This study examined social interactions between Italian preschoolers based upon sociometric status groupings. The sample consisted of 267 Italian preschoolers (mean age 64 months) taken from early childhood classrooms in southern Italy. Drawing on previous research, preschoolers' physical and relational aggression and physical and relational victimization as measured by peer nominations were analyzed. Structural equation modeling using Mplus was used to test the model, and SPSS 15 was used to run analyses of variance (ANOVAs) to examine the interaction between sociometric status and preschoolers' behaviors toward peers. Findings generally support previous research with American children as well as cross-cultural research regarding physical and relational aggression, victimization, sociability, and sociometric status groupings. Results indicate that popular children displayed high levels of social behavior, low levels of aggression, and experienced little victimization, while rejected children demonstrated high levels of aggression and victimization and low levels of social behavior. The most striking finding was that controversial children, similar to rejected children, showed high levels of aggression and victimization. Gender differences indicated that boys were more relationally and physically aggressive and victimized than girls, with the exception of controversial status girls.

Clinicians and researchers question how pornography might be impacting the people who view it and their partners. In particular, does pornography link to couples attachment and levels of aggression? Using data collected by the RELATE institute a sophisticated structural equation model was set up to answer this question. In particular, an actor partner interdependence model was used to analyze the relationship among male pornography use, insecure attachment behaviors, relational aggression, and physical aggression in 1630 heterosexual couples. Results indicate higher reports of male pornography use are associated with higher reports of insecure attachment behaviors, relational aggression, and physical aggression. Differences between male and female results, including a direct relationship between male pornography use and male and female insecure attachment behaviors as well as female physical aggression, are discussed. Findings add to current literature on the impact pornography has on individuals and their partners. Implications for clinicians are discussed.

This study examined how emotion and discipline differed in response to children's relational and physical aggression in African American and European American women. Affective (e.g., concern) and discipline responses of adults toward physical aggression have been linked with children's behavior problems. However, these reactions have not been explored as a function of ethnicity and only little examined as a function of gender. Even less is known about reactions toward relational aggression. Better knowledge about adult perceptions of children's aggressive behaviors could improve theoretical understanding of the development of these problems, and guide efforts at improving treatments. In the present study, hypothetical vignettes depicting a boy or a girl engaging in physical and relational aggression were used to assess how participants report they would respond to such behaviors in their own children. Consistent with initial hypotheses, adults were more concerned and embarrassed about physical aggressive behavior among children than relationally aggressive behaviors. Additionally, adults were more lax for relational aggression and more overreactive toward physical aggression. Adult behavioral responses toward relational aggression were more likely to include discussion and they were more likely to provide a consequence for physical aggression (i.e., adults displayed more reparation and reprimands for physical aggression). With respect to ethnicity, African Americans generally reacted more strongly to aggression, though European Americans made more reparation responses than African Americans for physical aggression. With regard to gender, participants were more overreactive to boys being relationally aggressive than girls and less overreactive to boys being physically aggressive than girls, and this finding appeared to be largely accounted for by African American participants. Results point to the need for psychoeducation regarding the seriousness of relational aggression.

No description available.

