Citation

Underwood MK, Beron KJ, Rosen LH. Aggressive Behav. 2009; 35(5): 357-375.

Affiliation

School of Behavioural and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75083, USA. undrwd@utdallas.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ab.20313

PMID

19685551

PMCID

PMC2757124

Abstract

For a sample followed from age 9-13 (N=281), this investigation examined developmental trajectories for social and physical aggression as measured by teacher ratings. Trajectories for both forms of aggression were estimated first separately, then jointly. Mean levels of both social and physical aggression decreased over time for the overall sample, but with high variability of individual trajectories. Subgroups followed high trajectories for both social and physical aggression. Joint estimation yielded six trajectories: low stable, low increasers, medium increasers, medium desisters, high desisters, and high increasers. Membership in the high increaser group was predicted by male gender, unmarried parents, African American ethnicity, and maternal authoritarian and permissive parenting. Permissive parenting also predicted membership in the medium increaser group. This is one of the first studies to examine social aggression longitudinally across this developmental period. Though the results challenge the claim that social aggression is at its peak in early adolescence, the findings emphasize the importance of considering different developmental trajectories in trying to understand origins and outcomes of aggression.

Language: en