Rough Physical Play in Adolescents: Does It Serve a Dominance Function?

In Study 1, a questionnaire was designed to investigate secondary school pupils' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. It was administered to a sample of 13- to 16-year-old male and female pupils who attended 5 different schools. The majority of pupils (and significantly more males than females) reported that they did engage in playful fighting. Most pupils also indicated that it was possible to tell whether other students were engaged in playful as opposed to aggressive fighting, attesting to the view that playful and aggressive fighting should be seen as separate categories of behavior. Other results converged to indicate that, unlike during the childhood years, playful fighting may be used by some individuals (especially males) to establish and display dominance positions. The responses of some pupils (again more males than females) also suggested that prowess in aggressive fighting was valued, in many cases because it deterred other pupils from directing unwanted behaviors (such as aggression and teasing) at them. In Study 2, more detailed individual interviews with 5 males and 5 females were carried out. These were used to illustrate some of the issues surrounding adolescents' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. Overall, the results of both Study 1 and Study 2 supported the hypothesis that some bouts of playful fighting are used during adolescence to settle dominance disputes. Results also suggested that aggression may be introduced into bouts of playful fighting in order to achieve these ends. Theoretical explanations are presented.     

Rough Physical Play in Adolescents: Does It Serve a Dominance Function?

In Study 1, a questionnaire was designed to investigate secondary school pupils' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. It was administered to a sample of 13- to 16-year-old male and female pupils who attended 5 different schools. The majority of pupils (and significantly more males than females) reported that they did engage in playful fighting. Most pupils also indicated that it was possible to tell whether other students were engaged in playful as opposed to aggressive fighting, attesting to the view that playful and aggressive fighting should be seen as separate categories of behavior. Other results converged to indicate that, unlike during the childhood years, playful fighting may be used by some individuals (especially males) to establish and display dominance positions. The responses of some pupils (again more males than females) also suggested that prowess in aggressive fighting was valued, in many cases because it deterred other pupils from directing unwanted behaviors (such as aggression and teasing) at them. In Study 2, more detailed individual interviews with 5 males and 5 females were carried out. These were used to illustrate some of the issues surrounding adolescents' participation in, and perceptions of, playful and aggressive fighting. Overall, the results of both Study 1 and Study 2 supported the hypothesis that some bouts of playful fighting are used during adolescence to settle dominance disputes. Results also suggested that aggression may be introduced into bouts of playful fighting in order to achieve these ends. Theoretical explanations are presented.     

Preschoolers' Relational Aggression with Siblings and with Friends

As part of a longitudinal study examining sibling and friend relationships in early and middle childhood, relational aggression by 4-year-olds and their interaction partners in semi-structured free play sessions with siblings and friends was examined during sibling sessions involving both same-gender and mixed-gender sibling pairs. Identifiable acts of relational aggression occurred during many of the interactions observed, but there was also a wide range in the amount of relational aggression produced. Both boys and girls used relational aggression with their siblings much more than they did with their friends. Although boys' and girls' relationally aggressive behaviors occurred at similar rates, the form and function of their relational aggression varied depending on the age and gender of their sibling.     

Gender Differences in Children's Normative Beliefs about Aggression: How Do I Hurt Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

This research was designed to assess whether children view relationally manipulative behaviors (i.e., those behaviors labeled relational aggression in past research) as "aggressive." 2 studies were conducted to evaluate whether children view relationally manipulative behaviors as associated with 2 defining features of aggression, anger (Study 1) and intent to harm (Study 2). Results of Study 1 ( n = 459, 9–12-year-olds) indicated that relational aggression was the most frequently cited angry behavior for girls' interactions whereas physical aggression was the most frequently cited angry behavior for boys' interactions. Results of Study 2 ( n = 60, 9–11-year-olds) demonstrated that relational aggression and verbal insults were the most frequently cited harmful behaviors for girls whereas physical aggression and verbal insults were the most frequently cited harmful behaviors for boys. These studies provide the first evidence that children view relationally manipulative acts (relational aggression) as angry, harmful behaviors (i.e., as "aggressive").     

