Social Support and Aggressive Behavior in Young Children

Abstract

This study considered the relationship between social support and aggressive behavior in a sample of 5to 7-year-old children from low-income families. Support networks were defined to include older siblings, fathers, and other adults who performed any of three child-care functions: physical maintenance, nurturance, and discipline. Both interview and observational data were used to assess the child's support network. The results indicate that the relationship between social support and aggression is influenced by both the category of network member and the type of support offered by network members. Applications of network analysis in the provision of services to families under stress are discussed. The importance of social support in moderating the effects of life stress for adults has long been recognized (Caplan, 1974; Cobb, 1976; Dean & Lin, 1977; Kaplan, Cassel, & Gore, 1973). A main conclusion of this literature is that under conditions of high stress, the presence of social support-defined as emotional and instrumental assistance from others-can decrease the susceptibility of the individual to both physical and emotional problems. Social support may be of importance to the child living under stressful conditions such as poverty, separation and divorce, or maternal mental ill health. These conditions tend to interfere with the mother-child relationship, in that mothers under stress find it difficult to provide nurturance and emotional support and often exhibit harshness and inconsistency in discipline (Blumenthal & Dielman, 1975; Cohler et al., 1974; Giovannoni & Billingsley, 1970; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1978; Longfellow, Zelkowitz, & Saunders, 1982; Weissman & Paykel, 1974). These patterns of maternal behavior have been found to be associated with aggressive behavior in children (Martin, 1975). It is not clear whether stress contributes directly to the development of children's behavior problems. Some studies have not found a direct relationship between life stress and children's social adjustment (Gersten, Langer, Eisenberg, & Simcha-Fagan, 1977; Zelkowitz, 1982). However, a model can be developed in which life stress affects the mother's ability to nurture her child, which in turn is related to the social adjustment of the child. The child's negative social behavior may further erode the mother's capacity to discipline effectively by undermining her self-esteem and inducing feelings of depression. This vicious cycle may result in rapid deterioration of the child's social adjustment (Patterson, 1980). Nonetheless, in many families which are subject to stressfu I I if e ci rcu mstances, the children do not exhibit behavior problems (Rutter, 1978). One possible protective factor might be the availability of social support for the child. Such support, which may be defined as the gratification of the child's basic needs for physical care, nurturance, and discipline by individuals other than the mother, might have a salutary effect on children's social adjustment under conditions of low maternal nurturance. There is some evidence that children can benefit from support in times of stress. In a study of the effects of stressful life events on a sample of low-income children in kindergarten through third grade, Sandler (1980) found that the presence of an older sib-