Language and Aggression in Preschool Children. Gender Differences

The present study has two objectives. Firstly to analyze the gender differences in language development in preschool children and secondly to analyze the relationships between language development on the one hand and aggression, prosocial behavior on the other hand. The study involved 155 preschool children aged between 36 and 71 months (M = 52.61, SD = 10.40) enrolled in a kindergarten in Bucharest. The instruments used were the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, ABAS-II (Harrison et al., 2012) and Preschool Social Behavior Scale - Teacher Form (Crick, 1996). To determine the gender differences, a series of independent samples t tests and Mann-Whitney U nonparametric test were performed and for the relationships among variables, regression and moderation analyzes were performed. The results showed that girls have higher levels of language development than boys, in all measured dimensions. At the same time, the level of language development was negatively associated with physical and relational aggression and positively with prosocial behavior. Contrary to our expectations, gender has not moderated the relationship between language development and aggression or prosocial behavior. The practical implications of the study address the need to capture and treat early delays in language development in order to prevent aggressive behaviors among preschoolers.

Development and Validation of the Teen Dating Aggression Measure Among Canadian Youth

Teen dating violence (TDV) victimization is a traumatic experience that can have adverse consequences for adolescents. Current measures that assess TDV do not fully distinguish between psychological and relational forms of aggression, nor do they capture aggressive acts that are common within adolescent relationships. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Teen Dating Aggression Measure (TeDAM) using a sample of 730 Canadian adolescents (M = 15.88 years, SD = 1.23). The measure is an expansion of the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory and includes items that describe other forms of violence such as coercion and control, along with more traditional indicators of dating violence (e.g., sexual aggression). Factor analyses yielded three factors, namely psychological aggression, sexual and physical aggression, and relational aggression, which were correlated with more frequent cannabis and alcohol use as well as rape myth acceptance. These results provide initial support for the utility of the TeDAM for assessing TDV with adolescents.

Early Adolescents’ Social Achievement Goals and Perceived Relational Support: Their Additive and Interactive Effects on Social Behavior

The current study examined the additive and interactive effects of early adolescents’ social achievement goals and perceived relational support from teachers and peers on their social behavior. Adolescents’ social achievement goals (i.e., social development, social demonstration-approach, and social demonstration-avoidance), perceived relational support from teachers and peers, and social behavior (i.e., overt and relational aggression, prosocial behavior, and anxious solitary behavior) were assessed in a sample of fifth and sixth graders (Mage = 12.5; N = 677) nested within 26 classrooms. Multilevel modeling results indicated that social goals and relational support from teachers and peers made additive contributions to adolescents’ social behavior. Results also indicated the evidence of interactive effects, such that relational support from teachers was negatively associated with overt and relational aggression primarily among adolescents who had high social demonstration-approach goals. Findings underscore the need to consider adolescents’ social goals in conjunction with their perceived relational support for educators and practitioners.

DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINANTS OF RELATIONAL AGGRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENT STUDENTS

Objective: To determine the predictive relation of demographic variables with relational aggression. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Psychology, University of Gujrat, Gujrat Pakistan, from Aug 2017 to Jan 2018. Methodology: A total of 612 adolescent students were selected with age 12-19 years from diverse academic institutes of Gujrat city. Urdu version of diverse adolescent relational aggression scale was used to measure relational aggression. Neural network analysis was carried out by using SPSS-21. Result: The findings of this study revealed significant predictive relation of demographic variables (gender, birth order, family system, number of siblings and age) with relational aggression. The most important predictor of relational aggression in teenagers was birth order 0.249 (100%), age 0.246 (98.9%) siblings 0.242 (86.3%), family system 0.166 (66.8%) and gender 123 (49.6) respectively. Conclusion: Demographic variables are the significant predictor of relational aggression. By managing the effects of these variables, adverse behavior of relational aggression can be controlled in adolescent students

‘[Cyber]bullying is too strong a word…’: Parental accounts of their children's experiences of online conflict and relational aggression

The problem of cyberbullying has been the subject of considerable media attention in Australia and has been framed as a crisis threatening the wellbeing of Australian youth, provoking a comprehensive policy and legislative response to the problem. Definitions of cyberbullying, however, remain contested and there is a lack of nuance in public debates about cyberbullying. This article draws on interviews and focus groups with forty Australian parents to determine parents’ anxieties, perspectives, and experiences in relation to cyberbullying, a perspective that has remained relatively under explored. This study found that while online conflict, exclusion and relational aggression appear common amongst young people, parents in this study eschewed the term cyberbullying, instead characterising negative online peer interactions as part of ‘normal’ child development. This paper demonstrates that a more nuanced understanding of negative online behaviours is needed. The findings have particular relevance to policy makers and organisations tasked with addressing cyberbullying.