This study tested the hypothesis that 12-month-old infants’ use of force against peers is associated with known risk factors for violence. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study, which included laboratory observations of firstborn British infants (N = 271) during simulated birthday parties. No gender differences in aggressiveness were observed. The infants’ observed aggressiveness was significantly correlated with mothers’ mood disorder during pregnancy and with mothers’ history of conduct problems. Infants’ observed aggressiveness was correlated with parents’ ratings of infants’ anger and aggression, which were also predicted by mothers’ mood disorder and history of conduct problems. Our findings indicate that infants at risk for serious aggression can already be identified when the motor ability to use physical force first enters the human repertoire.
AlinkL. R.MesmanJ.van ZeijlJ.StolkM. N.JufferF.KootH. M.van IjzendoornM. H. (2006). The early childhood aggression curve: Development of physical aggression in 10- to 50-month-old children. Child Development, 77, 954–966.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
BaillargeonR. H.ZoccolilloM.KeenanK.CôtéS.PérusseD.WuH. X.TremblayR. E. (2007). Gender differences in physical aggression: A prospective population-based survey of children before and after 2 years of age. Developmental Psychology, 43, 13–26.
4.
BridgesK. M. B. (1933). A study of social development in early infancy. Child Development, 4, 36–49.
5.
BronsonW. C. (1981). Toddlers’ behavior with agemates: Issues of interaction, cognition, and affect. Norton, NJ: Ablex.
CaplanM.VespoJ. E.PedersenJ.HayD. F. (1991). Conflict and its resolution in small groups of one- and two-year-olds. Child Development, 62, 1513–1524.
8.
CôtéS.VaillancourtT.LeBlancJ. C.NaginD. S.TremblayR. E. (2006). The development of physical aggression from toddlerhood to pre-adolescence: A nationwide longitudinal study of Canadian children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 71–85.
9.
DionneG.TremblayR. E.BoivinM.LaplanteD.PérusseD. (2003). Physical aggression and expressive vocabulary in 19-month-old twins. Developmental Psychology, 39, 261–273.
10.
EckermanC. O.WhatleyJ.KutzS. L. (1975). Growth of social play with peers during the second year of life. Developmental Psychology, 11, 42–49.
11.
EggerH. L.AngoldA. (2006). Common emotional and behavioral disorders in preschool children: Presentation, nosology, and epidemiology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 313–337.
12.
EliasP.McKnightA.KinshottG. (1999). Redefining skill: Revision of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2000) (Skills Task Force Research Paper 19). Nottingham, England: DfEE Publications.
13.
FagotB.LeveL. D. (1998). Teacher ratings of externalizing behavior at school entry for boys and girls: Similar early predictors and different correlates. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39, 555–546.
14.
HayD. F.CastleJ.DaviesL. (2000). Toddlers’ use of force against familiar peers: A precursor of serious aggression?Child Development, 71, 457–467.
15.
HayD. F.NashA.CaplanM.IshikawaF.VespoJ. E. (2011). The emergence of gender differences in physical aggression in the context of conflict between young peers. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 29, 158–175.
16.
HayD. F.PawlbyS.WatersC. S.PerraO.SharpD. (2010). Mothers’ antenatal depression and their children’s antisocial outcomes. Child Development, 81, 149–165.
17.
HayD. F.PerraO.HudsonK.WatersC. S.MundyL.GoodyerI., . . . CCDS Team (2010). Identifying precursors to aggression: Psychometric properties of the Cardiff Infant Contentiousness Scale (CICS). Aggressive Behavior, 36, 351–357.
18.
HayD. F.RossH. S. (1982). The social nature of early conflict. Child Development, 53, 105–111.
19.
HowesC.MathesonC. C. (1992). Sequences in the development of competent play with peers: Social and social pretend play. Developmental Psychology, 28, 961–974.
20.
KeenanK.BoeldtD.ChenD.CoyneC.DonaldR.DuaxJ.HumphriesM. (2011). Predictive validity of DSM-IV oppositional defiant and conduct disorders in clinically referred preschoolers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 47–55.
21.
KeenanK.WakschlagL. (2004). Are oppositional-defiant and conduct disorder symptoms normative behaviors in preschoolers? A comparison of referred and non-referred children. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 356–358.
22.
MakiP.VeijulaJ.RasanenP.JouleamaaM.ValonenP.JokelainenJ.IsohanniM. (2003). Criminality in the offspring of antenatally depressed mothers: A 33-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders, 74, 273–278.
23.
MaughanB.TaylorC.TaylorA.ButlerN.BynnerJ. (2001). Pregnancy smoking and childhood conduct problems: A causal association?Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 1021–1028.
24.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2004). Trajectories of physical aggression from toddlerhood to middle childhood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 69(4).
25.
O’ConnorT. G.HeronJ.GoldingJ.BeveridgeM.GloverV. (2002). Maternal antenatal anxiety and children’s behavioral/emotional problems at 4 years: Report from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. British Journal of Psychiatry, 180, 502–508.
26.
RiceF.HaroldG. T.BoivinJ.van den BreeM.HayD. F.ThaparA. (2010). The links between prenatal stress and offspring development and psychopathology: Disentangling environmental and inherited influences. Psychological Medicine, 40, 335–345.
27.
ThaparA.FowlerT.RiceF.ScourfieldJ.van den BreeM.ThomasH.. . . HayD. (2003). Maternal smoking during pregnancy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in offspring. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1985–1989.
28.
TremblayR. E. (2010). Developmental origins of disruptive behaviour problems: The ‘original sin’ hypothesis, epigenetics and their consequences for prevention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 341–367.
29.
TremblayR. E.NaginD. S.SéguinJ. R.ZoccolilloM.ZelazoP. D.BoivinM.. . . JapelC. (2004). Physical aggression during early childhood: Trajectories and predictors. Pediatrics, 114, e43–e50.
30.
WakschlagL. S.Briggs-GowanM. J.CarterA. S.HillC.DanisB.KeenanK. J.. . . LeventhalB. L. (2007). A developmental framework for distinguishing disruptive behavior from normative misbehavior in preschool children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 976–987.
31.
WarnekenF.TomaselloM. (2009). The roots of human altruism. British Journal of Psychology, 100, 455–471.
32.
WilliamsS. T.OntaiL. L.MastergeorgeA. M. (2007). Reformulating infant and toddler social competence with peers. Infant Behavior and Development, 30, 353–365.
33.
WingJ. K.BaborT.BrughaT.BurkeJ.CooperJ. E.GielR.SartoriusN. (1990). SCAN: Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 589–593.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
