Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T08:16:12.413Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Development of aggressive-victims from childhood through adolescence: Associations with emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors, moral disengagement, peer rejection, and friendships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Idean Ettekal Open the ORCID record for Idean Ettekal [Opens in a new window]  and
Gary W. Ladd
Idean Ettekal*
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Gary W. Ladd
Affiliation:
Sanford School and Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Idean Ettekal, Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, 704 Harrington Tower, College Station, TX77843; E-mail: iettekal@tamu.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

At multiple developmental periods spanning from middle childhood through adolescence, we investigated the development of aggressive-victims. Multiple-informant data collected across four grade levels (1, 5, 8, and 11; N = 482; 50% females) was used to perform person-centered analyses including latent profile and latent transition analyses in order to examine the co-occurring development of multiple forms (i.e., physical, verbal, and relational) of aggression and peer victimization. Results indicated that there were two distinct subgroups of aggressive-victims, one of which was more relational in form (i.e., relational aggressive-victims), and children in these two subgroups were distinguishable with respect to their individual characteristics (emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors, and moral disengagement) and relational experiences (peer rejection and friendships). Furthermore, the findings elucidated the mechanisms by which developmental continuity and change (i.e., transitions) among the subgroups occurred across childhood and adolescence.

Keywords

aggressionaggressive-victimsbullyingemotion regulationmoral disengagementpeer victimization
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 271 - 291
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles: An integrated system of multi-informant assessment. Burlington, VT: Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.Google Scholar
Ansary, N. S., Elias, M. J., Greene, M. B., & Green, S. (2015). Guidance for schools selecting antibullying approaches: Translating evidence-based strategies to contemporary implementation realities. Educational Researcher, 44, 27–36. doi:10.3102/0013189X14567534CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arsenio, W. F., & Lemerise, E. A. (2004). Aggression and moral development: Integrating social information processing and moral domain models. Child Development, 75, 987–1002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. (2014). Auxiliary variables in mixture modeling: 3-step approaches using Mplus. Retrieved from http://statmodel.com/examples/LTAwebnoteGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (2002). Selective moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Moral Education, 31, 101–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., & Pastorelli, C. (1996). Mechanisms of moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 364–374. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.2.364CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, E. D., Arseneault, L., Brendgen, M., Fontaine, N., & Maughan, B. (2008). Joint development of bullying and victimization in adolescence: Relations to delinquency and self-harm. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 1030–1038. doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e31817eec98Google ScholarPubMed
Bettencourt, A. F., & Farrell, A. D. (2013). Individual and contextual factors associated with patterns of aggression and peer victimization during middle school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 285–302. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9854-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bettencourt, A., Farrell, A., Liu, W., & Sullivan, T. (2013). Stability and change in patterns of peer victimization and aggression during adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42, 429–441. doi:10.1080/15374416.2012.738455CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boivin, M., & Hymel, S. (1997). Peer experiences and social self-perceptions: A sequential model. Developmental Psychology, 33, 135–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boivin, M., Petitclerc, A., Feng, B., & Barger, E. D. (2010). The developmental trajectories of peer victimization in middle to late childhood and the changing nature of their behavioral correlates. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 56, 231–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhs, E. S., Ladd, G. W., & Herald, S. L. (2006). Peer exclusion and victimization: Processes that mediate the relation between peer group rejection and children's classroom engagement and achievement? Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Card, N. A., Stucky, B. D., Sawalani, G. M., & Little, T. (2008). Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Development, 79, 1185–1229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspi, A., Elder, G. H., & Bem, D. J. (1987). Moving against the world: Life-course patterns of explosive children. Developmental Psychology, 23, 308–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 233–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cillessen, A. H., & Lansu, T. A. (2015). Stability, correlates, and time-covarying associations of peer victimization from grade 4 to 12. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 44, 456–470. doi:10.1080/15374416.2014.958841CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cillessen, A. H. N., & Mayeux, L. (2004). From censure to reinforcement: Developmental changes in the association between aggression and social status. Child Development, 75, 147–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology, l8, 557–570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, L. M., & Lanza, S. T. (2010). Latent class and latent transition analysis: With applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cooley, J. L., & Fite, P. J. (2016). Peer victimization and forms of aggression during middle childhood: The role of emotion regulation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 535–546. doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0051-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coplan, R. J., Ooi, L. L., Xiao, B., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (2018). Assessment and implications of social withdrawal in early childhood: A first look at social avoidance. Social Development, 27, 125–139. doi:10.1111/sode.12258CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coplan, R. J., Rose-Krasnor, L., Weeks, M., Kingsbury, A., Kingsbury, M., & Bullock, A. (2013). Alone is a crowd: Social motivations, social withdrawal, and socioemotional functioning in later childhood. Developmental Psychology, 49, 861–875. doi:10.1037/a0028861CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665–697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Eggum, N. D. (2010). Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children's maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 495–525. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131208CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ettekal, I., & Ladd, G. W. (2015). Costs and benefits of children's physical and relational aggression trajectories on peer rejection, acceptance, and friendships: Variations by aggression subtypes, gender, and age. Developmental Psychology, 51, 1756–1770. doi:10.1037/dev0000057CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ettekal, I., & Ladd, G. W. (2017). Developmental continuity and change in physical, verbal, and relational aggression and peer victimization from childhood to adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 53, 1709–1721. doi:10.1037/dev0000357CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farrell, A. D., Henry, D. B., & Bettencourt, A. (2013). Methodological challenges examining subgroup differences: Examples from universal school-based youth violence prevention trials. Prevention Science, 14, 121–133. doi:10.1007/s11121-011-0200-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frick, P. J., & White, S. F. (2008). Research review: The importance of callous-unemotional traits for developmental models of aggressive and antisocial behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 359–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giang, M. T., & Graham, S. (2008). Using latent class analysis to identify aggressors and victims of peer harassment. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 203–213. doi:10.1002/ab.20233CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giesbrecht, G. F., Leadbeater, B. J., & Macdonald, S. W. (2011). Child and context characteristics in trajectories of physical and relational victimization among early elementary school children. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 239–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gini, G., Pozzoli, T., & Hymel, S. (2014). Moral disengagement among children and youth: A meta-analytic review of links to aggressive behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 40, 56–68. doi:10.1002/ab.21502CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, S., & Juvonen, J. (2002). Ethnicity, peer harassment, and adjustment in middle school: An exploratory study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22, 173–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26, 1–26. doi:10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawley, P. H., Little, T. D., & Card, N. A. (2007). The allure of a mean friend: Relationship quality and processes of aggressive adolescents with prosocial skills. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 170–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heilbron, N., & Prinstein, M. J. (2008). A review and reconceptualization of social aggression: Adaptive and maladaptive correlates. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 11, 176–217. doi:10.1007/s10567-008-0037-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodges, E. V. E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35, 94–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyde, L. W., Shaw, D. S., & Moilanen, K. L. (2010). Developmental precursors of moral disengagement and the role of moral disengagement in the development of antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 197–209. doi:10.1007/s10802-009-9358-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kawabata, Y., Tseng, W. L., & Crick, N. R. (2014). Adaptive, maladaptive, mediational, and bidirectional processes of relational and physical aggression, relational and physical victimization, and peer liking. Aggressive Behavior, 40, 273–287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendrick, K., Jutengren, G., & Stattin, H. (2012). The protective role of supportive friends against bullying perpetration and victimization. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1069–1080. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.02.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kochenderfer-Ladd, B. (2003). Identification of aggressive and asocial victims and the stability of their peer victimization. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 49, 401–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kokkinos, C. M., Voulgaridou, I., Mandrali, M., & Parousidou, C. (2016). Interactive links between relational aggression, theory of mind, and moral disengagement among early adolescents. Psychology in the Schools, 53, 253–269. doi:10.1002/pits.21902CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladd, G. W. (2006). Peer rejection, aggressive or withdrawn behavior, and psychological maladjustment from ages 5 to 12: An examination of four predictive models. Child Development, 77, 822–846.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ladd, G. W., Ettekal, I., & Kochenderfer-Ladd, B. (2018). Longitudinal changes in victimized youth's social anxiety and solitary behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s10802-018-0467-xGoogle Scholar
Ladd, G. W., & Kochenderfer-Ladd, B. (2002). Identifying victims of peer aggression from early to middle childhood: Analysis of cross-informant data for concordance, estimation of relational adjustment, prevalence of victimization, and characteristics of identified victims. Psychological Assessment, 14, 74–96. doi:10.1037//1040-3590.14.1.74CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lanza, S. T., Tan, X., & Bray, B. C. (2013). Latent class analysis with distal outcomes: A flexible model-based approach. Structural Equation Modeling, 20, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemerise, E. A., & Arsenio, W. (2000). An integrated model of emotion processes and cognition in social information processing. Child Development, 71, 107–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life course persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, B., & Asparouhov, T. (2011). LTA in Mplus: Transition probabilities influenced by covariates. Retrieved from http://www.statmodel.com/examples/LTAwebnote.pdfGoogle Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2017). Mplus user's guide (8th ed.). Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 535–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nylund, K., Bellmore, A., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2007). Subtypes, severity, and structural stability of peer victimization: What does latent class analysis say? Child Development, 78, 1706–1722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Obermann, M. L. (2011). Moral disengagement in self-reported and peer-nominated school bullying. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 133–144. doi:10.1002/ab.20378CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olson, S. L., Sameroff, A. J., Lansford, J. E., Sexton, H., Davis-Kean, P., Bates, J. E., … Dodge, K. A. (2013). Deconstructing the externalizing spectrum: Growth patterns of overt aggression, covert aggression, oppositional behavior, impulsivity/inattention, and emotion dysregulation between school entry and early adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 817–842. doi:10.1017/S0954579413000199CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olweus, D. (1978). Aggression in the schools: Bullies and whipping boys. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.Google Scholar
