A comparison of the social status and social behavior of Aggressive and Aggressive/Withdrawn boys

The purpose of this study was to clarify contradictory findings concerning the social status of aggressive youngsters. This was undertaken by dividing kindergarten boys into either Aggressive [A] or Aggressive/Withdrawn [A/W] groups, as proposed by Ledingham [1981]. Both groups were found to be high on peer-nominated rejection, but the A group was also high on peer-nominated popularity while the A/W group was low. Similarly, both groups were observed to be high in negative peer interactions, but the A group was also high in positive interactions. It was noted that valuable information regarding the social status and social behavior of aggressive youngsters would be lost if such subgrouping is not undertaken. The relationship between Ledingham's categorizations and others reported in the literature was discussed.This research was supported in part by NIH grant No. 32992 to the first author.     

The Best Friendships of Shy/Withdrawn Children: Prevalence, Stability, and Relationship Quality

The mutual best friendships of shy/withdrawn and control children were examined for prevalence, stability, best friend's characteristics, and friendship quality. Using peer nominations of shy/socially withdrawn and aggressive behaviors, two groups of children were identified from a normative sample of fifth-grade children: shy/withdrawn (n = 169) and control (nonaggressive/nonwithdrawn; n = 163). Friendship nominations, teacher reports, and friendship quality data were gathered. Results revealed that shy/withdrawn children were as likely as control children to have mutual stable best friendships. Withdrawn children's friends were more withdrawn and victimized than were the control children's best friends; further, similarities in social withdrawal and peer victimization were revealed for withdrawn children and their friends. Withdrawn children and their friends reported lower friendship quality than did control children. Results highlight the importance of both quantitative and qualitative measures of friendship when considering relationships as risk and/or protective factors.     

Self-other representations and relational and overt aggression in adolescent girls and boys

Aggressive behavior in girls has received far less attention than similar problems in boys. This study examined self-representation, and others' representation of self, as predictors of relational aggression, overt aggression, and assaultive behavior in 32 girls and 52 boys, 10 to 17 years of age, referred for assessment due to significant aggressive and delinquent behavior problems. As predicted, negativity of self-representation predicted relational aggression in girls but not boys. Negativity of self-representation also predicted overt aggression and assaultive behavior in both girls and boys. Parental representations of self were not predictive in this sample; however, negativity of peer representations of self, was associated with increased relational aggression in girls and decreased relational aggression in boys. Negativity of peer representations of self also predicted overt aggression and assaultive behavior in both girls and boys. Results suggest that the evaluation of self-other representations may be valuable in the assessment of risk for gender specific patterns of aggression.     

Aggressive behavior in children's dolls' house play

The present study addressed the question of whether there are gender and age differences in aggressive behavior when it is studied as the spontaneous expression of mental contents and not as the result of immediate social interaction. This study also investigated whether aggression, in terms of mental content, is related to temperamental aspects. Aggressive behaviors were examined in make‐believe play, in relation to age, gender, and temperament in a near‐ecological context, i.e., the Dolls' House Play. The participants, 55 boys and 47 girls, subdivided into three age levels (4 years–4 years and 6 months; 5–6 years; and 7 years and 6 months–8 years and 6 months) were requested to represent what happens in their family 1) during Mealtimes; 2) at Bedtime; 3) on the Saddest day; and 4) the Happiest day; their Dolls' House Play was then recorded. Children's temperaments were measured with the TABC‐Teachers' form [Martin, The Temperament Assessment Battery for Children, Brandon, VT: Clinical Psychology Publishing, 1998]. Data analysis was conducted considering aggressive behaviors in their distinct expressions—physical, verbal, direct, and indirect. Results revealed no statistical differences between boys and girls when all aggressive behaviors were compounded. However, when the distinct types of aggressiveness were considered, boys presented statistically higher levels of physical aggression than girls did. Moreover, boys and girls reacted with different types of aggression in the different emotional contexts created by the four episodes. Few age differences were observed. Surprisingly, there was a significantly greater presence of indirect verbal aggressiveness in younger children. With respect to temperament, a higher level of negative emotivity was significantly linked to a greater degree of aggressive behaviors in some of the episodes. In conclusion, this paper confirms gender differences in the type of aggressive behavior children display even in the absence of any immediate social interaction, which might itself trigger aggression. Aggr. Behav. 30:504–519, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Aggressive behavior among girls and boys during middle childhood: predictors and sequelae of trajectory group membership

