Perpetration Of Relational Aggression Research Articles

Testing the Associations Between Attachment Anxiety, Relational Aggression and Depressive Symptoms in Romantic Relationships: Actor-Partner Interdependence Model and Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediator Model.

Emerging adulthood is a pivotal period for romantic relationships, yet the specific mechanisms through which attachment anxiety influences relationship dynamics and psychological outcomes in this phase are poorly understood. Particularly, in the context of romantic dyads, understanding how partners' behaviors and emotional patterns reciprocally influence each other remains underexplored. This study utilizes the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model and Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediator Model to explore the relationship between attachment anxiety,relational aggression (both perpetration and victimization), and depressive symptoms among emerging adults. A sample of 138 mixed-sex emerging adulthood couples from China, was recruited (Mage = 21.40, SD = 2.54; 50% female, 62.6% reporting that this relationship was ongoing for more than a year). Attachment anxiety significantly predicted relational aggression in both partners, with male attachment anxiety also significantly predicted female relational aggression. Significant indirect effects of both partners' relational aggression perpetration and victimization on their own and each other's relationship between attachment anxiety and depressive symptoms. These findings contribute to understanding the intricate dynamics of attachment anxiety and relational aggression in romantic relationships during emerging adulthood, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to mitigate these risks.

The Role of Impulsivity and Stress Mind-Set in Understanding the Mindfulness-Intimate Partner Aggression Relationship.

Perpetration of relational aggression, which is estimated to occur in 60% to 90% of relationships, has been demonstrated to have lasting negative effects both systemically and for its victims. Relational aggression has also been demonstrated to be impacted, in part by impulsivity, stress mind-set, and mindfulness. The present study examined a path analysis model of the relation between mindfulness and relational aggression, utilizing impulsivity as the mediating variable. Furthermore, the present study incorporated an examination of the potential moderating effects of stress mind-set on the relation between impulsivity and relational aggression. Three hundred eighty-three participants were recruited from across the United States, using Facebook ads. Participants completed online questionnaires assessing key study variables. We hypothesized that the negative urgency aspect of impulsivity would mediate the relation between the five facets of mindfulness and relational aggression, and further that this relationship would be moderated by stress mind-set, such that a stress mind-set which conceptualizes stress as negative would make the relation between impulsivity and relational aggression stronger. We hypothesized that the negative urgency aspect of impulsivity would mediate the relation between mindfulness and relational aggression. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the relation between impulsivity and aggression would be moderated by stress mind-set. Results indicated that the negative urgency component of impulsivity mediated the relation between all five facets of mindfulness and perpetration of relational aggression. Furthermore, stress mind-set moderated the relation between negative urgency and relational aggression, such that a lower stress mind-set was related to a stronger association between negative urgency and aggression. Implications for clinical intervention and future research efforts are discussed.

Mixed Messages: Inconsistent Parental Mediation Indirectly Predicts Teens’ Online Relational Aggression

ABSTRACTAlthough the predictors of off-line relational aggression have been examined in prior work, less is known about the factors that contribute to online relational aggression perpetration and victimization. This study examined parental restrictive and active mediation of teenagers’ social media use as potential predictors of these outcomes. We were particularly interested in understanding whether parental agreement about media rules and the consistency with which mediation was implemented had implications for teens’ social media use, conflict with parents, and experience with online relational aggression. We conducted an online survey of 814 adolescents from the United States (14- to17-year-olds), asking about perceived agreement between parents about media rules, parental mediation styles, the teens’ social media use, and their experiences with online relational aggression. Results showed that parental rule agreement negatively predicted inconsistent parental mediation. Inconsistent parental mediation predicted more adolescent social media use and more parent-teen conflict over media rules, which in turn, predicted both online victimization and perpetration.

Violence Exposure and Psychopathology as Potential Correlates and Risk Factors of Relational Aggression among Diverse College Students

ABSTRACTLongitudinal research has demonstrated that the prevalence of physical aggression among youth in the United States has been waning over the past decade; however, the prevalence of relational aggression has increased. Despite the increase in relational aggression, few studies have focused on the risk factors associated with relational aggression perpetration – particularly among college students. Understanding the risks and correlates of relational aggression perpetration among college students is of particular importance because perpetration of relational aggression is directly associated with peer rejection and social isolation and indirectly associated with a number of negative mental health outcomes. Based on established correlates of physical aggression, the current study examined violence exposure and psychological symptoms as potential correlates and risks of relational aggression perpetration. Results indicated that violence exposure and psychological symptoms were positively associated with relational aggression, but these findings were largely due to the intercorrelations between relational aggression and physical aggression. Findings also revealed ethnoracial differences in relational aggression, indicating that race and ethnicity are important covariates to consider in future studies of relational aggression and in relevant clinical practice. Identified correlates may have important implications for identifying college students at risk for relationally aggressive behaviors and in intervening in potentially negative psychosocial outcomes.

