Julaine E. Field

Development and Measurement Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (YASB): An Assessment of Relational Aggression in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale was developed for the purpose of measuring self-reported relational and social aggression and behaviors of interpersonal maturity in adolescents and young adults (the sample included 629 university students; 66% female; 91.6% White). Despite previous research suggesting that relational and social aggression comprise a single paradigm, there is emerging evidence that indirect, social, and relational aggression are, in fact, separate constructs. In accordance with this more recent research, in this study, confirmatory factor analysis supports that the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale measures three internally consistent constructs: relationally aggressive behaviors, socially aggressive behaviors, and interpersonally mature behaviors.

Femininity and Depression Mediated by Social and Relational Aggression in Late Adolescence

Although studies have found a relation between the use of relational aggression and depressive symptomatology, there is less evidence for the relation of the role of gender identity in these processes. Consequently, this study investigated the roles of social and relational aggression and feminine gender role identity in depressive symptoms among late adolescent females. For this study, authors designed and tested a model through path analysis, which involved the variables of femininity, relational aggression, and social aggression. Six hundred and ninety-seven female college students completed the Beck Depression Inventory—Second Edition, the Young Adult Social Behavior Scale, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results indicated that although femininity is unrelated to relational and social aggression, the use of social and relational aggression by more feminine late adolescent females relates to higher levels of depression in this sample.

Clinical Interventions with Adolescents Using a Family Systems Approach

The purpose of this article is to identify how Bowen family systems theory may be incorporated into individual counseling with adolescents when family involvement is not possible or contraindicated. Outcome and basic research supporting the application of Bowen family systems theory is reviewed. Specific clinical interventions for counseling adolescents that derive from Bowen family systems theory are provided, and a case study demonstrating these clinical interventions is presented.

Relational, social, and overt aggression among aggressive and nonaggressive female adolescents

In this study, researchers wished to further study the differentiation among forms of aggression in a diverse sample of adolescent females. Specifically, the self-reported use of relational, social, and direct verbal and physical aggression was measured in Caucasian and non-Caucasian typically developing versus overtly aggressive adolescent females. No statistically significant differences were found between typically developing and overtly aggressive adolescent female samples in the use of social or relational aggression; however, overtly aggressive adolescents reported using direct verbal or physical aggression significantly more than typically developing adolescents. Caucasian adolescents reported using significantly more relationally aggressive behaviors than non-Caucasian adolescents. No statistically significant differences were found in socially aggressive behaviors between Caucasian and non-Caucasian adolescent female samples. Implications for these findings are discussed.

Play-Based Activities in Family Counseling

Traditional family therapists often work with family members of similar cognitive levels and exclude small children from the therapeutic process. Recent research indicates that children and families benefit when all family members can be involved in counseling (e.g., Thompson, Bender, Cordoso, & Flynn, 2011). Using an integrative intervention model, this article will focus on specific play-based activities which can be used to effectively include children in family therapy. A developmental, step-by step protocol is introduced and specific play-based activities are discussed.

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Relational and Social Aggression in Female College Students from Puerto Rico and the United States

Researchers compared scores on a self-report measure of relational and social aggression using 2 groups, European American female university students (M = 20.23 years, SD = 3.88) from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States and Hispanic females from Puerto Rico (M = 19.34 years, SD = 1.26). Results indicate that cultural differences were evident in the use of relational and social aggression. The exclusively Hispanic Puerto Rican sample reported being more socially aggressive than the European American, mid-Atlantic sample. In contrast, the European American sample identified as being more relationally aggressive in their relationships than the Hispanic Puerto Rican sample. This distinction allows us to consider potential cultural differences in interpersonal relations in college-age females.

Relational and Social Aggression and Reflective Processing in a University Sample

This study examined whether the dimension of reflective processing (e.g., deep and elaborative processing) was connected to the use of relational aggressions, social aggression, or both. A convenience sample of 629 college students (66% female, 91.6% White) was surveyed to ascertain the relation between self-reported relational and social aggression and deep and elaborative processing. The overall multivariate regression model was significant, Wilks’s λ = .12, F(4, 2162) = 1010.80, p < .001. Univariate results were used to show that the two predictors (relational and social aggression) significantly and strongly positively predicted the use of deep processing, R2 = .81, p < .001, as well as the use of elaborative processing, R2 = .87, p < .001. In summary, higher levels of social and relational aggression were related to higher levels of deep and elaborative processing. Implications for these findings are presented.

The Relationship Between Hyperfemininity and Achievement of Ego Identity Among College Women

In this study, the relationships between the variables of hyperfemininity and ideological and interpersonal identity status among college women were investigated. A 3 × 3 factorial ANOVA was conducted with Hyperfemininity (low, medium, and high) and Year in School (1 year, 2 years, and 3 or more years). Significant main effects were found for Hyperfemininity and for Year in School, but none of the interaction effects were significant.

Intensity of commonly-reported classroom-based physical activity opportunities in public schools

The purpose of this study was to examine the intensity levels of PA opportunities offered in public school classrooms. Schools (N = 101) in school districts (N = 25) reported PA opportunities offered in classrooms using an online data collection tool over a two-year period (2014–2016). Using a randomized sampling technique, 20–30% of teachers in each school were selected each week to report PA in their classroom. These responses resulted in N = 18,210 usable responses. A researcher determined the intensity of PA opportunities using the 2011 Compendium of Physical Activities as a guideline; two additional researchers confirmed the coded categories. A descriptive analysis of PA opportunities was conducted to describe the proportion of opportunities whose intensity levels were light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA), sedentary (SED), and those of unknown intensity. Chi-square analyses were utilized to examine differences between proportions of intensity levels offered by semester. Kruskal-Wallace tests were utilized to examine differences in proportion of physical activity opportunity intensity offered by grade level. Most PA opportunities were MPA (58.7%), followed by VPA (17.6%) and LPA (11.5%). Few responses were SED (0.5%), and 11.6% were of indeterminate intensity. A greater proportion of more physically intense activities reported during the fall versus spring semesters (p < 0.0001). Differences in the intensity levels of PA offered by grade also differed, with a trend of decreasing intensity as grade level increased (p < 0.0001). This study provides insight into the PA actually occurring in classrooms; a previously underexplored construct of school-based PA.

LGBTQ and Heterosexual Adolescents’ Use of Indirect Forms of Aggression

ABSTRACT In this study, researchers investigated whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) adolescents use indirect aggression and exhibit prosocial behavior in their relationships at rates comparable to their heterosexual peers. In a sample of 666 college students (median age = 19.5 years), LGBTQ adolescents (N = 22) used relationally and socially aggressive behaviors at a level consistent with their heterosexual peers. This suggests that sexual orientation identification does not appear to differentially affect the use of indirectly aggressive behaviors during social interactions. There were also no differences in self-reported interpersonally mature behaviors (e.g., use of prosocial skills) exhibited by heterosexual and LGBTQ adolescents in this sample, which indicates that sexual and gender identity were also unrelated to the use of prosocial behaviors.