Using longitudinal data spanning early elementary through middle school, aggression behavior trajectory groups were identified for boys and girls. Early elementary school predictors of trajectory group membership were examined as well as whether trajectory group predicted physical aggression, covert delinquency, and substance use in 9th grade. Semiparametric group modeling identified aggression behavior trajectory groups. We identified four aggression trajectory groups for both genders described as “not involved,” “low,” “moderate,” and “high.” Attention problems, family conflict, and low school commitment and attachment were predictors of membership in higher aggression groups for both boys and girls. Low family involvement and low parental education predicted membership in higher aggression groups for boys; while depression, low‐income status, and having a single parent predicted higher aggression group membership for girls. For both boys and girls, few risk predictors distinguished between the moderate and high aggression trajectories except that low school commitment and having a teen mother were significant predictors of being in the high group for girls, and low parental education and income were significant predictors of being in the high group for boys. Membership in the higher aggression trajectory groups predicted involvement in violent behaviors, covert delinquency, and substance use in 9th grade. Findings suggest that children who display an early trajectory of high levels of aggressive behavior are more likely to continue involvement in later problem behaviors. Second‐grade predictors suggest commonality of risk across genders and provide evidence of modifiable targets for preventive interventions. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–15. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Role of Relational Aggression in Identifying Aggressive Boys and Girls

Peer perceptions of relational and overt aggression and peer evaluations of social competencies were obtained for 461 boys and 443 girls in second and third grades. In contrast to Crick and Grotpeter (1995), boys obtained higher relational and overt aggression scores than girls, and the relation between both types of aggression and peer evaluations were similar for boys and girls. When controlling for levels of overt aggression, relational aggression made a statistically significant but small contribution to the prediction of both peer-evaluated competencies and teacher ratings of aggression in boys and girls. Analyses treating relational and overt aggression as categorical variables revealed gender differences in the prevalence and corresponding sociometric status of aggressive subtypes. When peer-rated relational aggression status is not considered, 60% of aggressive girls, compared to 7% of aggressive boys, are not identified as aggressive. High levels of overt aggression were more likely to result in peer rejection for girls than for boys. In a subsample of 112 children, peer-rated relational aggression contributed more to the discrimination of teacher-identified aggressive and nonaggressive girls, whereas peer-rated overt aggression contributed more to the discrimination of teacher-identified aggressive and nonaggressive boys.     

Behavior problems and peer rejection in preschool boys and girls

The authors tested the hypothesis that deviant behaviors within a preschool peer group would be linked with peer rejection, irrespective of child gender. Seventy-six children, aged 3 to 5 years, participated. Teachers rated children's behavior on the Child Adaptive Behavior Inventory, and children provided sociometric ratings. For a subsample of children (n = 47), observers coded aggressive, noncompliant, and withdrawn behavior using a time-sampling system. For both boys and girls, noncompliance, hyperactivity, and social withdrawal were associated with peer rejection; overt aggression was associated with peer rejection for boys, but not for girls. Analysis revealed that approximately half of the variance in sociometric and teacher ratings of peer rejection was accounted for by aggression and social withdrawal for both boys and girls. The results suggest that the association between behavior problems and peer rejection emerges at a very early age.     

Painting Group Portraits: Studying Life Outcomes for Aggressive and Withdrawn Children

Aggression and social withdrawal have long been of interest to personality psychologists. The present article presents a longitudinal study of the development of children selected from a community sample who were high on aggression and withdrawal. The selection of outcome variables is discussed, and outcomes during adolescence are described. For both males and females, high aggressiveness was predictive of low intelligence, poor school achievement, and psychiatric problems. For females, high aggressiveness was also predictive of general health problems. High social withdrawal was predictive of poor school achievement. Females who were high on withdrawal also had an elevated rate of abortions. Individuals who were high on both aggression and withdrawal had relatively poor social competence, had general problems with behavior, had low intelligence, and were performing poorly in school.     

