"Do you trust him?" Children's trust beliefs and developmental trajectories of aggressive behavior in an ethnically diverse sample.

Tina Malti,Margit Averdijk,Ken J. Rotenberg,Manuel P. Eisner,Denis Ribeaud

doi:10.1007/s10802-012-9687-7

Abstract

This study investigated the role of trust beliefs (i.e., trustworthiness, trustfulness) on aggression trajectories in a four-wave longitudinal study using an ethnically diverse sample of 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 1,028), as well as the risk profiles of low trust beliefs and low socioeconomic status on aggression trajectories. At Time 1 to Time 4, teachers provided ratings of overt aggressive behavior. At Time 1, children’s trust beliefs were assessed by a sociometric peer nomination instrument and derived using social relations analysis. Latent growth curve analysis revealed five trajectories of aggressive behavior: high-stable, medium-stable, low-stable, increasing, and decreasing. As hypothesized, children in the high-stable trajectory were perceived as less trustworthy than children in the low-stable, medium-stable, and increasing trajectories. Children in the high-stable trajectory were less trustful than children in the low-stable trajectory and had a significantly higher risk profile (i.e., low trust beliefs and low SES) compared to children in the low-stable trajectory. Our findings indicate that the developmental course of aggression during middle childhood is predicted by children’s trustworthiness and trustfulness. A risk profile of low trust and low socioeconomic status contributes to high-stable aggression trajectories.

Highlights

From early on, developmental scientists and clinicians alike have stressed the role of early trust in children’s psychosocial development and mental health outcomes
The analyses proceeded in three steps: First, we identified the best-fitting trajectory model for aggressive behavior using the SAS PROC TRAJ groupbased modeling procedure (Jones and Nagin 2007; Jones et al 2001)
Multinomial regression analyses were estimated by assessing the relationship between trust beliefs and the trajectories

Summary

Introduction

Developmental scientists and clinicians alike have stressed the role of early trust in children’s psychosocial development and mental health outcomes. Being perceived as trustworthy and trusting others are important components of one’s social reputation (Fehr 2009). These, in turn, are important in determining a child’s attributions about a peer’s aggressive behavior and their behavior toward that peer (Dodge 1980). Research has revealed a clear link between the frequency of children’s aggressive behavior and the maintenance of a negative peer reputation (Rubin et al 2006). What is not known though, is if and how trust is associated with the development of overt aggressive behavior. It is intriguing to study if children who are mistrusted by others and who mistrust others remain stable in aggression over time

Methods

Results

Conclusion