Gendered pathways from child sexual abuse to sexual aggression victimization and perpetration in adolescence and young adulthood

This study aimed to examine the pathways from child sexual abuse to sexual assault victimization and perpetration in adolescence and early adulthood, considering risky sexual behavior and lowered sexual self-esteem as mediator variables. In a two-wave longitudinal study with 2251 college students in Germany, male and female participants provided reports of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration since age 14 (T1) and again a year later (T2), covering the last 12 months. In addition, child sexual abuse (CSA; before the age of 14), risky sexual behavior, and sexual self-esteem were assessed at T1, and risky sexual behavior and sexual-self-esteem were assessed again at T2. Experience of CSA was significantly associated with greater likelihood of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration, lower sexual self-esteem, and more risky sexual behavior in both gender groups at T1 and was directly related to victimization at T2 among male participants. In both gender groups, CSA indirectly contributed to a higher probability of sexual victimization at T2 via its impact on victimization T1. In males, the indirect path from CSA to T2 perpetration via T1 perpetration was also significant. Through its negative impact on sexual self-esteem, CSA indirectly increased the probability of sexual victimization among women and the probability of sexual aggression perpetration among men. Risky sexual behavior mediated the pathway from CSA to sexual victimization at T2 for men and women and the pathway from CSA to sexual aggression perpetration for women. The findings contribute to the understanding of gendered effects of CSA on revictimization and the victim-to-perpetrator cycle.     

The developmental costs of high self-esteem for antisocial children

Two hypotheses--high self-esteem leads children to act on antisocial cognitions (disposition-activating hypothesis) and high self-esteem leads children to rationalize antisocial conduct (disposition-rationalizing hypothesis)--were investigated in two longitudinal studies. In Study 1 (N= 189; mean age = 11.1 years), antisocial behavior was aggression; in Study 2 (N= 407; mean age = 10.8 years) it was avoidance of the mother. In both studies, there was little evidence for the disposition-activating hypothesis but considerable support for the disposition-rationalizing hypothesis. Over time, aggressive children with high self-esteem increasingly valued the rewards that aggression offers and belittled their victims, and avoidant children with high self-esteem increasingly viewed their mother as harassing and uninvolved. For antisocial children, high self-esteem carries costs.     

Gender and attitudes to work and family roles: the views of young people at the millennium

The last century, in particular the latter half, saw radical shifts in the roles and expectations of women in society. This article investigates the views of 14‐ to 16‐year‐olds in the year 2000 on work and family roles, exploring both their general views on gender roles and their own personal aspirations for the future. In general the young people believed that it was equally important for males and females to get good qualifications at school, to have worthwhile careers and that childcare should be a joint responsibility. They also believed that males and females could do any job they wanted to these days. Their views were tempered, however, by the inequalities that they saw around them in the workplace and in their own families. While young people’s attitudes may have changed, they are still choosing fairly gender‐typical subjects at school and aspiring to different types of occupation. The article concludes that while great strides have been made in changing attitudes towards gender equality, there is still a long way to go before equal opportunities are really achieved.     

The Development of Aggression within Sibling Conflict

Sibling physical aggression and parents' and children's responses to such aggression were observed in 40 families when children were approximately 2% and 4% years of age, and two years later when they were 4% and 6%. Aggression occurred in all families, with first-born siblings being more aggressive than second-borns, and second-born siblings being more likely to cry, especially at the first time period. Parents responded to half of their children's aggression, and were more likely to respond if victims had cried. Only when parents intervened did the conflict resolution indicate to the children that physical aggression was not acceptable. Most responses by both parents and child victims were simple commands to stop aggression, and discussion of issues that gave rise to the aggression. Less frequent parent and child responses, such as physical reactions or approval of aggression by parents, and discussions of feelings or rules, or crying by first-born children were related to only the aggression of second-born siblings at Time 1. Furthermore, the only variables that predicted aggression at Time 2 were the levels of aggression that the children exhibited at Time 1, with relatively aggressive first-born children and relatively unaggressive second-born children predicting higher levels of sibling aggression two years later. Results were discussed in terms of family influences in the development of relatively aggressive or unaggressive sibling relationships over time.     

