The goal of this research was to determine whether relational aggression in girls was similar to overt aggression in boys in terms of social-psychological adjustment. A total of 199 fifth through ninth grade children (86 boys, 113 girls) participated in this study. Relational and overt aggression scores were used to form groups of children who varied on the two types of aggression. Results indicated that overtly aggressive boys did not differ from relationally aggressive girls in terms of depression, anxiety, psychopathy, sensation seeking, ADHD, delinquency, and drug use. Further, boys in the aggressive groups scored consistently higher than boys in the nonaggressive groups on all indices of maladjustment. The results of the current study provide support for the hypothesis that relational aggression in girls is not different from overt aggression in boys in terms of social-psychological adjustment problems.

Given the paucity of research that has been conducted on aggression in girls (see Keenan, Loeber, & Green, 1999, for a review), it is important to examine different behavioral manifestations of aggression that may be more prevalent among girls than boys, such as relational aggression (see Crick et al., 1999, for a review). Relational aggression consists of behaviors that harm others through damage to their peer relationships or the threat of such damage (e.g., spreading rumors about a peer so that others will reject him/her, social exclusion; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are a particular subset of youth who are at increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behavior (Henker & Whalen, 1999; Whalen & Henker, 1985). The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of relational aggression among children with attention problems as compared to the general population. Gender differences in relational aggression were also examined. In the current study, participants included 91 3rd-5th grade public school students. Teacher ratings of aggressive behavior and attention problems were obtained. Parents also completed measures to assess attention problems and social-psychological adjustment. Contrary to prediction, results indicated children with attention problems were not more aggressive than children without attention problems, regardless of the type of aggressive behavior assessed (i.e., relational or overt aggression). With respect to gender differences in relational aggression, results indicate the well-known gender effect for relational aggression only applies to Caucasian students in this sample, as a gender effect for relational aggression was not obtained for Hispanic students. Thus, the gender effect for relational aggression should not be considered a robust finding generalizable to all ethnic groups. Finally, relationally aggressive children were reported to be as well-adjusted as their non-relationally aggressive peers, which is not consistent with previous research. Regardless of aggression status, Hispanic children exhibited higher levels of delinquent behavior and anxiety/depression compared to Caucasian children. Findings are discussed in terms of measurement issues and within a cultural context. The limitations of the current study and directions for future research are presented.

This study investigated the factorial validity, stability, and social, behavioral and emotional correlates of several different roles that students can play in the context of bullying. Data were collected from students at two time points across two school years, April and May of 2006 (n=284) and again in November and December of 2006 (n=185). A confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the validity of 4 participant roles (i.e. bully, reinforcer, assistant, and defender). However, further analysis revealed that there was a strong degree of intercorrelation between the three bully factors (i.e., bully, reinforcer, and assistant). Analyses found that participant roles are fairly stable across school years and that the greater the percentage of same raters across the time points, the greater the stability. All of the bullying roles (i.e., bully, reinforcer, and assistant) were significantly related to callous unemotional traits, emotional dysregulation, positive expectations for aggression, conduct problems, reactive relational aggression, proactive relational aggression, reactive overt aggression, and proactive overt aggression, but these relationships were stronger in boys. It was also found that the defender role was associated with less aggression and more prosocial behavior. These associations were stronger in girls. Finally, a linear regression analysis of the interaction between participant roles and victimization revealed that at T1, the association between bullying roles and aggression was moderated by victimization. Specifically, the association was stronger in those low on victimization. At T2, the association between defending and lower aggression and greater prosocial behavior was stronger in those low in victimization.

