Andrew M. Terranova

Patterns of Physical and Relational Aggression in a School-Based Sample of Boys and Girls

The current study investigated the patterns of aggressive behavior displayed in a sample of 282 students in the 4th through 7th grades (M age = 11.28; SD = 1.82). Using cluster analyses, two distinct patterns of physical aggression emerged for both boys and girls with one aggressive cluster showing mild levels of reactive aggression and one group showing high levels of both reactive and proactive aggression. Both aggressive clusters showed problems with anger dysregulation, impulsivity, thrill and adventure seeking, positive outcome expectancies for aggression, and higher rates of bullying. However, the combined cluster was most severe on all of these variables and only the combined aggressive group differed from non-aggressive students on their level of callous-unemotional traits. Similar patterns of findings emerged for relational aggression but only for girls.

Gender Differences in the Assessment, Stability, and Correlates to Bullying Roles in Middle School Children

The current study investigated bullying behaviors in 284 school children in the fourth through seventh grades at the time of the initial assessment. Peer ratings of bullying behavior were obtained at the end of the spring semester of one school year and at the end of the fall semester of the next school year. Importantly, peer ratings were obtained by assessing not only the level at which participants actually bully other students but also whether participants help bullies to hurt the victim (assister), encourage bullies (reinforce), or help the victim of bullying (defender). Our results did not support the utility of differentiating between bullies, assisters, or reinforcers. Specifically, these bullying roles were highly intercorrelated, both concurrently and across school years, and they showed similar correlations with aggression and several characteristics often associated with aggression (i.e., conduct problems, callous-unemotional traits, and positive expectancies about aggression). In contrast, ratings of defending designated a particularly prosocial group of students. Finally, whereas bullying appeared to be very similar in boys and girls, it was somewhat more stable across school years and was related to lower levels of prosocial behavior in boys, both of which could suggest that bullying may be somewhat more related to social group dynamics in girls.

The incremental utility of callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems in predicting aggression and bullying in a community sample of boys and girls

The current study tested whether callous-unemotional (CU) traits explained unique variance in measures of aggression and bullying, and in measures assessing cognitive and affective correlates to aggression, when controlling for conduct problem severity. In a sample of 284 ethnically diverse students (ages 9 to 14 years), a self-report measure of CU traits did not explain unique variance in self-report measures of reactive aggression but did interact with conduct problems in predicting proactive aggression, with conduct problems being more strongly related to proactive aggression in students high on CU traits. Conduct problems were also more strongly related to peer-reports of bullying in girls high on CU traits. Further, CU traits were negatively related to behaviors that defend victims of bullying, independent of conduct problem severity. Finally, conduct problems were more strongly related to anger dysregulation in students low on CU traits, and conduct problems were more strongly related to positive expectations for aggressive behavior in girls high on CU traits. These findings provide support for the proposal to include CU traits as a specifier for the diagnosis of conduct disorder.

The Kenyan Political Conflict and Children’s Adjustment

This study examined pre- and postconflict data from 84 children, ages 3-7 years, living in Kibera, Kenya, during the December 2007 political conflict. Results indicate that childrens disaster experiences (home destruction, death of a parent, parent and child harm) are associated with adjustment difficulties and that emotion regulation is an important protective factor postdisaster. Specifically, severity of the disaster experience was associated with increased aggression and decreased prosocial behavior. Emotion regulation was associated with less aggression and more prosocial behavior postconflict. Findings are discussed in the context of a developmental, systems-oriented perspective of the impact of disasters on child adjustment.

Developmental Issues in the Prevention of Aggression and Violence in School

Generally speaking, primary prevention has been conceptualized as ontogenetically early intervention (see Cowen, 2000, for a discussion). That is, programs seeking to prevent the emergence of some problem behavior or form of psychopathology in a population typically are construed as programs that need to be provided to children as early in development as possible given the constraints imposed by their social, emotional, and cognitive capacities. From a strictly logical standpoint, this assertion makes sense especially with regard to aggressive behavior. Aggression emerges fairly early in development (Tremblay, 2000) and can lead to socially and financially costly outcomes later on (Huesmann et al., 2002; Jones et al., 2002). Thus, it seems reasonable to maintain that aggression and violence prevention programs should target children at as young an age as possible. However, primary prevention of aggression can occur throughout childhood and adolescence given the developmental underpinnings and variants of this behavior. This chapter discusses key developmental issues and concerns in the primary prevention of aggression in school-age children and adolescents. The need for primary prevention approaches beyond early and middle childhood is particularly pressing with respect to aggressive behavior for a variety of reasons. First, aggression exhibits significant and meaningful continuity from childhood to adolescence and into adulthood (Huesmann et al., 1984, 2006; Kokko & Pulkkinen, 2005). That is, individuals who exhibit high levels of aggression in childhood are likely to maintain this position relative to their peers into adulthood. Second, aggression is both frequent and problematic among children in elementary school as well as middle and high school (Boxer et al., 2006; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006; Nansel et al., 2001). Third, aggression shows topographical variation at different developmental periods. Whereas aggressive behavior in younger children might be limited to low-impact physical and acquisitive acts (e.g., pushing, shoving, taking others’ property), mild forms of verbal provocation (e.g., teasing, name-calling), and disobedience (Eron et al., 1971), aggression among older youth can be far more varied to include interpersonal violence (including dating violence and sexual aggression), delinquency, and more elaborate verbal and social provocations (e.g., socially harmful behaviors such as defamatory gossip and ostracism). Finally, recent theoretical work suggests that aggression among younger children might result from and persist in part