The Development of Aggression within Sibling Conflict

Sibling physical aggression and parents' and children's responses to such aggression were observed in 40 families when children were approximately 2% and 4% years of age, and two years later when they were 4% and 6%. Aggression occurred in all families, with first-born siblings being more aggressive than second-borns, and second-born siblings being more likely to cry, especially at the first time period. Parents responded to half of their children's aggression, and were more likely to respond if victims had cried. Only when parents intervened did the conflict resolution indicate to the children that physical aggression was not acceptable. Most responses by both parents and child victims were simple commands to stop aggression, and discussion of issues that gave rise to the aggression. Less frequent parent and child responses, such as physical reactions or approval of aggression by parents, and discussions of feelings or rules, or crying by first-born children were related to only the aggression of second-born siblings at Time 1. Furthermore, the only variables that predicted aggression at Time 2 were the levels of aggression that the children exhibited at Time 1, with relatively aggressive first-born children and relatively unaggressive second-born children predicting higher levels of sibling aggression two years later. Results were discussed in terms of family influences in the development of relatively aggressive or unaggressive sibling relationships over time.     

Mothers' Social Coaching, Mother-Child Relationship Style, and Children's Peer Competence: Is the Medium the Message?

Contributions of mothers' social coaching and responsive style to preschoolers' peer competence were evaluated in 2 studies. In Study 1, 43 mother-child dyads participated in 3 laboratory tasks; videotapes were coded for responsive interaction style in play, advice regarding videotaped peer dilemmas (coaching), and nonsocial teaching in a puzzle task. Coaching and style were largely independent and were correlated with measures of social competence. In Study 2 ( n = 62), coaching and style uniquely predicted teacher ratings, but only style predicted peer acceptance. To investigate whether coaching mediated the effects of style and/or whether style moderated the effects of coaching, the samples were combined. No evidence was found for mediation, but coaching was a more powerful predictor of lower levels of boys' aggression when the mother-child relationship was less responsive. Discussion focuses on models of socialization that stress the interplay of general style and specific socialization practices in promoting social competence.     

The association between preschool children's social functioning and their emergent academic skills

This study examined the relationship between social functioning and emergent academic development in a sample of 467 preschool children (M = 55.9 months old, SD = 3.8). Teachers reported on children's aggression, attention problems, and prosocial skills. Preliteracy, language, and early mathematics skills were assessed with standardized tests. Better social functioning was associated with stronger academic development. Attention problems were related to poorer academic development controlling for aggression and social skills, pointing to the importance of attention in these relations. Children's social skills were related to academic development controlling for attention and aggression problems, consistent with models suggesting that children's social strengths and difficulties are independently related to their academic development. Support was not found for the hypothesis that these relationships would be stronger in boys than in girls. Some relationships were stronger in African American than Caucasian children. Children's self-reported feelings about school moderated several relationships, consistent with the idea that positive feelings about school may be a protective factor against co-occurring academic and social problems.     

Children's Affectionate Behavior Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in (a) the amount of affectionate behavior expressed by boys and girls and (b) the types of recipients of boys' and girls' affectionate behavior. Data were collected by conducting naturalistic observations of 76 children (32 males and 44 females) in six daycare centers. The affectionate behaviors observed were smiling, affectionate words, and active and passive affectionate physical contact. The results indicated that children's affectionate behavior was not gender typed as defined by social learning theory. However, there were gender differences related to the recipients of children's affectionate behavior. Children expressed more affection to (a) individual children and teachers than to groups and (b) same-gender peers than to opposite-gender peers. The specific behaviors making important contributions to the overall differences between boys' and girls' expressions of affection to male and female children differed. The results indicate there is a need to include the interpersonal context of the behavior when examining gender differences and to expand theory and research on the role of affection in children's development and relationships.     

Changes in Sensory Dominance During Childhood: Converging Evidence From the Colavita Effect and the Sound‐Induced Flash Illusion

In human adults, visual dominance emerges in several multisensory tasks. In children, auditory dominance has been reported up to 4 years of age. To establish when sensory dominance changes during development, 41 children (6–7, 9–10, and 11–12 years) were tested on the Colavita task (Experiment 1) and 32 children (6–7, 9–10, and 11–12 years) were tested on the sound‐induced flash illusion (Experiment 2). In both experiments, an auditory dominance emerged in 6‐ to 7‐year‐old children compared to older children. Adult‐like visual dominance started to emerge from 9 to 10 years of age, and consolidated in 11‐ to 12‐year‐old children. These findings show that auditory dominance persists up to 6 years, but switches to visual dominance during the first school years.     

