This prospective study found that self-reported attitudes toward peer aggression among 403 middle school students were both internally consistent (Cronbach's alphas = .81 and .82) and stable over time (7-month test—retest r = .66). Most notably, aggressive attitudes were correlated with 4 outcome criteria for aggressive behavior: student self-report of peer aggression, peer and teacher nominations of bullying, and school discipline referrals. Significant correlations ranged from .09 to .37. Receiver operating characteristic analyses resulted in effect sizes ranging from .59 to .75. Overall, this study demonstrates that assessment of student attitudes toward aggression yields concurrent and predictive information related to a range of aggressive and disruptive behaviors in middle school.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Albemarle County Public Schools. (2001). 2001 annual progress report. Retrieved March 29, 2002 , from http://k12.Albemarle.org.
2.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Bentley, K.M., & Li, A.K. (1995). Bully and victim problems in elementary schools and students' beliefs about aggression. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 11, 153— 165.
4.
Berkowitz, L. (1993). Aggression: Its causes, consequences, and control . Philadephia: Temple University Press.
5.
Bosworth, K., Espelage, D.L., & Simon, T.R. (1999). Factors associated with bullying behavior in middle school students. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19, 341—362.
6.
Brockenbrough, K.K. (2000). Peer victimization and bullying prevention among middle school students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
7.
Brockenbrough, K., & Cornell, D. (2000, August). Middle school bullying. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association National Convention, Washington, DC.
8.
Cornell, D.G., & Loper, A.B. (1998). Assessment of violence and other high-risk behaviors with a school survey. School Psychology Review, 27, 317—330.
9.
Cuddy, M.E., & Frame, C. (1991). Comparison of aggressive and nonaggressive boys self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs. Child Study Journal, 21, 135—151.
10.
Dodge, K.A. (1991). The structure and function of reactive and proactive aggression. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 201—218). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
11.
Fetters, W.B., Stowe, P.S., & Owings, J.A. (1984). High school and beyond: A national longitudinal study for the 1980's. Quality of responses of high school students to questionnaire items (NCES Report 84-216). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
12.
Garrity, C., Jens, K., Porter, W., Sager, N., & Short-Camilli, C. (1994). Bully-proofing your school . Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
13.
Guerra, N.G., Eron, L.D., Huesmann, L.R., Tolan, P., & Van Acker, R. (1997). A cognitive-ecological approach to the prevention and mitigation of violence and aggression in inner city youth. In D. Fry & K. Bjorkqvist (Eds.), Cultural variation in conflict resolution: Alternatives to violence (pp. 199—213). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
14.
Guerra, N.G., & Slaby, R.G. (1990). Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: II. Intervention. Developmental Psychology, 26, 269—277.
15.
Huesmann, L.R., & Guerra, N.G. (1997). Children's normative beliefs about aggression and aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 408—419.
16.
Huesmann, L.R., Guerra, N.G., Eron, L.D., Miller, L., Zelli, A., Wroblewska, J., & Adami, P. (1991). Mitigating the developing of aggression in young children by changing their cognition. Aggressive Behavior , 17, 75—76.
17.
Huesmann, L.R., Guerra, N.G., Miller, L., & Zelli, A. (1992). The role of social norms in the development of aggression. In H. Zumkley & A. Fraczek (Eds.), Socialization and aggression (pp. 139—151). New York: Springer-Verlag .
18.
Lochman, J.E., & Dodge, K.A. (1994). Social-cognitive processes of severely violent, moderately aggressive and nonaggressive boys. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 366—374.
19.
Meyer, G.J., Finn, S.E., Eyde, L.D., Kay, G.G., Moreland, K.L., Dies, R.R., et al. (2001). Psychological testing and psychological assessment: A review of evidence and issues. American Psychologist , 56, 128—165.
20.
Mossman, D. (1994). Assessing predictions of violence: Being accurate about accuracy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 62, 783—792.
21.
Nansel, T.R., Overbeck, M., Pilla, R.S., Ruan, W.J., Simons-Martin, B., & Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying behavior among U.S. youth: Prevalance and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of theAmerican Medical Association, 285, 2094—2100.
22.
Nolin, M.J., Davies, E., & Chandler, K. (1996). Student victimization at school. Journal of School Health, 66, 216—226.
23.
Olweus, D. (1991). Bully/victim problems among school children: Basic facts and effects of a school-based intervention program. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 411—447). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
24.
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying in schools: What we know and what we can do. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
25.
Olweus, D. (1994). Information about bully/ victim questionnaire and video. Bergen, Norway.
26.
O'Toole, M.E. (2000). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective . Quantico, VA: Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.
27.
Perry, D.G., Perry, L.C., & Rasmussen, P. (1986). Cognitive social learning mediators of aggression . Child Development, 57, 700— 711.
28.
Pepler, D. J., & Rubin, K. H. (Eds.). (1991). The development and treatment of childhood aggression. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
29.
Reddy, M., Borum, R., Berglund, J., Vossekuil, B., Fein, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2001). Evaluating risk for targeted violence in schools: Comparing risk assessment, threat assessment, and other approaches. Psychology in the Schools, 38, 157—172.
30.
Rice, M., & Harris, G. (1995). Violent recidivism: Assessing predictive validity . Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 131, 615—627.
31.
Rigby, K., & Slee, P.T. (1991). Bullying among Australian school children: Reported behavior and attitudes toward victims. Journal of Social Psychology , 131, 615—627.
32.
Rosenthal, R. (1990). How are we doing in soft psychology?American Psychologist, 45, 775—777.
33.
Rosenthal, R., & Rubin, K. (1982). A simple, general purpose display of magnitude of experimental effect. Journal of Educational Psychology , 74, 166—169.
34.
Slaby, R., & Guerra, N. (1988). Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: 1. Assessment. Developmental Psychology, 24, 580—588.
35.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics. (1998, March). Violence and discipline problems in U.S. public schools: 1996—1997 (NCES No. 98-030). Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
36.
Zelli, A., Dodge, K.A., Lochman, J.E., & Laird, R.D. (1999). The distinction between beliefs legitimizing aggression and deviant processing of social cues: Testing measurement validity and the hypothesis that biased processing mediates the effects of beliefs on aggression . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 150—165.
