Peer Nominations Of Aggression Research Articles

Associations between multisystem stress reactivity and peer nominated aggression in early childhood vary by sex

There is emerging evidence that the development of problematic aggression in childhood may be associated with specific physiological stress response patterns, with both biological overactivation and underactivation implicated. This study tested associations between sex-specific patterns of stress responses across the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and peer nominations of aggression among 271 kindergarten children (Mean age = 5.32 years; 52% Female; 44% White). Upon entry to kindergarten, children participated in a multidomain standardized stress paradigm. Changes in pre-ejection period (PEP) and salivary cortisol were assessed. On a separate day, children provided peer ratings of physical and relational aggression in a standardized interview. As expected, there was a significant three-way interaction between PEP, cortisol reactivity, and sex, but only for physical aggression. Among boys, cortisol reactivity was positively associated with physical aggression only for those with higher SNS reactivity. Findings suggest that for boys, asymmetrical and symmetrical HPA/SNS reactivity may be associated with lower and higher risk for peer-directed physical aggression, respectively. Understanding the complex associations between multisystem physiology, child sex and peer-directed aggression in early childhood may offer insight into individual differences underlying the emergence of behavioral dysregulation in early peer contexts.

Predicting psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood from social behaviors and neighborhood contexts in childhood

Research showing that risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychosis, and other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood is multidetermined has underscored the necessity of studying the additive and interactive factors in childhood that precede and predict future disorders. In this study, risk for the development of psychosis-spectrum disorders was examined in a 2-generation, 30-year prospective longitudinal study of 3,905 urban families against a sociocultural backdrop of changing economic and social conditions. Peer nominations of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability and national census information on neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood, as well as changes in neighborhood socioeconomic conditions over the lifespan, were examined as predictors of diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychosis-spectrum disorders in adulthood relative to developing only nonpsychotic disorders or no psychiatric disorders. Individuals who were both highly aggressive and highly withdrawn were at greater risk for other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses when they experienced greater neighborhood disadvantage in childhood or worsening neighborhood conditions over maturation. Males who were highly aggressive but low on withdrawal were at greater risk for schizophrenia diagnoses. Childhood neighborhood disadvantage predicted both schizophrenia and bipolar diagnoses, regardless of childhood social behavior. Results provided strong support for multiple-domain models of psychopathology, and suggest that universal preventive interventions and social policies aimed at improving neighborhood conditions may be particularly important for decreasing the prevalence of psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in the future.

Childhood and adolescent predictors of early and middle adulthood alcohol use and problem drinking: the Columbia County Longitudinal Study

To examine the role of individually and contextually based factors measured during childhood and adolescence in predicting alcohol use and abuse measured during early and middle adulthood. Initial sample of 856 individuals first interviewed at age 8 with follow-up interviews at 19 (n = 427), 30 (n = 409), and 48 (n = 523). Individuals enrolled in 3rd-grade classes in Columbia County, NY, in 1960 (49% female; > 90% Caucasian; primarily working-class families), who were re-sampled in 1970 (51% female), 1981 (52% female) and 2000 (49% female). Parent reports of negative family interaction and socio-economic status when the child was 8 years old; IQ test at age 8; peer nominations of aggression, popularity and behavioral inhibition at ages 8 and 19; self-report of depression and educational attainment at age 19; self-report of alcohol use and problem drinking at ages 30 and 48. Path models showed that the effects of childhood individual variables (e.g. aggression, popularity, behavioral inhibition) on adulthood alcohol use and abuse generally were mediated by the same behavioral variables in adolescence. Specifically, both for males and for females, lower levels of behavioral inhibition and higher levels of aggression predicted adulthood alcohol variables. Childhood contextual variables (family socio-economic status and negative family interaction) were relatively weak predictors of adulthood alcohol use and abuse. Alcohol use and abuse in adulthood, when considered in a long-term developmental-contextual framework, appear to be consistent with a general deviance model of problem behavior whereby individually based factors from childhood and late adolescence predict long-term indices of adulthood alcohol use and abuse.

Physical Abuse, Cognitive and Emotional Processes, and Aggressive/Disruptive Behavior Problems

AbstractCognitive and emotional processes were examined in maltreated children with a history of physical abuse (n = 76), children with a history of maltreatment other than physical abuse (i.e., sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional maltreatment; n = 91), and a group of non‐maltreated comparison children (N = 100). Physical abuse was associated with errors in cue interpretation, easy access to aggressive responses to conflict, and poor emotion regulation. In turn, maladaptive cognitive and emotional processes made unique contributions to explaining the relationship between physical abuse and peer nominations of aggression and disruptive behavior. Maltreated children who had not been physically abused evidenced a trend toward cognitive and emotional maladaptation, but only poor emotion regulation accounted for aggression and disruptive behavior in these children. The findings emphasize the importance of considering multiple domains of development in efforts to understand how varying forms of child maltreatment contribute to later maladjustment.

Associations between Peer Nominations, Teacher Ratings, Self-Reports, and Observations of Malicious and Disruptive Behavior

This study evaluates the validity of two aggression scales for predicting observations of malicious or disruptive behavior at school. Subgroups of a sample of 1,560 children (age 8.6+/-1.5 years) were assessed using (a) peer nominations of aggression, (b) teacher reports on the Teacher Report Form (TRF) of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Aggression scale and the peer nomination items, or (c) self-reports on the peer nomination items. Criteria were observations of physical, verbal, initiated, retaliatory, malicious, and disruptive behaviors. Teacher report peer nominations predicted observed physical, verbal, initiated, and retaliatory aggression and disruptive behavior. Peer nominations predicted physical aggression, verbal aggression, initiation and disruptive behavior, and TRFs predicted verbal, initiated, and disruptive behavior. Self-reports did not significantly predict any behavior. Implications for assessment of aggression are discussed.