This study examined the mediating role of parental psychological control on the association between parental psychopathology and youth relational aggression in a community sample of 118 adolescents (aged 11-17) and their parents. Additionally, an analysis was conducted to examine the moderating role of positive parenting on the association between parental psychopathology and relational aggression. Further analyses controlled for overt aggression and examined effects of youth gender. Results suggest psychological control partially mediates the association between parental psychopathology and relational aggression. The overall mediation was not significant after controlling for overt aggression; however, the association between psychological control and relational aggression remained significant. The moderation was not significant. Parental psychopathology interacted with gender; specifically, psychopathology was significantly associated with relational aggression only for boys. Findings demonstrate the complexity of associations between different parenting variables and relational aggression, and the necessity of assessing the effects of overt aggression and gender.

The current study was designed to explore profiles of reactive and proactive aggression in two distinct juvenile offender populations, in a group of juvenile offenders who have been adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior (n = 138) and in a group of juvenile offenders adjudicated for general delinquent behavior (n = 243). This is the first study of its kind to investigate profiles of aggression in a population of juveniles adjudicated for illegal sexual behavior. Preliminary profile analyses indicated that the two juvenile offender populations had similar profiles of aggression overall. Two step cluster analysis results were generally consistent with previous research (Crapanzano, Frick, & Terranova, 2010; Marsee et al., 2014) with 3 groups emerging for both overt and relational aggression: a combined group high on both reactive and proactive aggression, a group high in reactive aggression alone, and a low overall group. Post hoc comparisons of the clusters revealed that the high combined group consistently demonstrated higher reports of emotional and behavioral dysfunction supporting the hypothesis that the presence of proactive aggression serves more as an indicator of severity rather than as representing a qualitatively distinct group in and of itself. Policy implications regarding sex offender registration and notification laws extended to juveniles are discussed.

The peer group is a dynamic context within which children and adolescents have a wide range of experiences, both positive and negative. Friendships provide support and a sense of belonging; however, friendships can also be contexts within which competition and aggression occur. During childhood and adolescence, aggression and victimization are likely to occur in the school context and in situations where several members of the peer group are present and sometimes actively (or passively) participating. In the seminal work related to bullying as a group process, Salmivalli and colleagues identified distinct roles that children take when enacting aggression (Salmivalli et al., 1996). Salmivalli's work, in the area of participant roles, however, has focused on overt bullying, a specific subtype of aggression which has a specific meaning within the peer relations literature. To date, the participant roles have not been measured within the context of overt and relational aggression. The purpose of the present study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Overt Aggression Participant Role Scale (OAPRS) and the Relational Aggression Participant Role Scale (RAPRS), two new scales designed by the author, to measure the aggressor, assistant, reinforcer, defender, outsider, and victim roles during acts aggression, as opposed to bullying. Additional goals include: 1) exploring the associations among the roles, 2) examining measurement equivalence across gender and grade level, and 3) exploring associations of the participant roles with measures of sociometric status and depressive symptoms. Findings point toward the psychometric properties of the two scales being quite robust. The data fit the 12 factor model and the scales measure the constructs equivalently across gender and three grade groups. The aggressor, assistant, and reinforcer roles were strongly associated as were the aggressor and victim roles. Several relational roles were highly overlapping, suggesting reciprocity of roles. Few meaningful gender or grade level differences were found resulting in more similarity in the overt and relational roles than differences. The outsider role was the only role not associated with depressive symptoms. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Depression is one of the most disabling mental disorders with respect to years living with symptoms and life lost prematurely. Understanding the development of depression symptoms in childhood and adolescence is important considering the increase in prevalence in adolescence and the substantial continuity of depression symptoms over time. Interpersonal perspectives on depression emphasize the interpersonal environment in the development, and remission of symptoms. In the present dissertation, the interpersonal environment focus was peer experiences. Specifically, the conditions under which peer experiences and depression symptoms were associated concurrently and longitudinally were examined in preschool, childhood, and adolescence. Different types of peer experiences were associated with depression symptoms in specific ways. In Study 1, the type of aggression and informant mattered where relational peer victimization and depression symptoms were associated in the presence of relational aggression when data were reported by teachers. In Study 2, informant and type of peer experience mattered such that when examining competing models of directional association of peer experiences and depression symptoms, depression symptoms predicted peer rejection across reporters and depression predicted peer victimization when data were self-reported. In Study 3, the type of aggression mattered again but peer-reported peer victimization was associated with self-reported depression symptoms in the presence of overt aggression for girls concurrently and over time. The effect was stronger for those who transitioned to high school. The conditions under which peer experiences and depression symptoms were associated depended on type of aggression (i.e., relational peer victimization and relational aggression in preschool and overt aggression for girls in late childhood and adolescence), type of relationship disturbance (i.e., peer victimization and peer rejection), informant, and whether individuals transitioned to high school.

