Attachment, Aggression and Victimization among Adolescents

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to determine if there is a relationship between attachment, proactive–reactive aggression and peer victimization among middle (aged between 13-15 years) and late adolescent (aged between 16-18 years) boys and girls. A non-probabilitypurposive sampling method was used to select asample (N=195) from different schools in Hyderabad. The Inventory of Parent Peer Attachment (Armsden& Greenberg, 1987), Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (Dodge &Coie, 1987) and Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale (Mynard& Joseph, 2000) were administered to measure attachment, aggression and victimization respectively. Significant gender differences were found in adolescents with respect to the dimensions of aggression and victimization (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were found in the developmental stage with respect to attachment, aggression and victimization. The study also found significant correlations between peer attachment, aggression and victimization (p<0.05).This study highlights the importance of helping adolescents increase their capabilities of adjusting emotions to a desired state and level of intensity and encourage them to engage in strategies to regulate negative emotions.