Researchers have been studying school aggression (often termed bullying) for many years, but it was not until the 1980's that the deleterious effects of school aggression became more apparent. Most of the studies on physical and relational aggression focus upon the experiences of children who perpetrate these actions or who are the victims of this form of aggression. However, few studies have investigated how physical and relational aggression is influenced by the teacher and/or specific classroom environments. To date, there is a scarcity of information available regarding teacher characteristics and attitudes within the classroom and how these specific characteristics are associated with physically and relationally aggressive behavior and the overall climate of the classroom. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether teacher positivity is associated with student levels of physically and relationally aggressive behaviors in the classroom. This study specifically examined the relationship between (1) teacher positivity and student physical and relational aggression, (2) the relationship between classroom climate variables and student physical and relational aggression, and (3) differences in school, teacher, student, and classroom variables (teacher and student gender, student grade, and student ethnicity) based on the level of teacher positivity. Data were collected from 502 male (n=259) and female (n=243) 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students from two large urban elementary schools within the School District of Philadelphia during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school year. In addition to student participants, the third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers (n=18) also participated as part of the focus of a systematic observation tool developed by the lead researcher. Results from the first research question found no significant correlations between teacher positivity and non-compliant acts, the proportion of physically aggressive students or the proportion of relationally aggressive students. However, the proportion of physically aggressive students was significantly positively correlated with the average number of non-compliant acts (r = .603, p = .008). Results from the second research question found that the average number of non-compliant acts and the proportion of physically aggressive students was higher in classrooms where the minority of students was engaged and interested in the classroom activity. Results from the third research question showed only that there were differences between School 1 (m = 0.49, sd = .09) and School 2 (m = .29, sd = .14; t (16) = 3.56, p = .003) when comparing teacher positivity by school. Teacher, student, and classroom variables did not produce significant findings. Post hoc analyses, looking more specifically at the types of redirection and praise which composed the teacher positivity score, found correlations between the average number of noncompliant acts and universal redirections (r = .795, p = .000), the proportion of physically aggressive students and total teacher redirection (r = .479, p = .036), the proportion of physically aggressive students and specific teacher redirections (r = .540, p = .021), and the proportion of relationally aggressive students and teacher redirections (r = .477, p = .045) that occurred during an interruption. / School Psychology

In previous research on the importance of a peer group in shaping and supporting group members' antisocial behavior (e.g., aggression), researchers have focused on the influence of group norms on individuals' behavior. Two potential aspects of variability have been neglected: peers in a group would vary in the strength of influences on individuals, and individuals would vary in the openness to peer influences. Social learning theory and social impact theory suggest that a peer's social status would affect the strength of his/her influences on individuals' behavior. In this study, I investigated how social status is related to the strength of influences of peers in a group on individuals' aggression. Potential moderating effects of group characteristics (i.e., group status and group cohesion) were investigated. Moreover, individual characteristics (i.e., individual status and individuals' beliefs about aggression) were examined as factors which would influence individual member's openness to peer influences. Finally, previous studies have concentrated on the socialization of physical aggression in peer groups. In the current study, both physical and social aggression were investigated. A diverse sample of 7th-grade students (n = 336, mean age = 13.00) participated in this study. Data were collected in the fall (Time 1) and in the spring (Time 2) semesters of 7th grade. Group administration procedures were used to conduct a 45-minute survey session. Both forms of aggression, physical and social aggression, were measured by peer nominations and victim nominations at both time points. The Social Cognitive Map (SCM) procedure was used to identify peer groups in school at Time 1. A total of 245 individual members belonging to 65 groups were included for statistical analyses using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) procedure. Findings showed that after controlling for individual members' aggression at Time 1, individual members' aggression at Time 2 was positively and significantly associated with high-status peers' aggression at Time 1 rather than with low-status peers' aggression at Time 1. This pattern was found for both physical and social aggression. In terms of moderating effects of group-level factors, the association between individual members' physical aggression at Time 2 and high-status peers' physical aggression at Time 1 was found to be stronger in boys' groups than in girls' groups and stronger in a highly cohesive group than in a non-cohesive group. As to moderating effects of individual-level factors, the association between individual members' social aggression at Time 2 and high-status peers' social aggression at Time 1 was stronger for individuals with aggression-encouraging beliefs than for individuals with aggression-nonencouraging beliefs and stronger for low-status individuals than for high-status individuals. In summary, results from this study indicate that, in early adolescence, peers in a group differ in the strength of influences which varies across group and individual characteristics. These findings imply that future researchers should consider the variability in the strength of peer influences and in the openness of individuals to peer influences. In addition, special attention should be given to high-status aggressive youth in future prevention and intervention programs in order to reduce aggression and violence in school. / Psychology

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Although researchers studying adolescent aggression have proposed a conceptual distinction between physical and relational aggression, there is contradictory evidence regarding the degree to which they differ in their trajectories and relations to other outcomes. This study explored the importance of differentiating between these two forms of aggression based on comparisons of their trajectories, relation with each other, impact on delinquency and substance use, and gender differences. Data were collected as part of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project, conducted at 19 middle schools from four sites with a predominantly low-income, minority sample of students (N = 2,822). Growth curves showed significant linear increases and quadratic trends for physical and relational aggression. Boys and girls had similar shaped trajectories, but boys reported significantly higher levels of physical aggression than girls. Bivariate latent growth curve models and autoregressive models suggested that physical aggression was a stronger predictor of externalizing difficulties than relational aggression.