A Methodological Study of Order Effects in Reporting Relational Aggression Experiences.

Unlike the overt nature of physical aggression, which lends itself to simpler and more direct methods of investigation, the often-masked nature of relational aggression has led to difficulties and debate regarding the most effective tools of study. Given concerns with the accuracy of third-party relational aggression reports, especially as individuals age, self-report measures may be particularly useful when assessing experiences with relational aggression. However, it is important to recognize validity concerns-in particular, the potential effects of item order presentation-associated with self-report of relational aggression perpetration and victimization. To investigate this issue, surveys were administered and completed by 179 young adults randomly assigned to one of four survey conditions reflecting manipulation of item order. Survey conditions included presentation of (a) perpetration items only, (b) victimization items only, (c) perpetration items followed by victimization items, and (d) victimization items followed by perpetration items. Results revealed that participants reported perpetrating relational aggression significantly more often when asked only about perpetration or when asked about perpetration before victimization, compared with participants who were asked about victimization before perpetration. Item order manipulation did not result in significant differences in self-reported victimization experiences. Results of this study indicate a need for greater consideration of item order when conducting research using self-report data and the importance of additional investigation into which form of item presentation elicits the most accurate self-report information.

The HEXACO model of personality and Dark Triad in relational aggression

Relational aggression has been linked to many forms of psychological maladjustment. Identifying the personality traits associated with the perpetration of relational aggression offers promise in improving our ability to understand, prevent, and treat relationally aggressive behaviors. Much of the research to date has utilized the Five Factor Model; however, the HEXACO model of personality (Ashton et al., 2004) may offer some advantages in studying aggression. Moreover, the manipulative and often covert nature of relational aggression suggests that the Dark Triad personality traits are likely to be relevant. This study explored the utility of the HEXACO model and Dark Triad in predicting relational aggression in college students' (N=442) peer relationships. Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness predicted proactive and reactive relational aggression, and Emotionality also predicted reactive relational aggression. Pathological narcissism and psychopathy predicted proactive and reactive relational aggression while taking respondent gender and the full HEXACO model into account, with vulnerable narcissism and psychopathy serving as positive predictors and grandiose narcissism serving as a negative predictor. Findings support the utility of both the HEXACO and Dark Triad models in understanding peer relational aggression among emerging adults.

Is It Good to Be Bad? A Longitudinal Analysis of Adolescent Popularity Motivations as a Predictor of Engagement in Relational Aggression and Risk Behaviors

We examined the impact of adolescents’ popularity motivations on their involvement in relational aggression perpetration and victimization, heavy drinking, and antiauthority behavior, while also considering the role of teens’ perception of their own popularity and psychosocial adjustment. High school students ( N = 986; 50% female; Mage = 14.98 years) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires survey in the fall and again, 6 months later. Regression analysis controlling for Time 1 scores confirmed that stronger motivations to achieve or maintain popularity predicted increases in relational aggression perpetration and victimization, and antiauthority behavior. Furthermore, self-reported popularity predicted increases in heavy drinking, but only when popularity motivations were high. Finally, more frequent heavy drinking predicted increases in self-reported popularity over time. Findings emphasize the potential value of addressing adolescents’ popularity motivations in attempts at reducing the aforementioned negative behaviors and associated risks.

Gender Discrepancies and Victimization of Students With Disabilities

Students with disabilities have been recognized as disproportionately involved within the bullying dynamic. However, few studies have examined the interaction between disability status, gender, and grade level. The current study explored the gender discrepancies among students with and without disabilities in middle and high school on bullying, fighting, relational aggression perpetration, victimization, online victimization, and relational aggression victimizations. Results suggest that students with disabilities are more likely to be involved as victims and perpetrators. In addition, males are more likely to be perpetrators and victims, whereas females are more likely to experience online victimization and relational victimization. Furthermore, students in high school are more likely to report bullying, whereas students in middle school are more likely to report fighting. Interactions between school level, disability status, and gender were significant for victimization and perpetration.

Relationships Between Mental Health, Skill Sets, and Violence Perpetration Among Adolescent Girls.