This study served to highlight the aggressive nature of learners in the Foundation Phase, namely of those who are between the ages of 5 to 6 years. The project is based on qualitative research, and the data were collected from three primary schools in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Interviews were conducted with two principals, three educators and three parents. Four learners were used in order to gather further information on the causes of the aggressive behaviour of learners. Their input assisted the researcher to understand the various discipline structures within the school and also, how parents and educators manage the aggressive behaviour of learners. The study sought to identify whether primary and secondary socialisation, and the influence of the media are related to learners behaving aggressively. The information collected confirmed that children model the behaviour of adults and of their peers. The principals and the educators were of the opinion that positive primary socialisation is of the utmost importance, as it lays the foundation for future socialisation. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)

近年來校園暴力日趨嚴重，許多研究者對此問題欲深入探討及分析。學者Dodge & Coie(1987)提出自發式攻擊及反應式攻擊作為瞭解攻擊行為的向度，且理論成因跟社會適應的表現有所不同，然而國內缺乏針對攻擊類型的研究與中文攻擊行為評估量表。因此本研究試圖透過翻譯及驗證Little & Jones等人(2003)所發展之模型與攻擊行為評估量表，以期使國內引入攻擊類型分類的模型，並使評估少年攻擊行為時能夠更精準。 / 翻譯的攻擊行為評估量表，將攻擊行為依照攻擊形式與攻擊功能分成六個分量表，分別是：純粹的外顯攻擊、反應式外顯攻擊、工具式外顯攻擊、純粹的關係攻擊、反應式關係攻擊、工具式關係攻擊；因此本量表既能夠評估外顯與關係攻擊，亦能夠評估工具式與反應式攻擊。 / 研究者以361名國中學生作為受試者，以自陳問卷蒐集所需資訊，效度驗證除了以SEM進行模型適配度分析之外，另以人際互動、負向情緒、敵意歸因與結果預期作為效標變項，進行效標關連效度之考驗。研究結果顯示此中文攻擊行為評估量表具有良好的效度。 / 在效度驗證之外，本研究尚進一步討論攻擊形式與功能對於上述四個效標變項的解釋力，結果發現在工具性挑釁情境中，只有攻擊功能對效標具有顯著的解釋力；而在關係挑釁情境中，攻擊形式與功能均對效標有顯著解釋力。 / Because violence in the campus becomes more and more serious in recent years, many reserachers want to study and analyse this probem. Dodge & Coie(1987) found theoretical and social adaptive distinction by dividing aggression into proactive aggression and reactive aggression. However, there are few studies in Taiwan and there is no the Chinese aggressive scale which is divided aggression into proactive(instrumental) aggression and reactive aggression. This research attempts to use Little et al.’s (2003) Model and to translate their aggressive scale into Chinese. With Little et al.’s Model and Chinese aggressive scale , it will be more accurate in assessing adolescent aggressive behavior. / According to form and function, the translated aggressive scale divides aggression into six subscales, which including: pure overt aggression, instrumental overt aggression, reactive overt aggression, pure relational aggression, instrumental relational aggression, reactive relational aggression. The aggressive scale not only can assess overt and relational aggression, but also can assess instrumental and reactive aggression. / The 361 research subjects were junior high school students. Necessary information was collected by using self- rated questionnaire. In order to examine the validity of the aggressive scale, this research not only evaluated model fit with SEM but also examined criterion-related validity of aggressive scale and the criterion are interpersonal index, negative emotion, hostility, and outcome expectance. The results showed the aggressive scale have appropriate validity. / Besides testing validity, this research further discussed if the four criterion could be explained by the form and function of aggression .The results showed the criterions in the instrumental provocative situation can be explained only by the function of aggression. However, the criterions in the relational provocative situation can be explanted by both the form and function of aggression.

