Familial Antecedents of Children's Overt and Relational Aggression.

N

17

Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescent Behavior; Aggression; Early Adolescents; Family Relationship; Middle School Students; Middle Schools; Models; Mothers; Parent Child Relationship; Parenting Styles; Peer Relationship; Predictor Variables; Sex Differences

This study examined associations between mothers' interaction styles and disciplinary strategies, and children's relational and overt forms of aggression; considered sex differences in these associations; evaluated the contributions and interplay of mothers' interaction styles and disciplinary strategies, and children's aggression; and examined these connections during the transition into middle school. Participating were 140 European- and African-American married, working-class mothers and their sixth-grade children in North Carolina. Data were obtained through questionnaires completed separately by mothers and adolescents, videotapes of dyads during an interaction task in a laboratory setting at the beginning of the school year, and questionnaires regarding peer aggression completed by teachers at the end of the school year. Findings indicated that boys were more overtly aggressive than girls, and girls were more relationally aggressive than boys. Patterns of correlations between parenting variables and relational aggression were highly similar for boys and girls. Associations between parenting and overt aggression were different for boys and girls, and associations were much stronger for boys than girls. There were four models for which mothers' interaction styles and disciplinary strategies were significantly associated with boys' aggression, but no such models were identified for girls' aggression. Multiple regression analyses suggested that only mothers' interaction styles accounted for a significant portion of variance in boys' overt aggression. There was no evidence that mothers' disciplinary strategies mediated this association; however, mothers' negative interaction styles moderated the effect of child reports of harsh discipline on boys' overt aggression. (KB)

1999

ED430705