This study examines relationships between emotional health, stress management skills, fight-avoidance skills, and two forms of violence perpetration among adolescent girls at high risk for violence involvement. Participants ( n = 253) were 13- to 17-year-old girls enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. The current study was completed with baseline data collected prior to the start of the intervention. Analyses examined self-report outcome measures of physical violence perpetration in the past 6 months (five-item scale, α = .79) and relational aggression perpetration in the past 30 days (six-item scale, α = .77). Independent variables included baseline measures of self-esteem (four-item scale, α = .89), emotional distress (six-item scale, α = .89), stress management skills (eight-item scale, α = .86), and fight avoidance skills (five-item scale, α = .70). Multivariate regression models predicted each form of violence perpetration controlling for age, race/ethnicity, violence victimization, and clustering of participants within clinics. Initial bivariate results showed that stress management skills and fight avoidance skills were inversely and significantly related to perpetration of both relational and physical violence. Emotional distress was related to significantly higher levels of both violence outcomes. In contrast, self-esteem was not significantly related to either violence outcome. Multivariate analyses revealed that stress management skills and fight avoidance skills were significantly protective against perpetration of both relational aggression and physical violence. In conclusion, findings suggest that clinicians providing services to adolescent girls involved in high risk behaviors assess and foster girls' development of stress management and fight avoidance skills to help reduce their risk of involvement in relational violence and physical fighting.

Gender differences in trajectories of relational aggression perpetration and victimization from middle to high school.

Relational aggression refers to harming others through damaging or manipulating peer relationships. In a cohort of students surveyed annually from middle to high school, this study identified groups of adolescents who followed distinct trajectories of perpetration and of victimization of relational aggression, compared the proportion of boys and girls in each trajectory, and examined the overlap between perpetration and victimization trajectories. The sample consisted of 620 randomly selected sixth graders. Students completed yearly surveys from Grade 6-12. We used group-based trajectory modeling to identify the trajectories. Adolescents followed three developmental trajectories of perpetration and three similar trajectories of victimization: Low (lowest aggression), Moderate, and High Declining (high in middle school, with a steep decline in high school). All trajectories declined from Grade 6-12. The largest groups were the Low perpetration (55%) and Low victimization (48%). Relational aggression trajectories differed by gender: more boys reported perpetration, and more girls reported victimization. For perpetration, slightly more boys than girls were classified in the two trajectories of higher aggression. For victimization, significantly fewer girls than boys were classified in the Low trajectory, and significantly more girls than boys were classified in the Moderate trajectory. There was substantial overlap of the perpetration and victimization trajectories. These findings highlight the importance of implementing programs to reduce relational aggression for boys and for girls.

Prime time: 18-month violence outcomes of a clinic-linked intervention.

Prime Time, a youth development intervention, aims to reduce multiple risk behaviors among adolescent girls seeking clinic services who are at high risk for pregnancy. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether Prime Time involvement produced changes in relational aggression, physical violence, and related psychosocial and behavioral outcomes. Qualitative case exemplars illustrated social contexts of intervention participants with differing longitudinal patterns of relational aggression and physical violence. Data were from a randomized efficacy trial with 13-17 year-old girls (n = 253) meeting specified risk criteria. Intervention participants were involved in Prime Time and usual clinic services for 18 months, control participants received usual clinic services. Participants in the current study completed self-report surveys at baseline and 18 months following enrollment. Outcomes analyses revealed significantly lower levels of relational aggression perpetration in the intervention group versus controls. In contrast, Prime Time involvement did not result in significant reductions in physical violence. Exploratory dose-response analyses indicated that reductions in relational aggression may have been most pronounced among girls actively involved in Prime Time case management and peer leadership activities. Qualitative findings suggested that the intervention's emphasis on modeling and building supportive relationships contributed to reductions in relational aggression. This study contributes to what has been a very limited evidence base regarding effective approaches to preventing violence among high-risk adolescent girls. Findings suggest that offering youth development interventions through clinic settings hold promise in reducing violence risk among vulnerable youth.

