment group improved more, the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. Multivariate analysis showed that youths in FFT had significantly lower odds of recidivism as measured by reconvictions for drug offenses, property offenses and technical violations. The results suggest that FFT was effective in reducing recidivism, however, such reductions cannot be attributed to improvements in the SNA scores.     

Relational Aggression in Mothers and Children: Links with Psychological Control and Child Adjustment

This study assesses associations between mothers’ use of relational aggression with their peers and psychological control with their children, and child adjustment in a sample of fifty U.S. mothers of elementary and middle school children. Mothers completed surveys assessing their relational aggression and psychological control. Teachers completed surveys assessing children’s externalizing behavior, internalizing symptoms, and relational aggression. Results suggest that mothers who are relationally aggressive with their peers are more likely to be psychologically controlling with their children. Results also showed that relational aggression predicted adjustment problems in youth. Relational aggression was associated with externalizing problems among boys and girls, and with internalizing problems among boys. Few gender differences in mean levels of maternal or child behaviors emerged.     

A longitudinal study of antisocial behaviors in early adolescence as predictors of late adolescent substance use: gender and ethnic group differences

Data from the National Longitudinal Youth Survey (NLSY) were analyzed to study interrelationships between antisocial behaviors in early adolescence (ages 14-15) and late adolescent alcohol and drug use 4 years later (when adolescents were 18-19). Correlations between classes of antisocial behaviors in early adolescence and substance use in late adolescence were of higher magnitude and more uniform for men than for women; for women, property offenses (e.g., vandalism) in early adolescence were more highly associated with alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and illicit drug use in late adolescence than with either status offenses or transgressions against persons. Multiple regression analyses indicated that early-adolescent substance involvement was a significant predictor of late-adolescent alcohol and drug use. Additional significant predictors included early adolescent general delinquency, male gender, and non-Black ethnicity.     

Executive Functioning and Engagement in Physical and Relational Aggression among Children with ADHD

Although evidence suggests that executive functioning (EF) impairments are implicated in physically aggressive behavior (e.g., hitting) these cognitive impairments have rarely been examined with regard to relational aggression (e.g., gossip, systematic exclusion). Studies also have not examined if EF impairments underlie the expression of aggression in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and if child gender moderates risk. Children with and without clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms (N = 124; ages 8–12 years; 48 % male) completed a battery of EF tests. Parent and teacher report of ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms and teacher report of engagement in physical and relational aggression were collected. Models tested the unique association of EF abilities with physical and relational aggression and the indirect effect through the expression of ADHD or ODD behaviors; child gender was also tested as a moderator. EF impairment was uniquely associated with physical aggression, but better EF ability was associated with relational aggression. For boys, poor EF also was indirectly associated with greater physical aggression through the expression of ADHD behaviors. However, ADHD symptoms were unrelated to relational aggression. ODD symptoms also predicted physical aggression for boys but relational aggression for girls. Results suggest that there are multiple and distinct factors associated with engagement in physical and relational aggression and that better EF may actually promote relational aggression. Established models of physical aggression should not be assumed to map on to explanations of relational aggression.     

Quality of Life and Adjustment in Youths with Asthma: The Contributions of Family Rituals and the Family Environment

This cross‐sectional study explored the relationships among family ritual meaning, cohesion, conflict, and health‐related quality of life (both specific to chronic health conditions and in general), and the emotional and behavioral problems reported by youths with asthma. Participants included 149 Portuguese children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 18 who had been diagnosed with asthma and attended outpatient services at three public hospitals. The results showed that stronger family ritual meaning predicted a more positive family environment (i.e., higher cohesion levels and lower conflict levels), better health‐related quality of life, and fewer emotional and behavior problems in youths. Furthermore, family cohesion and conflict mediated the links between family ritual meaning and health‐related quality of life, and emotional and behavioral problems. These results did not change after controlling for participant age, gender, and asthma severity. The findings of this study suggest that family ritual meaning contributes to the adaptation of youths with asthma via its positive association with the family environment. The implications for multicontextual interventions with families are briefly discussed with regard to the positive role of family rituals and of their potential as a modifiable factor in families with increased health challenges.     

Developmental and Sex Differences in Types of Conduct Problems

Maternal report of types of conduct problems in a high-risk sample of 228 boys and 80 girls (ages 4–18) were examined, using a version of the Child Behavior Checklist, expanded to include a range of covert and overt antisocial items (stealing, lying, physical aggression, relational aggression, substance use, and impulsivity). Age and sex effects were investigated. Boys were significantly more physically aggressive than girls. There were no sex differences for stealing, lying, relational aggression, and substance use. Lying and substance use increased with age, whereas relational aggression and impulsivity peaked during early adolescence. A small group of girls had pervasive conduct problems across multiple domains. For some domains such as stealing, lying, and relational aggression, girls showed at least as many problems as boys. Girls, in general, tended to have fewer conduct problems. On the other hand, when assessed across multiple domains, conduct problems in high-risk girls were possibly more pervasive than in high-risk boys, suggesting the possibility of a gender paradox.     

