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Relationships Between Adolescent Aggression and Functioning in Peer Settings. F. Christy McFarland Penny Marsh Maryfrances Porter Joseph P. Allen. Aggression in Adolescence.
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Relationships Between Adolescent Aggression and Functioning in Peer Settings F. Christy McFarland Penny Marsh Maryfrances Porter Joseph P. Allen
Aggression in Adolescence • General trend reported in longitudinal research is that group means for aggression tend to be quite stable or slowly decreasing during adolescence (Bongers et al., 2004) • Gender differences have also been previously reported – with girls showing an overall stable level and the level for boys decreasing during this time span (Bongers et al., 2004) • If the group trend is stability or decreasing aggression, are groups or individuals who demonstrate increasing aggression across this period at risk for other negative outcomes?
Aggression and Social Functioning • In childhood research, aggression is often related to peer rejection with aggressive-rejected children tending to show the most negative outcomes • Is aggression related to rejection or acceptance in a broad peer group in adolescence as well? • Is aggression related to the quality of close friendships in adolescence?
Sample • 182 Adolescents, their Best Friends, and Close Friends • Group of target adolescents is 54% Female • Assessed Annually, beginning at approximately Age 13 • Community-based Sample from a small urban area. Recruited through the local public school system – all target adolescents attend the same school at the time of first assessment • Highly Socio-economically Diverse (Median Family Income between $40,000 and $60,000) • 31% - African American; 69% European American
Measures • Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) • Only using the aggression subscale (for example – is mean to others, gets in many fights, threatens people, demands attention.) • Friendship Quality Questionnaire (FQQ) • Using the conflict and betrayal scales and a total support scale (all positive ratings of the friendship). • Peer Autonomy and Relatedness Task (Mars Task) • teens and Best friends have an up to 8 minutes discussion about choices from a vignette(Allen, Porter & McFarland 2002).
Measures • Self report Peer pressure questions in a Harter format – completed by both target adolescents and best friends • Sociometrics – ratings completed by target adolescents and friends. 420 teens completed ratings of students in their grade. At time 1, approximately 34% of the school was sampled.
Basic Latent Growth Curve Model Used Slope Intercept Outcome Variable Adolescent Aggression Grade 7 Adolescent Aggression Grade 8 Adolescent Aggression Grade 9 Adolescent Aggression Grade 10
Summary of Latent Growth Curve Results • Teens who have a higher overall level of aggression report higher levels of conflict in their close friendships • Teens who have a higher overall level of aggression have more conflict in their close friendships (as reported by the BF). • Teens with increasing levels of aggression from 7th to 10th grade also have Best Friends who rate their friendship as having higher levels of conflict and betrayal. • Teens who have a higher overall level of aggression have lowers levels of support in their close friendships (as reported by BF). • Teens with higher levels of overall aggression have best friends that report feeling more pressured by friends. • Teens with higher levels of overall aggression are less accepted by the broad peer group.
Summary of results • Higher overall levels of adolescent aggression across grades 7 to 10 is related to the following: • Close friends of the adolescent reporting feeling more pressured by their friends • Higher levels of conflict in relationships with best friends (as reported by both the best friend and the target adolescent) • This result only holds for boys when girls and boys are considered separately. • Lower levels of support in their relationship with their best friend (as reported by the best friend). • Adolescents being less popular in grade 10
Summary of results • Increasing levels of adolescent aggression across grades 7 to 10 is related to the following: • Poorer quality friendship with Best Friend as rated by the Best Friend
Latent Class Analyses (LCA) • CBCL items – best friend ratings of impulsivity and aggression subscale items for 8th- 10th grade • 3 levels of symptoms: • impulsivity • examples: can’t sit still, restless or hyperactive • mild aggression • examples: frequent mood swings, temper tantrums, is mean to others • moderate aggression • cruel to animals, thinks others are out to get him/her, gets in many fights
Latent Class Analyses • For each symptom level, an overall score reflecting the complete absence of any of the symptoms versus the presence of any one of the symptoms was created 0 = no symptoms in that level endorsed by best friend, 1 = at least 1 symptom in that level endorsed by best friend • Separate LCA’s were performed at each grade including a regression of the latent class variable on gender. • Latent Class membership at each age was not significantly related to family income.
LCA – Gender Differences • Only in 8th grade is there a significant association between class and gender (c2=5.66, df=1, p<.02) • In 8th grade, girls are more likely than expected to be in the Moderate Problem Class
Gender Differences in Class Composition • The only significant gender difference in class composition is in the levels of impulsivity between girls and boys in 8th grade in the Moderate Problem Class. • 76% of girls in this class were rated as impulsive • 93% of boys in this class were rated as impulsive
Latent Classes Over Time r 8,9=.23** r 9,10 = .26**
Aggression Latent Classes and Social Functioning • Aggression and Peer Acceptance
Aggression Latent Classes and Friendship • Aggression and Friendship Quality
Aggression Latent Classes and Friendship • Measures of Poor Friendship Quality with Best Friend
Aggression Latent Classes and Friendship • Teen Promoting Autonomy in Interactions with Best Friend
Conclusions • While the overall group levels of aggression are relatively stable, boys and girls showed different group trends from 7th to 10th grade. • Girls were more likely to be found in a Moderate Problem Class in 8th grade (when considering impulsive and aggressive symptoms). There is no association between problem class and gender in grades 9 and 10. • From Grade 8 to Grade 10, the Low Problem Class showed decreasing levels of Impulsivity and increasing levels of Mild and Moderate Aggression.
Conclusions • From Grade 8 to Grade 10, the moderate Problem Class showed increasing levels of Moderate Aggression and relatively constant levels of Impulsivity and Mild Aggression. • Aggression is related to several indices of social functioning in adolescence: • Teens who are more aggressive tend to be less socially accepted and have poorer quality friendships. • Teens aggression during one grade also appears to influence their social acceptance during the following school years.
Acknowledgments • Jill Antonishak Jennifer Haynes • Jessica Meyer Mindy Schmidt • Katie Little Elizabeth Ball • Nell Manning Amanda Hare • Wrenn Thompson • Thanks to Dr. Jack McArdle for his assistance with data analysis. • Copies of this Talk & Related Papers will be available at: www.teenresearch.org