Prospective associations between

aggression and peer victimization

Jamie M. Ostrov, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Psychology

Director, Social Development Laboratory

Department of Psychology

Faculty Affiliate, Dr. Jean M. Alberti Center for the Prevention of

Bullying Abuse and School Violence

University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Alberti Center Colloquium Series, April 2012

• Please note: Some unpublished content

from the original talk was removed from

this handout.

Acknowledgments• UB Social Development Lab (Research assistants listed on website)

– Emily Ries, M.S., Kirstin Grös, Ph.D., Stephanie Godleski, M.A., Chris

Bailey, B.S., Adam Mullins, M.A., Emily Hart, M.A., Kim Kamper, B.A.,

Alyssa Tevens, EdM, & Jilynn Werth, B.S.

• Emil Coccaro, M.D. (University of Chicago)

• Nicki R. Crick, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)

• Greta Massetti, Ph.D. (Center’s for Disease Control)

• Annie Murray-Close, Ph.D. (University of Vermont)

• David Nelson, Ph.D. (Brigham Young University)

• Nicole Werner, Ph.D. (Washington State University)

• Participating families, teachers & directors

• NICHD R03HD059781 (NICHD ECCRN and SECCYD Staff)

Overview

• Definitions and Background

• Links between aggression and peer victimization

• Links between peer victimization and aggression

– Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, & Late Adolescence

• Is intervention needed?– What have we tried to do to intervene?

• Bullying in Early Childhood (Preliminary Data)

5

Definitions

• Aggression: The intent to hurt, harm or injure

another person (Coie & Dodge, 1998)

• Physical Aggression: Using physical force or

threat of physical acts to hurt or harm.

– Ex: Hit, Kick, Bite, Punch, Push, Take

Toys/Property from others.

Toward a Gender-Balanced

Approach

• Physical Aggression

• Relational Aggression: Using the removal or threat of the removal of the relationship as the vehicle of harm

– Ex: Malicious gossip, rumors, & lies, Exclude from play/group; Ignore (Silent treatment).

• Direct: “You can’t come to my birthday party” or “You are not my friend anymore”

• Covert: Spreading malicious rumors through a third person

Evidence from Past Studies

Relational (and Physical) aggression exists during early childhood (3-5 years) & may be observed in both naturalistic and more structured contexts.

Relational (and Physical) aggression is associated with problemsin early childhood

Group level (e.g., peer rejection)

Dyadic level (e.g., parent-child conflict)

Individual level (e.g., deception, lying)

There are reliable gender differences for relational (and physical) aggression in early childhood

(Relational aggression is modal type for girls)

Ostrov (2008) Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Ostrov (2010) Child Development

Ostrov & Keating (2004) Social Development

Ostrov et al. (2008) Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Process or mechanisms of change

– How do we become aggressive or

victimized?

– Social Process Model suggests that children

become victimized by becoming rejected by

our peers and that makes them an easy

target (Boivin et al., 2001; see also Bierman, 2004).

Social Process Models

in Early Childhood

Study #1a: Social Process Model

Supports

the

Social

Process

Model

Change the next slide

N = 101 (61 girls); Measures: Observer ratings of aggression; Teacher reports of

exclusion (alpha > .70).

Study 1b

Study #1c:Reverse Direction of Effects?

Study 2: Social Process Model in

Emerging Adulthood

In Sum (so far)

• Direct Paths:

– EC, MC, EA: Aggression Peer Victimization

• Indirect Paths for original model:

– EC: Aggression Peer Rejection Victimization

• Indirect Paths for alternative model:

– EA: Victimization Exclusivity Aggression

– EA: Victimization HAB-R Aggression

Is relational aggression associated

with serious problems?

• Based on theory and prior work,

one place to first examine is

depression or internalizing

problems

Study #3: Growth of Relational Aggression

• 689 (50% female) 3rd through 5th graders

– 41 public elementary school classrooms (16 schools)

– Diverse sample: 30% African American, 28% European American, 14% Hmong, 13% Latino, 4% Asian American, 4% Native American; 7% other ethnic groups

– Lower to middle class SES

• 3 time points (Fall, Spring, Fall)

– Peer nomination of relational aggression

– TRF: Internalizing symptoms

Murray-Close, Ostrov & Crick (2007) Development & Psychopathology

Growth of Relational Aggression in Middle Childhood

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

1 2 3

Assessment Period

Rela

tional A

ggre

ssio

n

Girls

Total

Boys

Girls increased at a faster rate than boys

Girls started higher than boys Associated w/ Internalizing

Problems (Depressive Symptoms)

Associated w/ Friendship Intimacy

for girls only

Study #4: Relational & Physical Aggression &

Internalizing & Externalizing Problems

• Crick, Ostrov, & Werner (2006) Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

– Time 1 (3rd grade) and Time 2 (4th grade)

– 106 classrooms & 40 elementary schools (n = 2,589, screening sample)

• At time 1, peer nominations of Ragg/Pagg (focal child sample = 234

children; 115 girls)

• Diverse: 18% African American, 4% Latino; 3% Native American, 2%

Asian American, 2% Hmong; 60% European American

Study #4: Relational & Physical Aggression &

Internalizing & Externalizing Problems

• Major findings:

– Relational and Physical Aggression were moderately stablefor girls and boys.

