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.
This study investigated developmental trajectories for prosocial behavior
for a sample followed from age 10 – 18 and examined possible adjustment
outcomes associated with membership in different trajectory groups. Participants
were 136 boys and 148 girls, their teachers, and their parents (19.4%
African American, 2.4% Asian, 51.9% Caucasian, 19.5%
Hispanic, and 5.8% other). Teachers rated children’s prosocial
behavior yearly in grades 4 – 12. At the end of the 12th
grade year, teachers, parents, and participants reported externalizing behaviors
and participants reported internalizing symptoms, narcissism, and features of
borderline personality disorder. Results suggested that prosocial behavior
remained stable from middle childhood through late adolescence. Group-based
mixture modeling revealed three prosocial trajectory groups: low
(18.7%), medium (52.8%), and high (29.6%). Membership in
the high prosocial trajectory group predicted lower levels of externalizing
behavior as compared to the low prosocial trajectory group, and for girls, lower
levels of internalizing symptoms. Membership in the medium prosocial trajectory
group also predicted being lower on externalizing behaviors. Membership in the
high prosocial trajectory group predicted lower levels of borderline personality
features for girls only.
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