Nesta pesquisa, foi realizado o levantamento da ocorrência de traumatismos faciais e dentários. A autora utilizou na sua amostra 1.374 laudos de vítimas de traumatismos faciais presentes nos arquivos do Instituto Médico Legal do Município de Taubaté. A maioria das vítimas de traumatismos faciais (61,4%) da amostra é do sexo masculino, na faixa etária dos 20 aos 29 anos de idade e o agente etiológico mais freqüente foi a violência interpessoal. Dos traumatismos faciais, 93,1% das vítimas tiveram lesões de tecido mole, 2,5% apenas lesões de tecido duro e 4,4% apresentaram lesões associadas de tecido mole e duro. No que tange aos tecidos duros, verificou-se que 54,3% das vítimas sofreram somente fraturas ósseas, 31,4% tiveram lesões dentárias e 5,2% traumatismos ósteo-dentários. Os traumatismos dentários ocorreram com maior freqüência no sexo masculino (54,8%) e idade entre 20 a 29 anos e predominou como agente etiológico a violência interpessoal. A maioria das vítimas (61,3%) de traumatismos dentários teve o envolvimento de um único dente. A avaliação do dano, presente nos laudos, classificou a maioria dos traumas dentários como sendo de natureza grave (45,2%). Verificou-se também que, após a vigência da lei de obrigatoriedade do uso do cinto de segurança, houve uma redução de 5,9% nas vítimas de acidentes de trânsito com traumas faciais / This is a study of the occurrences of facial and dental traumas. Its sample was composed by 1.374 awards of facial traumas victims from the files of the Legal Medical Institute of Taubaté. On the sample, the majority of the victims with facial traumas are of the male gender (61,4%), at the age group of 20 to 29 years old, injured as a result of interpersonal violence – main etiological agent. Among facial traumas, 93,1% of the victims had soft tissue injuries, 2,5% had hard tissue injuries and 4,4% had both injuries. Concerning hard tissues, among the victims, 54,3% suffered only bone fractures, 31,4% suffered only dental injuries and 5,2% had both of them. The dental traumas occurred more frequently among the male gender (54,8%), aged between 20 and 29, and predominantly as consequence of interpersonal violence. The majority of the victims (61,3%) with dental traumas damaged only one tooth. According to the loss evaluation, from the awards, most of the dental traumas were of grave nature (45,2%). Another finding from the study was that after security belt became obligatory there has been a decrease of 5,9% of the victims from traffic accidents with facial traumas

Aggression in the context of marriage and family is a common and serious issue in therapy with couples and families. While it is known that aggression may be transferred across generations, the exact mechanism for how it is transmitted is not fully understood. This study presents adult attachment style as a moderator through which the relationship between family of origin aggression and marital aggression is developed. The present study examined Relationship Evaluation (RELATE) questionnaire data for 332 individuals. Anxious and avoidant attachment were examined as potential moderators between family of origin (FOO) physical aggression or parental hostile conflict style and marital physical and sexual aggression perpetration and victimization. Results indicate that for men, anxious attachment may be a moderator for FOO physical aggression or hostile conflict and marital sexual aggression perpetration, and that avoidant attachment may be a moderator for FOO hostile conflict and marital sexual aggression perpetration. For men, neither attachment style is a significant moderator in models analyzing FOO physical aggression or hostile conflict and marital outcomes including physical aggression perpetration or victimization, sexual aggression victimization, or hostile conflict. For women, anxious attachment may be a moderator for FOO physical aggression and marital physical aggression perpetration. No other models investigating marital physical aggression perpetration as a dependent variable were significant. For women, neither attachment style is a significant moderator in models analyzing FOO physical aggression or hostile conflict and marital outcomes including physical aggression victimization, sexual aggression victimization, sexual aggression perpetration, or hostile conflict. Future research should investigate adult attachment as a moderator of intergenerational transmission of aggression using larger and more heterogeneous samples with more precise measures of aggression to analyze more specific groups of insecure adults in the context of their partner's attachment style. Limitations and clinical implications of these results for therapists working with couples are discussed.