Behavior Problems and Peer Rejection in Preschool Boys and Girls

The authors tested the hypothesis that deviant behaviors within a preschool peer group would be linked with peer rejection, irrespective of child gender. Seventy-six children, aged 3 to 5 years, participated. Teachers rated children's behavior on the Child Adaptive Behavior Inventory, and children provided sociometric ratings. For a subsample of children (n = 47), observers coded aggressive, noncompliant, and withdrawn behavior using a time-sampling system. For both boys and girls, noncompliance, hyperactivity, and social withdrawal were associated with peer rejection; overt aggression was associated with peer rejection for boys, but not for girls. Analysis revealed that approximately half of the variance in sociometric and teacher ratings of peer rejection was accounted for by aggression and social withdrawal for both boys and girls. The results suggest that the association between behavior problems and peer rejection emerges at a very early age.     

Bidirectional Effects between Parenting and Aggressive Child Behavior in the Context of a Preventive Intervention

Over time, developmental theories and empirical studies have gradually started to adopt a bidirectional viewpoint. The area of intervention research is, however, lagging behind in this respect. This longitudinal study examined whether bidirectional associations between (changes in) parenting and (changes in) aggressive child behavior over time differed in three conditions: a child intervention condition, a child + parent intervention condition and a control condition. Participants were 267 children (74 % boys, 26 % girls) with elevated levels of aggression, their mothers and their teachers. Reactive aggression, proactive aggression and perceived parenting were measured at four measurement times from pretest to one-year after intervention termination. Results showed that associations between aggressive child behavior and perceived parenting are different in an intervention context, compared to a general developmental context. Aggressive behavior and perceived parenting were unrelated over time for children who did not receive an intervention. In an intervention context, however, decreases in aggressive child behavior were related to increases in perceived positive parenting and decreases in perceived overreactivity. These findings underscore the importance of addressing child-driven processes in interventions aimed at children, but also in interventions aimed at both children and their parents.     

Executive Functions in Preschool Children with Aggressive Behavior: Impairments in Inhibitory Control

The question whether executive function (EF) deficits in children are associated with conduct problems remains controversial. Although the origins of aggressive behavior are to be found in early childhood, findings from EF studies in preschool children with aggressive behavior are inconsistent. The current study aimed to investigate whether preschool children with aggressive behavior show impairments in EF. From a population-based sample, 82 preschool children who were showing aggressive behavior as indicated by scores at or above the 93rd percentile on the Aggressive Behavior Scale of the CBCL 1 1/2-5 were selected. These children with aggressive behavior were matched on IQ to a group of typically developing control children (N = 99). Six neuropsychological tasks were administered to assess set shifting, inhibition, working memory and verbal fluency. A factor analysis was conducted which yielded one clear factor: inhibition. Aggressive preschool children showed poorer performance on this inhibition factor than control children and boys performed worse on this factor than girls. This association between aggressive behavior and inhibition deficits was maintained after controlling for attention problems. In addition, gender differences in all EFs measured were found with boys exhibiting more impairment in EF than girls. These findings demonstrate that preschool children with aggressive behavior show impairments in inhibition, irrespective of attention problems.     

Children's verbalizations and cheating behavior during game playing: the role of sociometric status,aggression, and gender

The first goal of this study was to investigate sociometric status, aggression, and gender differences in children's verbalizations and cheating behavior during game playing using a fine-grained observational coding system. The second goal was to control for the effects of differential peer treatment and bias on children's behavior by observing children in a standardized procedure with unfamiliar peer confederates. Participants were 111 second-grade African American children, half average and half rejected sociometric status, half aggressive and half nonaggressive based on peer nominations, and half boys and half girls. Rejected children engaged in more cheating behavior and made more negative and argumentative verbalizations than average status children. Boys made more negative and argumentative verbalizations than girls. Aggressive children did not differ from nonaggressive children, in terms of either verbalizations or cheating behavior.     

Hostility, aggression, and anxiety levels of divorce and nondivorce children as manifested in their responses to projective tests

The effects of parental divorce on the levels of aggression, hostility, and anxiety in children, as measured by the Rorschach test, together with the type and direction of aggression, as measured by the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration (P-F) Study, were studied. The Rorschach and the Rosenzweig P-F study were administered to a nonclinical sample of 108 Swedish children ranging in age from 10 to 12 years old. The subjects constituted a divorce and a nondivorce group of 27 girls and 27 boys each. Children of divorced parents (hereafter referred to as divorce children, divorce boys, or divorce girls) showed significantly higher levels of hostility, aggression, and anxiety than children of married parents (hereafter referred to as nondivorce children, nondivorce boys, nondivorce girls). There were significant differences found in the type and direction of aggression between divorce girls and boys. Divorce boys showed more extraggression and ego defensive reactions, whereas divorce girls tended to evade aggression. The differences between divorce and nondivorce groups and the diversity of reactions between divorce boys and girls are discussed.     

