Maternal and paternal parenting styles and marital interactions linked to childhood aggressive behavior as described in Western psychological literature were measured in an ethnic Russian sample of 207 families of nursery-school-age children. Results corroborated and extended findings from Western samples. Maternal and paternal coercion, lack of responsiveness, and psychological control (for mothers only) were significantly correlated with children's overt aggression with peers. Less responsiveness (for mothers and fathers) and maternal coercion positively correlated with relational aggression. Some of these associations differed for boys versus girls. Marital conflict was also linked to more overt and relational aggression for boys. When entered into the same statistical model, more marital conflict (for boys only), more maternal coercion, and less paternal responsiveness were found to be the most important contributors to overt and relational aggression in younger Russian children. Children's aggression in the peer group and its relationship to parenting styles and patterns of marital and family interaction has a relatively long tradition of empirical inquiry in Western psychological literature (see Hart, Olsen, Robinson, & Mandleco, 1997, for a review). Recently, efforts to link maladaptive behaviors to a host of social-psychological outcomes in preschool-age and older children have focused on overt and relational forms of aggression (e.g., Crick, Casas, & Mosher, 1997; McNeilly-Choque, Hart, Robinson, Nelson, & Olsen, 1996). However, exploring ways that different forms of aggression are associated with family processes is a relatively new area of inquiry (Crick et al., in press). Although there is significant knowledge concerning linkages between family processes and overt forms of aggression (e.g., Crick & Dodge, 1994), little