L’utilisation des mesures d’isolement et de contentions en milieu psychiatrique intrahospitalier se produit fréquemment en réponse à des comportements agressifs et continue de soulever la controverse. À cet égard, de plus en plus d’études tendent à démontrer que le personnel soignant travaillant sur ces unités est influencé par plusieurs facteurs de nature différente, notamment la perception de l’agressivité, quand vient le temps de prendre une décision quant à l’utilisation (ou non) de ces mesures coercitives. Méthodologie : Plus de trois cents membres du personnel soignant travaillant en milieu psychiatrique intrahospitalier ont été recrutés dans huit établissements psychiatriques du Québec. Dans un premier temps, un questionnaire leur a été distribué afin de mettre en relief les différents facteurs (individuels et organisationnels) ayant un impact sur l’utilisation des mesures coercitives. Simultanément, l’analyse factorielle de la version française de deux échelles permettant de mesurer la perception de l’agressivité en milieu hospitalier (le MOAS et le POAS) a été faite. Résultats : Un modèle final multivarié a démontré que le type d’unité psychiatrique, l’expression de la colère et de l’agressivité parmi les membres de l’équipe de soins, la perception de la fréquence de gestes autoagressifs et la perception de mesures de sécurité insuffisantes dans le milieu de travail étaient des prédicteurs indépendants de l’utilisation de procédures d’isolement et de contentions. L’analyse factorielle a pour sa part mis en évidence une structure à 4 facteurs pour le MOAS et à 3 facteurs pour le POAS, conformément à ce que l’on retrouvait dans la littérature scientifique. Conclusion : Ces résultats soulignent l’importance des facteurs organisationnels par rapport aux facteurs individuels dans l’utilisation des mesures coercitives en psychiatrie et la nécessité d’évaluer les perceptions quant à l’agressivité et à la sécurité chez le personnel soignant. En comprenant mieux les phénomènes qui amènent leur utilisation, il sera possible de trouver des alternatives aux mesures d’isolement et de contentions et ainsi réduire le recours à ces dernières. / Psychiatric staff can have both positive and negative attitudes towards inpatient aggression. Different attitudes towards aggression can have a substantial influence on how such behaviour is dealt with on psychiatric wards. In this manner, seclusion and restraint are frequently used measures for managing violent behaviour. However, their use raises several concerns. Method: Over three hundred staff members were recruited from eight psychiatric hospitals in the province of Quebec. First of all, an examination was conducted from the staff perspective of the organizational and staff factors that may be associated with increased recourse to seclusion and restraint in psychiatric wards. Simultaneously, factorial analysis of the French version of two scales used to measure staff attitude towards institutional violence and aggression (MOAS and POAS) was completed. Results: The final multivariate model showed that the following factors independently predict to greater use of seclusion and restraint: the type of hospital ward; greater expression of anger and aggression among staff members; perceptions of the frequency of incidents of physical aggression against the self; and the perception of insufficient protection measures in the workplace. Factor analyses revealed a four factor structure for the MOAS and a three factor structure for the 12-item POAS, which is similar to what is found in recent scientific literature in North American and European countries. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of evaluating a variety of factors, including perceptions of safety and violence, when exploring the management of aggression and violence on psychiatric wards and the reasons seclusion and restraint measures are used. These findings represent the first stage of a research program of the multidisciplinary group to whom the author is associated, aimed at reducing recourse to seclusion and restraint in Quebec psychiatric services.