The Role of the School Environment in Relational Aggression and Victimization

Research conducted over the last decade has documented both the high rates of and serious consequences associated with both victimization and perpetration of relational aggression. This study examines risk for involvement in relational aggression and victimization among middle school youth, evaluating both individual beliefs about violence, as well as aspects of the school environment, including interpersonal school climate and school responsiveness to violence. A sample of 5,625 primarily urban minority middle school youth (49.2 % female) participating in a violence prevention project completed measures of relational aggression and victimization as well as indicators of individual beliefs about aggression, school norms for aggression, student-teacher and student-student interpersonal climate, and school responsiveness to violence. Unlike results previously found for physical aggression, no school-level indicator of climate was related to relational aggression or victimization. However, individual beliefs about aggression and individual perceptions of the school environment were related strongly to both the perpetration of and victimization by relational aggression. These results suggest not only that individual beliefs and perceptions of the school environment are important in understanding perpetration and victimization of relational aggression, but also that risk for involvement in relational aggression is distinct from that of physical aggression. Implications for school interventions are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.

Autonomic arousal and relational aggression in heterosexual dating couples

This study investigated the association between romantic relational aggression and autonomic nervous system (ANS) arousal in the context of heterosexual dating couples (N = 115 couples). Results indicated that romantic relational aggression was associated with low resting sympathetic arousal, high resting parasympathetic arousal, and exaggerated fight or flight responses to a conflict discussion (sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal). However, ANS activity was more strongly associated with romantic relational aggression in the context of low‐quality romantic relationships, and sympathetic activity was more strongly associated with aggression among females, whereas parasympathetic activity was more strongly associated with aggression among males. Results indicate that psychophysiological functioning may serve as a risk factor for the perpetration of relational aggression against romantic partners.

The Importance of Self-Beliefs on Relational Aggression of College Students

This study examined the interrelationships among mattering to friends, self-esteem, spirituality, and perpetration of relational aggression in friendships among 457 college students. While the three self-belief variables were positively related to each other, only spirituality and mattering to friends discriminated between men and women. Women reported higher spirituality and mattering to friends, and men reported slightly higher self-esteem. Perpetration of relational aggression was negatively related to mattering to friends and self-esteem and was not related to spirituality. Findings are discussed in light of Erikson's theory of adolescent development and Gilligan's theory of interpersonal relationships.

Autonomic reactivity and romantic relational aggression among female emerging adults: Moderating roles of social and cognitive risk

This study investigates the association between autonomic arousal in response to a relational stressor and the perpetration of relational aggression against romantic partners. In addition, the moderating role of social risk (relational victimization by a romantic partner) and cognitive risk (hostile attribution biases) was explored. Skin conductance, heart rate, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia during an experience of exclusion were assessed in a sample of female emerging adults ( N = 131). Participants provided self-reports of romantic relational aggression, romantic relational victimization, and hostile attribution biases. Results indicated that both heightened and blunted reactivity served as risk factors for the perpetration of romantic relational aggression depending on women's social and contextual risks. Implications for understanding the development of intimate aggression are discussed.

Student Perceptions of Aggressive Behaviors and Predictive Patterns of Perpetration and Victimization: The Role of Age and Sex

This study investigated a rural sample of boys' and girls' (N = 205) perceptions of what behaviors constitute bullying and examined whether being a victim of aggression was predictive of perpetrating physical and relational aggression. Results indicated that predictors of perpetrating relational aggression included victimization of relational aggression, student age, and perpetration of physical aggression. Predictors of physical aggression included perpetration of relational aggression and being a victim of physical aggression. A mixed model MANOVA indicated that students were more likely to perceive physical aggression as bullying and younger students found both physical and relational aggression more hurtful than older students. Results suggest the behaviors students perceive as bullying vary with age and gender and demonstrate the relationship between victimization and perpetration of physical and relational aggression.

Relational Aggression in Peer and Dating Relationships: Links to Psychological and Behavioral Adjustment

AbstractWe examined the contribution of relational aggression in adolescents’ peer and dating relationships to their psychological and behavioral adjustment. In the Fall and again four months later, 1279 (646 female) grade 9 students reported on relational aggression perpetration and victimization in their romantic and peer relationships, depression/anxiety symptoms (psychological adjustment) and delinquency (behavioral adjustment). Using hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for Time 1 adjustment/behavior, peer relational aggression perpetration predicted depression/anxiety. Dating relational victimization also predicted depression/anxiety, but only for girls. Furthermore, girls who were perpetrators of relational aggression in both peer and dating contexts were most likely to show increases in delinquent behavior. We conclude that dating and peer relationships are not redundant, but make independent and additive contributions to adolescent adjustment. Girls, in particular, may be at greatest risk for poor outcomes when they have relationally aggressive relationships. Results also highlight the need for greater awareness of the complexity and significance of adolescent dating relationships.