– Relationally aggressive children became significantly more withdrawn/anxious-depressed over 12 months compared to others.

– Relationally aggressive children displayed a significant increase in somatic complaints.

– Relationally aggressive children also were more likely than any other group to show increases in delinquency

– Suggests the need for prevention & intervention efforts in middle childhood as well!

Forms and Functions of Aggression

in Late Adolescence/Adulthood

Are the behaviors (relational subtypes)

still associated with problems?

• We used the SRASBM in a large sample (N =

1387) of adults in study 1

– Only reactive relational aggression was

associated with history of childhood maltreatment

• Similar findings have been found with reactive physical

aggression (Dodge et al., 1997)

Study 5

Murray-Close et al. (2010) study 2

50 participants meeting Research

Criteria for Intermittent Explosive Dx

50 participants meeting DSM-IV

Criteria for Axis 1 (25) or 2 (25)

50 Healthy controls

Evidence-based Interventions

Intervention during Early Childhood

• Why do we need to intervene?

– Aggressive Behavior is relatively Stable

– Aggressive Behavior is associated with maladaptive

outcomes in EC & Later

• When should we do something about it?

– We have a higher probability of change early

• How should we intervene?• UB EC Friendship Project

• Guided by appropriate theory and evidence-based practices

• Use of developmentally appropriate intervention materials

• Empirical test our hypotheses

Ostrov et al. (2009) ECRQ

• Design: – Randomly Assigned to Intervention (9 classes,

202 children) vs. Control (9 classes, 201 children)

• 6 weeks

• Focus on both +/- Behavior

• Reinforcement of Behavior– Interventionist & Puppet in room (DAP)

• “Identify good friendship skills” in other children

• Clarified weekly skills to monitor comprehension

– Participatory Activities & Concept Activities

6 week program

• Week 1 Introduction & Physical Aggression

• Week 2 Social Exclusion

• Week 3 Social Inclusion

• Week 4 Friendship Withdrawal

• Week 5 Friendship Formation

• Week 6 Review & Graduation

Treatment Fidelity

• Content checklists: 100% of material was

covered in each session

• Process evaluations: (7 point scale from 1

“Superior” to 7 “Inadequate”)

M = 1.78 (SD = .44)

– Interventionists were rated as “warm,

developmentally appropriate, with good pacing and

high levels of child engagement”

Findings: Evaluations

UB Intervention Study

• Findings

Future Direction:

Bullying in Early Childhood

Bullying in Early Childhood

• Aggression

– Takes several forms

• Power Imbalance

• Usually Repetition (or fear of)

-------------------------------

• Usually Proactive (goal oriented)

http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/Bullying_Factsheet-a.pdf

Bullying

• What is it not?

– Not all aggression is bullying.

• Not reactive

• Not among friends (equal status peers)

Bullying in EC?

• We know that

Bulling does exist

at the same rate in

kindergarten

relative to older

school age children

• Bullying does exist

in preschool

classrooms and

there is even

evidence that

children will take

on the role of

“defenders” of the

victim in EC

(Belacci & Farina,

2010)

Bullying in Early Childhood:

Webisodes

• http://www.stopbullying.gov/videos/2012/

02/thats-bullying.html

StopBullying.gov is an official U.S.

Government Web site managed by the

Department of Health & Human Services in

partnership with the Department of

Education and Department of Justice

• EME was associated with future relational

aggression. (We have replicated this finding)

• Relational Aggression is modeled at high rates

on many “educational programs”. Modeling the

content & not learning lesson

at the end of the show

In Conclusion• Both forms of aggression are apparent as young as 3-

years-old

• Bi-directional associations between aggression and peer victimization

• Support for social process model and points of intervention (Associations with problems in EC, MC, EA, & Adult)

• Intervention is warranted– Evidence-based interventions are only beginning but

suggest promising effects

• Bullying exists in young children & requires attention

Questions

Thank you!

jostrov@buffalo.edu

• Recent publications available at:

http://wings.buffalo.edu/psychology/labs/SocialDevLab/home