Association Between Overt and Relational Aggression and Psychosocial Adjustment in Undergraduate College Students

Abstract

This study examined the relations between overt and relational aggression, social anxiety, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and alcohol and drug use in a sample of 287 undergraduate college students. Consistent with prior work, men reported engaging in more overt aggression than women. Contrary to our predictions, men also reported engaging in more relational aggression than women. Results also indicated that overt and relational aggression were positively associated with social anxiety, loneliness, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and drug use for the overall sample. Hierarchical regression analyses showed positive relations between overt aggression and alcohol use for men and no relations between relational aggression and any psychosocial adjustment index. For women, overt aggression uniquely predicted social anxiety, loneliness, and depressive symptoms, whereas relational aggression uniquely predicted social anxiety, loneliness, depression, and alcohol and drug problems. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of peer aggression in students' psychosocial adjustment.

Examining the Presence of Anxiety in Aggressive Individuals: The Illuminating Role of Fight-or-Flight Mechanisms

“…Based on the preceding literature review, there do appear to be unique relationships between anxiety and the different forms, functions, and subtypes of aggression. Specifically, anxiety seems to co-occur more frequently with relational aggression (Crick 1995;Storch et al 2004), reactive aggression (Fite et al 2010), and reactive relational aggression (Marsee et al 2008). Further, conceptualizing anxiety and aggression as components of the larger fight/flight system emphasizes the importance of the often interconnected nature of these behaviors and suggests that they are dictated by the same underlying emotional and cognitive mechanisms.…”

“…Taken together, the preliminary research on the co-occurrence of anxiety and aggression described in the preceding paragraphs suggest that there may in fact be differing relationships between internalizing symptoms of anxiety and externalizing symptoms of these specific types of aggression such that anxiety seems to co-occur more frequently with relational aggression (Crick 1995;Storch et al 2004), reactive aggression (Fite et al 2010), and reactive relational aggression (Marsee et al 2008). Reasoning follows that considering the presence or absence of anxious behavior may aid in determining the specific type of aggression present in clinical settings which will be useful in aiding treatment planning.…”

“…Although these behaviors are often correlated (Crick and Grotpeter 1995), they are in fact two distinct constructs (Card et al 2008). Interestingly, relational aggression has been linked to social anxiety (e.g., Crick 1995;Storch et al 2004) and may uniquely relate to specific internalizing mechanisms in ways that are different from overt aggression.…”

A Review and Reconceptualization of Social Aggression: Adaptive and Maladaptive Correlates

“…Bagner and colleagues (2007) found a similar pattern of results related to romantic relational aggression, wherein high levels were correlated with social anxiety, loneliness, and depressive symptoms. In terms of gender differences, Storch et al (2004) found that social aggression was significantly correlated with social anxiety, loneliness, and depression among women. Finally, Werner and Crick (1999) also reported a link between peer-nominated social aggression and bulimia symptoms in women.…”

Associations Between Relational Aggression, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation in a Child Psychiatric Inpatient Sample

“…Relational Aggression, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidal Ideation Specific to internalizing symptoms, relational aggression has been found to be associated with depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, and loneliness [1,5,[9][10][11]. For example, in a community sample of third through sixth grade children, relationally aggressive children reported higher levels of depression than those who were not classified as relationally aggressive.…”