Peer Deviance,Parenting and Disruptive Behavior Among Young Girls

This study examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between peer deviance, parenting practices, and conduct and oppositional problems among young girls ages 7 and 8. Participants were 588 African American and European American girls who were part of a population-based study of the development of conduct problems and delinquency among girls. Affiliations with problem-prone peers were apparent among a sizeable minority of the girls, and these associations included both males and females. Although peer delinquency concurrently predicted disruptive behaviors, the gender of these peers did not contribute to girls’ behavior problems. Harsh parenting and low parental warmth showed both concurrent and prospective associations with girls’ disruptive behaviors. Similar patterns of association were seen for African American and European American girls. The findings show that peer and parent risk processes are important contributors to the early development of young girls’ conduct and oppositional behaviors. These data contribute to our understanding of girls’ aggression and antisocial behaviors and further inform our understanding of risk processes for these behaviors among young girls in particular.

Differential associations between maternal and paternal parenting and physical and relational aggression

A large number of studies have demonstrated that negative parenting is associated with greater levels of aggression (relational and physical) among school‐age children in Western cultures. However, the investigation of this association for children in non‐Western cultures is still in its infancy. The present study examines the associations between maternal and paternal parenting behaviours (conflict with the child, physical aggression toward the child and relational aggression toward the child) and forms of aggression, and explores gender differences in these associations among Japanese boys and girls. The participants were 130 fifth and sixth graders (age range: 10 to 12). Children reported maternal and paternal parenting behaviours, and classroom teachers assessed children's relational and physical aggression. Results show that boys and girls had more conflict, more relationally aggressive parenting experiences and more intimate relationships with their mothers than their fathers. Further, after controlling for grade and gender, greater maternal (but not paternal) relational aggression was associated with more peer‐oriented relational aggression for boys only and more peer‐oriented physical aggression for boys and girls. Greater paternal (but not maternal) conflict was predictive of more peer‐oriented physical aggression for boys and girls. The direction and strength of the associations between parenting behaviours and forms of aggression may be contingent upon the gender of the parent and the child. The findings are discussed from cultural, developmental and social perspectives, and implications for future research are discussed.     

The Significance of Family Structure in Internalizing (Anxious/Depressed) and Externalizing (Aggressive/Delinquent) Problems among Chinese Adolescents

The present pioneering study investigated the differences across various types of family structure among Chinese adolescents with proactive and reactive aggression. It aimed at providing frontline social workers and family therapists with inspirations for designing suitable interventions for adolescents with specific subtypes of aggressive behavior from different family structure backgrounds. After completing an online survey including the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) and the subscales of the Child Behavior Checklist – Youth Self-report (CBCL-YSR) on aggressive behavior, delinquent behavior, and anxious/depressed symptom, 520 out of 13,338 Chinese adolescents aged 11 to 18 were randomly selected and stratified based on the types of family structure (intact family, single father family, single mother family, stepfather family, and stepmother family). Expectedly, boys elicited more proactive aggression, delinquent behaviors, and aggressive behaviors than girls. Besides, significant cross-structural differences were found between children from stepmother family, who showed more proactive aggression, anxious/depressed symptoms, aggressive behaviors, and delinquent behaviors, and those from intact family regardless of gender. The interaction effects between gender and family structure were significant for reactive aggression, anxious/depressed behavior, and aggressive behavior. An interaction effect showed boys from stepmother families were more reactively aggressive than those from intact families. In addition, more anxious/depressed symptoms were found in boys from stepmother family than those from intact and single mother families. In conclusion, the impacts of family structure on proactive aggression and delinquent behavior are not gender specific, but the impacts on reactive aggression and anxious/depressed behavior are only specific to boys.

     

Predictors of Offense Severity, Prosecution, Incarceration and Repeat Violations for Adolescent Male and Female Offenders

We examined factors predicting severity of first offense, adjudication, incarceration, and repeat offenses for first time juvenile offenders. The sample consisted of 12,468 juveniles, all born in 1985. Each of the juveniles had been assigned to the South Carolina Juvenile Justice System (SCDJJ) on at least one occasion (“referral”). Analysis on referral severity showed significant age, gender, and race differences, with older youth, blacks and males referred for more serious offenses. On first referrals, older youth and whites were more likely to be adjudicated with white females showing the greatest likelihood of prosecution; this was true with severity level controlled. Status offenses were more likely to be prosecuted than non- status offenses. Analyses on prosecution versus diversion showed that blacks and males were more likely to be diverted than prosecuted. Youth referred for violent crimes were most likely to be incarcerated. There were no gender or race effects on incarceration. Youth who were prosecuted for the first offense were more likely to be referred a second time than those who were not prosecuted. Gender and race did not significantly affect second referral rates. Findings for third referrals followed similar patterns. The relationship of our findings to previous research findings, and implications for juvenile justice procedures are discussed.     

Gender and Aggression in Marital Relationships: A Life-Span Perspective

This study examines the relationship between age, gender, and marital aggression by comparing conflict resolution strategies, physical aggression, and injury across 6,185 married young, middle and older aged men and women. We found a consistent age effect such that younger participants used more maladaptive conflict resolution strategies, engaged in more physical arguments, and sustained more injuries than older participants. In terms of gender differences, women compared to men used calm discussions less (the least reported by women who were young) and heated arguments more. Analyses on the relation among age, gender, and injuries showed that more young and middle-aged women than men reported that they had sustained injuries at the hands of their spouse and more young men than women reported inflicting injury on their spouse. The results are discussed in relation to research on gender differences in intimate violence and the association of age and intimate aggression in general.