Abstract
Bullying and sibling aggression can appear as similar behavior, though the latter is comparatively understudied. Aligned with the Theory of Intergenerational Transmission of Violence, research suggests that exposure to family violence increases an individual's risk for perpetrating violence in their own future relationships. Additionally, Problem Behavior Theory suggests that engaging in one problem behavior (e.g., bullying) increases the likelihood of engaging in other problem behavior (e.g., substance use). In Phase 1, this study of middle school students from the U.S. examined how exposure to family violence predicted membership in latent classes of bullying and sibling aggression perpetration (N = 894, sampled from four middle schools). In Phase 2, we used mixture modeling to understand how latent classes of family violence, sibling aggression, and bullying predict future substance use, mental health outcomes, and deviance behavior later in high school. Results yielded four profiles of peer and sibling aggression: high all, high sibling aggression, high peer aggression, and low all aggression. Youth who reported witnessing more family violence at home were significantly more likely to fall into the sibling aggression only and high all classes, compared to the low all class. Phase 2 results also yielded four classes: a high all class, a sibling aggression and family violence class, a peer aggression class, and a low all class. Individuals in the high all class were more likely to experience several unfavorable outcomes (substance use, depression, delinquency) compared to other classes. This study provides evidence for pathways from witnessing violence, to perpetrating aggression across multiple contexts, to developing other deleterious mental and behavioral health outcomes. These findings highlight the negative impact family violence can have on child development, providing support for a cross-contextual approach for programming aimed at developing relationships skills.
Highlights
Aggressive behavior manifests across contexts and environments throughout adolescence, including school and home
Adolescence is a period of development when important physiological and psychological changes occur in conjunction with an increasing desire for autonomy, higher reliance on peers for social context, and a propensity for experimentation with high risk behavior
Minimal research exists on how sibling aggression relates to behavioral health outcomes among youth
Summary
Aggressive behavior manifests across contexts and environments throughout adolescence, including school (e.g., bullying peers) and home (e.g., sibling aggression). Results indicated youth exposed to parental violence early in adolescence and those who reported witnessing increasing community violence were more likely to engage in bullying and be victims of peer aggression. If youth witness positive outcomes of violence perpetration (e.g., an expression of jealousy), schemas develop that accept violence as effective means of conflict resolution with partners [71] Taken together, these somewhat siloed bodies of evidence suggest that witnessing family violence is associated with future violence perpetration, and that this behavior often manifest across close relationships, often perpetrated by the same individuals. We predicted that youth who endorse high aggression (both peer and sibling) as well as those who are exposed to high levels of family violence would have greater substance use, mental health problems, and engagement in greater delinquent behavior (H4)
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