Paciello, M., Fida, R., Tramontano, C., Lupinetti, C., & Caprara, G. V. (2008). Stability and change of moral disengagement and its impact on aggression and violence in late adolescence. Child Development, 79, 1288–1309. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01189.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29, 611–621.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parkhurst, J., & Asher, S. R. (1992). Peer rejection in middle school: Subgroup differences in behavior, loneliness, and interpersonal concerns. Developmental Psychology, 28, 231–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329–335. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.44.2.329CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, D. G., Kusel, S. J., & Perry, L. C. (1988). Victims of peer aggression. Developmental Psychology, 24, 807–814.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulin, F., & Dishion, T. J. (2008). Methodological issues in the use of peer sociometric nominations with middle school youth. Social Development, 17, 908–921.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prinstein, M. J. (2007). Assessment of adolescents' preference-and reputation-based peer status using sociometric experts. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53, 243–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reijntjes, A., Kamphuis, J. H., Prinzie, P., & Telch, M. J. (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 244–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., & Bowker, J. C. (2009). Social withdrawal in childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 141–171. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163642CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, D. (2000). Subtypes of victims and aggressors in children's peer groups. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 181–192. doi:10.1023/A:1005174831561CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1993). The emergence of chronic peer victimization in boys' play groups. Child Development, 64, 1755–1772.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1997). The early socialization of aggressive victims of bullying. Child Development, 68, 665–675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, D., Gorman, A. H., Nakamoto, J., & McKay, T. (2006). Popularity, social acceptance, and aggression in adolescent peer groups: Links with academic performance and school attendance. Developmental Psychology, 42, 1116–1127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, D., Proctor, L. J., & Chien, D. (2001). The aggressive victim of bullying: Emotional and behavioral dysregulation as a pathway to victimization by peers. In Juvonen, J. & Graham, S. (Eds.), School-based peer harassment: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 147–174). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Sentse, M., Dijkstra, J. K., Salmivalli, C., & Cillessen, A. H. (2013). The dynamics of friendships and victimization in adolescence: A longitudinal social network perspective. Aggressive Behavior, 39, 229–238. doi:10.1002/ab.21469CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sentse, M., Prinzie, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Testing the direction of longitudinal paths between victimization, peer rejection, and different types of internalizing problems in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 1013–1023. doi:10.1007/s10802-016-0216-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheppard, C. S., Giletta, M., & Prinstein, M. J. (2016). Peer victimization trajectories at the adolescent transition: Associations among chronic victimization, peer-reported status, and adjustment. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 23, 1–10. doi:10.1080/15374416.2016.1261713Google Scholar
Sugimura, N., Berry, D., Troop-Gordon, W., & Rudolph, K. D. (2017). Early social behaviors and the trajectory of peer victimization across the school years. Developmental Psychology, 53, 1447–1461. doi:10.1037/dev0000346CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toblin, R. L., Schwartz, D., Gorman, A. H., & Abou-ezzeddine, T. (2005). Social-cognitive and behavioral attributes of aggressive victims of bullying. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 329–346. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2005.02.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tremblay, R. E. (2010). Developmental origins of disruptive behaviour problems: The “original sin” hypothesis, epigenetics and their consequences for prevention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 341–367. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02211.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Dijk, A., Poorthuis, A. M., & Malti, T. (2017). Psychological processes in young bullies versus bully-victims. Aggressive Behavior, 43, 430–439. doi:10.1002/ab.21701CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vermunt, J. K. (2010). Latent class modeling with covariates: Two improved three-step approaches. Political Analysis, 18, 450–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williford, A. P., Brisson, D., Bender, K. A., Jenson, J. M., & Forrest-Bank, S. (2011). Patterns of aggressive behavior and peer victimization from childhood to early adolescence: A latent class analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 644–655.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, A., & Salmivalli, C. (2015). Effectiveness of the KiVa antibullying programme on bully-victims, bullies and victims. Educational Research, 57, 80–90. doi:10.1080/00131881.2014.983724CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yates, T. M., Obradović, J., & Egeland, B. (2010). Transactional relations across contextual strain, parenting quality, and early childhood regulation and adaptation in a high-risk sample. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 539–555. doi:10.1017/S095457941000026XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeager, D. S., Fong, C. J., Lee, H. Y., & Espelage, D. L. (2015). Declines in efficacy of anti-bullying programs among older adolescents: Theory and a three-level meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 37, 36–51. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2014.11.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
You, S., & Yoon, J. (2016). Peer victimization: Exploring psychosocial correlates and reciprocal longitudinal relationship. Journal of Community Psychology, 44, 426–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuan, K. H., & Bentler, P. M. (2000). Three likelihood-based methods for mean and covariance structure analysis with nonnormal missing data. In Sobel, M. E. & Becker, M. P. (Eds.), Sociological methodology (pp. 165–200). Washington, DC: American Statistical Association.Google Scholar