Aggressive behavior as a function of Taekwondo ranking

This study examined the effect taekwondo training has on the level of aggression of children between the ages of 6 and 11 yr. 68 students (boys and girls) were tested using a behavior checklist designed to measure children's aggression. Analysis indicated a significant inverse relationship between the children's taekwondo rank and their aggression.     

Hostility,Aggression, and Anxiety Levels of Divorce and Nondivorce Children as Manifested in Their Responses to Projective Tests

The effects of parental divorce on the levels of aggression, hostility, and anxiety in children, as measured by the Rorschach test, together with the type and direction of aggression, as measured by the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration (P-F) Study, were studied. The Rorschach and the Rosenzweig P-F study were administered to a nonclinical sample of 108 Swedish children ranging in age from 10 to 12 years old. The subjects constituted a divorce and a nondivorce group of 27 gifts and 27 boys each. Children of divorced parents (hereafter referred to as divorce children, divorce boys, or divorce girls) showed significantly higher levels of hostility, aggression, and anxiety than children of married parents (hereafter referred to as nondivorce children, nondivorce boys, nondivorce girls). There were significant differences found in the type and direction of aggression between divorce girls and boys. Divorce boys showed more extraggression and ego defensive reactions, whereas divorce girls tended to evade aggression. The differences between divorce and nondivorce groups and the diversity of reactions between divorce boys and girls are discussed.     

Gender differences in the relation between stressful life events and adjustment among school-aged children

The study evaluated gender differences in the relation between stressful life events and adjustment among elementary school children. In Study I, anxiety, aggression, submissive withdrawal, and life event questionnaires were completed by 63 Israeli children. The frequency of life events was associated with increased anxiety and trends toward heightened withdrawal and aggression among boys, but not girls. In Study II, 80 Israeli mothers of elementary school children completed parallel questionnaires regarding their child. As in Study I, life events were associated among boys, but not girls, with increased anxiety and a trend toward heightened withdrawal. No gender difference arose in the association for aggression. Discussion focused on the possible roots of these findings in differential patterns of stress sensitivity, resilience, and coping, and on their ramifications for the study of cross-situational gender differences.     

3～4岁儿童攻击行为发展的追踪研究

对163名幼儿园小班儿童进行追踪观察,考察3-4岁期间儿童攻击行为的特点、发展模式及稳定性。主要获得以下结果：儿童最普遍的攻击形式是身体攻击．言语攻击和间接攻击的发生率较低;大多数攻击行为属于主动性攻击和工具性攻击;男孩的攻击行为总体上多于女孩．但女孩的间接攻击多于男孩;儿童的攻击性在3-4岁之间无显著变化,但敌意性攻击存在随年龄增长而增加的趋势;3-4岁儿童攻击性的个别差异已具有明显的稳定性。     

A longitudinal study of relational aggression, physical aggression, and children's social-psychological adjustment

Although great strides have recently been made in our understanding of relational aggression and its consequences, one significant limitation has been the lack of prospective studies. The present research addressed this issue by identifying and assessing groups of relationally aggressive, physically aggressive, relationally plus physically aggressive (co-morbid), and nonaggressive children during their third grade year in elementary school and then reassessing them a year later, during fourth-grade (N = 224, 113 girls). Two aspects of social-psychological adjustment were assessed during both assessment periods including internalizing difficulties (i.e., withdrawal, depression/anxiety, and somatic complaints) and externalizing problems (i.e., aggressive behavior, delinquency). It was revealed that the strongest predictor of future social-psychological adjustment problems and increases in these problems from third to fourth was the combination of relational and physical aggression. Relational aggression also contributed unique information, relative to physical aggression, in the prediction of future maladjustment. Implications of these findings for future research and prevention efforts, particularly for aggressive girls, are discussed.     

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.     

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.