Abstract
The purpose of these studies was to examine the frequency and stability of relational and physical aggression and their associations with social-psychological adjustment or peer victimization, and how friendships are involved in the relations between forms of aggression and peer victimization in Japanese children. The sample consisted of 452 (Study 1) and 138 (Study 2) children who were in the fourth and fifth grades. Results of Study 1 demonstrated that relational aggression was uniquely and more strongly associated with internalizing adjustment problems than physical aggression. Moreover, Study 2 revealed that relational aggression and physical aggression were stable over a 6-month period and the stability of relational aggression was reinforced by negative friendships (i.e., high levels of exclusivity and friend victimization). Further, the association between relational aggression and relative increases in relational victimization was attenuated by positive friendships (i.e., high levels of intimacy, companionship, and friendship satisfaction). Interestingly, friendships were unrelated to physical aggression and its relation to physical victimization. The age and gender of the children in the two studies were also examined. Cultural and developmental processes involving forms of aggression, friendships, social-psychological adjustment, and peer victimization were discussed.
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Notes
Additional two-way interaction terms (i.e., physical aggression × gender, relational aggression × gender, physical aggression × grade, and relational aggression × grade) were entered in order to examine the role of gender and age in the association between relational aggression or physical aggression and social-psychological adjustment problems. We found that most interaction terms were not significant. Thus, these results were not included in final models. One exception was the significant relational aggression × gender interaction for externalizing adjustment problems. A follow-up mixed linear model revealed that the relation between relational aggression and externalizing adjustment problems was significant only for boys (B = 0.25, p < 0.001, B = −0.12, n.s., for boys and girls, respectively).
Additional interaction terms (i.e., relational aggression × gender or grade, positive friendship × relational aggression × gender or grade, and negative friendship × relational aggression × gender or grade) were entered in order to examine the role of gender or age in the association between relational aggression and criterion variables and the role of gender and age in the moderating effect of friendship quality on these associations. We found that no interaction terms were significant and improved the overall model fit. Thus, the results were not included in final models.
Additional interaction terms (i.e., physical aggression × gender or grade, positive friendship × physical aggression × gender or grade, and negative friendship × physical aggression × gender or grade) were entered in order to examine the role of gender and age in the association between physical aggression and criterion variables and the role of gender and age in the moderating effect of friendship quality on these associations. We found that most interaction terms were not significant. One exception was the significant positive friendship × physical aggression × grade interaction for physical aggression at time 2. However, the overall model fit did not improve by adding these interaction terms. This indicated that the quality of the additional model was questionable. Thus, the results were not included in final models.
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This study was funded in part by the Institute of Child Development (ICD) through the second author. We thank the principals, teachers, parents and children for their participation. Portions of this paper were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA, April, 2005.
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Kawabata, Y., Crick, N.R. & Hamaguchi, Y. Forms of Aggression, Social-Psychological Adjustment, and Peer Victimization in a Japanese Sample: The Moderating Role of Positive and Negative Friendship Quality. J Abnorm Child Psychol 38, 471–484 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9386-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9386-1