Relational aggression, victimization, and adjustment during middle childhood

描述(申请人提供)：攻击性和被害性都是社会心理适应问题和未来精神病理的危险因素。对儿童攻击和受害的发展过程的研究对于确定儿童在未来精神病理学中的风险最大是至关重要的(Cummings，IAntti，&Zahn-Waxler，1989；Keenan&Shaw，1994)。在儿童中，攻击和受害的亚型(即身体和关系)已经得到了广泛的研究，发展心理病理学家已经记录了这些行为与外化和内化问题之间的联系(Dodge，Coie&Lynam，2006；Crick，Ostrov和Kawabata，2007)。同伴关系研究人员已经揭示了关系攻击性和被害性与敌对归因偏差、孤独和抑郁症状之间的强烈关联(Crick等人，2007年)。然而，到目前为止，这些关联是同时存在的，并且还没有在前瞻性设计中研究可能的发展机制。因此，建议的研究将对NICHD关于早期儿童保育和青少年发展的研究进行二次数据分析，以检验三个假设。我们假设敌对归因偏向于关系挑衅、孤独感和抑郁情绪，并独立地部分中介关系攻击和关系受害之间的预期关联。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究的目标是更好地了解可能与男孩和女孩的不适应发展轨迹有关的行为类型。拟议的研究将使该领域更接近于了解促进同伴受害的发展机制，并将为儿童中期预防和干预努力的发展提供影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Aggression and victimization are both risk factors for social-psychological adjustment problems and future psychopathology. The study of the developmental course of aggression and victimization among children is crucial for identifying children most at risk for future psychopathology (Cummings, Iannotti, & Zahn-Waxler, 1989; Keenan & Shaw, 1994). In children, subtypes of aggression and victimization (i.e., physical and relational) have been extensively studied and developmental psychopathologists have documented links between these behaviors and both externalizing and internalizing problems (Dodge, Coie & Lynam, 2006; Crick, Ostrov, & Kawabata, 2007). Peer relations researchers have revealed robust associations between relational aggression and victimization and hostile attribution biases, loneliness, and depressive symptoms (Crick et al., 2007). However, to date, these associations have been concurrent and possible developmental mechanisms have not been studied in prospective designs. Therefore, the proposed study will conduct a secondary data analysis of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test three hypotheses. We hypothesize that hostile attribution biases for relational provocations, loneliness and depressed affect with independently partially mediate the prospective associations between relational aggression and relational victimization. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of this research is to better understand the types of behaviors that may be associated with maladaptive developmental trajectories for both boys and girls. The proposed research will permit the field to move closer toward understanding the developmental mechanisms that promote peer victimization and will provide implications for the development of prevention and intervention efforts during middle childhood.