Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Researchers have debated whether relational aggression is a developmentally normative behavior or a sign of some underlying psychopathology. However, due to the dearth of longitudinal studies, we know little about how relational aggression and more severe forms of disruptive behavior co-develop. The present study examined bidirectional associations between relational aggression and two psychiatric disorders, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD), using data from a longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin youth followed from age 10 to 16. Results showed that individuals who engaged in relational aggression tended to increase over time in ODD and CD symptoms, and conversely, individuals exhibiting symptoms of ODD and CD tended to increase in relational aggression. These findings held for boys and girls, for youth born in Mexico and the United States, and after controlling for physical aggression. Thus, relational aggression seems to be both a developmentally normative behavior and a predictor of future mental health problems.

Keywords

relational aggression longitudinal ODD CD

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Archer

Coyne

S. M.

(2005). An integrated review of indirect, relational, and social aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9, 212–230.

Berkout

O. V.

Young

J. N.

Gross

A. M.

(2011). Mean girls and bad boys: Recent research on gender differences in conduct disorder. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16, 503–511.

Buhs

E. S.

McGinley

Toland

M. D.

(2010). Overt and relational victimization in Latinos and European Americans: Measurement equivalence across ethnicity, gender, and grade level in early adolescent groups. Journal of Early Adolescence, 30, 171–197.

Card

N. A.

Stucky

B. D.

Sawalani

G. M.

Little

T. D.

(2008). Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Development, 79, 1185–1229.

Chaplin

T. M.

Cole

P. M.

Zahn-Waxler

(2005). Parental socialization of emotion expression: Gender differences and relations to child adjustment. Emotion, 5, 80–88.

Cheung

G. W.

Rensvold

R. B.

(2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255.

Clark

C. M.

Dahlen

E. R.

Nicholson

B. C.

(2015). The role of parenting in relational aggression and prosocial behavior among emerging adults. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 24, 185–202.

Crick

N. R.

Grotpeter

J. K.

(1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710–722.

Crick

N. R.

Ostrov

J. M.

Kawabata

(2007). Relational aggression and gender: An overview. In Flannery

D. J.

Vazsonyi

A. T.

Waldman

I. D.

(Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior (pp. 245–259). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

10.

Crick

N. R.

Ostrov

J. M.

Werner

N. E.

(2006). A longitudinal study of relational aggression, physical aggression, and children’s social-psychological adjustment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 131–142.

11.

Espelage

D. L.

Holt

M. K.

(2013). Suicidal ideation and school bullying experiences after controlling for depression and delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, S27–S31.

12.

Garcia-Coll

C. G.

Marks

A. K.

(2011). The immigrant paradox in children and adolescents: Is becoming American a developmental risk? Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

13.

Fontaine

Carbonneau

Vitaro

Barker

E. D.

Tremblay

R. E.

(2009). Research review: A critical review of studies on the developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior in females. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 363–385.

14.

Herzhoff

Tackett

J. L.

(2016). Subfactors of oppositional defiant disorder: Converging evidence from structural and latent class analyses. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57, 18–29.

15.

Bentler

P. M.

(1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.

16.

Keenan

Coyne

Lahey

B. B.

(2008). Should relational aggression be included in DSM-V? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 86–93.

17.

Kokkinos

C. M.

Panayiotou

(2004). Predicting bullying and victimization among early adolescents: Associations with disruptive behavior disorders. Aggressive Behavior, 30, 520–533.

18.

Meade

A. W.

Johnson

E. C.

Braddy

P. W.

(2008). Power and sensitivity of alternative fit indices in tests of measurement invariance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 568–592.

19.

Moretti

M. M.

Holland

McKay

(2001). Self–other representations and relational and overt aggression in adolescent girls and boys. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 19, 109–126.

20.

Murray-Close

Nelson

D. A.

Ostrov

J. M.

Casas

J. F.

Crick

N. R.

(2016). Relational aggression: A developmental psychopathology perspective. In Cicchetti

Cohen

D. J.

(Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (pp. 185–202). New York, NY: Springer.

21.

Neary

Joseph

(1994). Peer victimization and its relationship to self-concept and depression among schoolgirls. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 183–186.

22.

Prinstein

M. J.

Boergers

Vernberg

E. M.

(2001). Overt and relational aggression in adolescents: Social-psychological adjustment of aggressors and victims. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 30, 479–491.

23.

Rowe

Costello

E. J.

Angold

Copeland

W. E.

Maughan

(2010). Developmental pathways in oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 726–738.

24.

Shaffer

Fisher

Lucas

C. P.

Dulcan

M. K.

Schwab-Stone

M. E.

(2000). NIMH DISC Version IV: Description, differences from previous versions, and reliability of some common diagnoses. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 28–38.

25.

Stringaris

Goodman

(2009). Three dimensions of oppositionality in youth. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 216–233.

26.

Tackett

J. L.

Kushner

S. C.

Herzhoff

Smack

A. J.

Reardon

K. W.

(2014). Viewing relational aggression through multiple lenses: Temperament, personality, and personality pathology. Developmental Psychopathology, 26, 863–877.

27.

Tackett

Ostrov

(2010). Measuring relational aggression in middle childhood in a multi-informant multi-method study. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32, 490–500.

28.

Voulgaridou

Kokkinos

C. M.

(2015). Relational aggression in adolescents: A review of theoretical and empirical research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 23, 87–97.

29.

White

B. A.

Gordon

Guerra

R. C.

(2015). Callous-unemotional traits and empathy in proactive and reactive relational aggression in young women. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 185–189.

30.

Yoon

J. S.

Barton

Taiariol

(2004). Relational aggression in middle school educational implications of developmental research. Journal of Early Adolescence, 24, 303–318.

31.

Zalecki

C. A.

Hinshaw

S. P.

(2004). Overt and relational aggression in girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 125–137.

32.

Zimmer-Gembeck

M. J.

Geiger

T. C.

Crick

N. R.

(2005). Relational and physical aggression, prosocial behavior, and peer relations gender moderation and bidirectional associations. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25, 421–452.

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.

0.00 MB

0.12 MB

The Co-development of Relational Aggression and Disruptive Behavior Symptoms From Late Childhood Through Adolescence

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material