Associations between maternal childhood maltreatment and psychopathology and aggression during pregnancy and postpartum

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the association between maternal childhood maltreatment and psychopathology and aggression in intimate relationships during pregnancy and the postpartum period. METHOD: Forty-four pregnant women who were recruited from an obstetric clinic and local advertising periodical completed questionnaires about childhood maltreatment and psychopathology during their first trimester of pregnancy. Approximately 1 year after the birth of the child, 32 of the original participants completed these same questionnaires. Regression models were used to test the relationship between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology and aggression during pregnancy and 1 year postpartum. RESULTS: Sexual abuse and emotional neglect were related to psychopathology during pregnancy, and emotional neglect and physical abuse and neglect predicted poorer maternal outcomes 1 year postpartum. Contrary to expectations, physical abuse was related to less aggression during pregnancy, and emotional abuse was associated with less pathology postpartum. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that childhood maltreatment is associated with poorer maternal mental health during pregnancy and 1 year postpartum and points to the need to improve targeting and treatment of psychopathology during this time.     

Experiences of psychological and physical aggression in adolescent romantic relationships: Links to psychological distress

ObjectiveThis research examined links between adolescents’ experiences of psychological and physical relationship aggression and their psychological distress. Experiences of psychological and physical aggression were expected to correlate positively with symptoms of psychological distress, but experiences of psychological aggression were expected to partially account for the association between experiences of physical aggression and psychological distress. In addition, psychological aggression was hypothesized to be perceived as more unpleasant and less playful than physical aggression.MethodParticipants were 125 high school students. Relationship aggression was assessed over an 8-week period using two methods: (1) a retrospective method based on a single assessment at the end of the 8-week period, and (2) a cumulative method based on multiple assessments conducted during the 8-week period. Adolescents’ appraisals of the aggression were also measured, as were their reports of symptoms of psychological distress.ResultsAdolescents’ experiences of psychological and physical relationship aggression correlated positively, but inconsistently, with their symptoms of psychological distress. In analyses considering both forms of aggression simultaneously, psychological aggression was related to adolescents’ distress, but physical aggression was not. This finding emerged across both methods of assessing for relationship aggression. Psychological aggression was more likely than physical aggression to be rated as unpleasant, and less likely to be attributed to the partner “playing around.”ConclusionsThe study of adolescent relationship aggression will benefit by expanding the focus of aggression to include psychological aggression as well as physical aggression, and by examining adolescents’ appraisals of the aggression they experience.Practice implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of a broad view of aggression in adolescent relationships. Psychological aggression appears to be at least as important to adolescent well-being as physical aggression in dating relationships. In addition, it may be useful to consider how adolescents’ interpret the intent of the aggression that they experience.     

Breeding,paternal behavior,and their interruption inBetta splendens

Seven experiments examined the reproductive activities of Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). Spawning occurred after heterosexual pairs were together for about 24 h, and males cared for eggs, nest, and fry thereafter. The visual cues provided by an intruder male, but not a female, stimulated aggression in the male breeder, and these agonistic behaviors competed with breeding to cause a decrement in reproductive efficiency. Males were found to protect eggs and fry by preventing the growth of a fungus lethal to their offspring.     

The relationship between health (malnutrition) and educational achievements (Maths and English) in the rural children of South Africa

The purpose of this paper is to report the cross-sectional relationship between educational achievements and the ‘health status’ of the rural South African children in the Ellisras Longitudinal Study (ELS).The study followed a cohort design where 1033 children (569 boys and 464 girls) aged 7–14 were randomly sampled from 11 primary schools and one secondary school. Anthropometric measurements for height for age (HAZ), weight for age (WAZ), body mass index (BMI) and sum of skinfolds (SOS) were carried out to establish their ‘health status’. Educational achievement tests for Mathematics and English were administered to check their educational status.The results of the multilevel analysis showed that HAZ, WAZ and BMI were positively related to both English and Mathematics performance. HAZ was only positively related to mathematical performance and SOS was not related to educational achievement at all. Furthermore, age and gender only marginally influenced the observed relationships.The study recommends that other factors such as socio-economic status and learning environment should be looked into to find out whether these factors influence the observed relationships.