Validity of teacher ratings in selecting influential aggressive adolescents for a targeted preventive intervention.

This study describes a method for using teacher nominations and ratings to identify socially influential, aggressive middle school students for participation in a targeted violence prevention intervention. The teacher nomination method is compared with peer nominations of aggression and influence to obtain validity evidence. Participants were urban, predominantly African American and Latino sixth-grade students who were involved in a pilot study for a large multi-site violence prevention project. Convergent validity was suggested by the high correlation of teacher ratings of peer influence and peer nominations of social influence. The teacher ratings of influence demonstrated acceptable sensitivity and specificity when predicting peer nominations of influence among the most aggressive children. Results are discussed in terms of the application of teacher nominations and ratings in large trials and full implementation of targeted prevention programs.

Trajectories of Peer-Nominated Aggression: Risk Status, Predictors and Outcomes

Developmental trajectories of peer-nominated aggression, risk factors at baseline, and outcomes were studied. Peer nominations of aggression were obtained annually from grades 1 to 3. Three developmental trajectories were identified: an early-onset/increasers trajectory with high levels of peer-nominated aggression at elementary school entry and increasing levels throughout follow-up; a moderate-persistent trajectory of aggression in which children were characterized by moderate levels of physical aggression at baseline; and a third trajectory with stable low levels of aggression. Children following the early-onset/increasers trajectory showed physical forms of aggression at baseline. Male gender and comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity problems, oppositional defiant problems and poor prosocial behavior plus negative life events predicted which children would follow the early-onset/increasers trajectory of aggression. The outcomes associated with the early-onset/increaser children suggest high risk for chronically high levels of aggressive behavior.

Further Support for the Developmental Significance of the Quality of the Teacher–Student Relationship

Sociometric nominations and ratings assessed peers' perceptions of supportive and conflicted teacher–student relationships, evaluations of children's positive and negative attributes, and peer-rated liking. Participants were 993 third- and fourth-grade children. Girls obtained higher Teacher Support and lower Teacher Conflict scores compared with boys. The pattern of correlations between teacher–student relationship scores and other peer evaluations was comparable across genders. Both Teacher Support and Teacher Conflict made independent contributions to peer evaluations of children's competencies and acceptance of children. Teacher Support contributes to the prediction of social preference scores beyond that predicted by peer nominations of aggression. Teacher ratings of aggression were available for a subsample of 71 behaviorally at-risk children. For this subsample, Teacher Support predicted social preference scores after controlling for both peer nominations of aggression and teacher ratings of aggression. Peers' perceptions of Teacher Support may function as an “affective bias,” influencing both perceptions of child competencies and liking for the child. Implications of these findings for classroom-based interventions with peer-rejected children are discussed.

Low salivary cortisol and persistent aggression in boys referred for disruptive behavior.

Persistent antisocial behavior in adulthood is often preceded by childhood-onset aggressive conduct disorder. Aggressive syndromes in both children and adults have previously been associated with abnormalities in peripheral responses to stress. One peripheral measure, salivary cortisol concentration, may reflect individual differences in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that underlie propensities for aggression, socialization, and adaptation to stress. The relationship between salivary cortisol levels and aggression was tested in 38 clinic-referred school-aged boys. Persistent aggression was measured by collecting disruptive behavior disorder symptoms in 4 annual clinical evaluations and peer nominations of aggression in the first 2 annual evaluations. Salivary cortisol levels were measured during years 2 and 4 of the study. Low cortisol levels were associated with persistence and early onset of aggression, particularly when measures of cortisol concentrations were pooled. Boys with low cortisol concentrations at both time points exhibited triple the number of aggressive symptoms and were named as most aggressive by peers 3 times as often as boys who had higher cortisol concentrations at either sampling time. This suggests that low hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity is a correlate of severe and persistent aggression in male children and adolescents. A restricted (low) range of cortisol variability may be more indicative of persistent aggression than a low concentration of cortisol at any single point in time.

Early Peer Rejection and Aggression: Longitudinal Relations with Adolescent Behavior

The purpose of the present study was to examine the longitudinal relations between peer nominations for aggression and rejection in first grade, and aggressive behavior, pyschological-well being, and academic achievement in early adolescence. We found that peer nominations of aggression as early as the first grade are predictive of multiple indicators of aggressive behavior in early adolescence, particularly for boys. Early peer rejection also appears to make a unique contribution to adolescent aggressive behavior and psychological wellbeing in the form of depressive symptoms. For girls, peer rejection also appears to be linked to poorer academic achievement. The present findings support the need for early interventions with aggressive and rejected children. Future research is needed to further delineate the processes by which early peer rejection and aggression are linked to later outcomes.

The course of aggression in first-grade children with and without comorbid anxious symptoms.

We studied the course of aggressive behavior in an epidemiologically defined sample of first graders with and without comorbid anxious symptoms. Our primary purpose in doing so was to understand whether the stability of aggression in young children was attenuated or strengthened in the presence of comorbid anxiety. Previous studies of older children and adolescents had produced equivocal findings in this regard. Data on anxious symptoms were obtained through an interview of the children, whereas aggressive behavior was assessed through the use of a teacher interview and peer nominations. Assessments were performed in the fall and spring of first grade. In contrast to children classified as aggressive alone in the fall of first grade, boys and girls classified as aggressive and anxious in the fall of first grade were significantly more likely to be classified as aggressive in the spring in terms of teacher ratings and/or peer nominations of aggression. Thus our findings suggest that the link between early and later aggression may be strengthened in the presence of comorbid anxious symptoms, rather than attenuated. Future studies are needed to identify the mechanisms by which the course of aggression is influenced by the presence of comorbid anxiety.