Adolescents' perceptions of peers' relational characteristics (e.g., support, trustworthiness) were examined for subtypes of youth who evidenced chronic maladaptive behavior, chronic peer group rejection, or combinations of these risk factors. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify subgroups of participants within a normative…

Narcissism--a strong need to be admired for a grandiose self--is a problematic personality trait for children as well as adults. This study of 236 preadolescents (M age = 11.3 years; 129 girls, 107 boys) evaluated 2 intrapersonal (cognitive) pathways by which narcissism might contribute to maladjustment. The first was that narcissism combines with…

This study examined relations among family environment, cortisol response, and behavior in the context of a randomized controlled trial with 92 children (M = 48 months) at risk for antisocial behavior. Previously, researchers reported an intervention effect on cortisol response in anticipation of a social challenge. The current study examined…

This study examined parenting variables as protective factors to reduce the influence of school and peer risk factors on adolescents' aggression. Five waves of data spanning 3 years were collected from 5,581 students at 37 schools who began the 6th grade in 2001 or 2002. Class-level and perceived school norms supporting aggression, delinquent peer…

In a representative sample of 2,030 U.S. children aged 2-17, 13.9% report lifetime exposure to disaster, and 4.1% report experiencing a disaster in the past year. Disaster exposure was associated with some forms of victimization and adversity. Victimization was associated with depression among 2- to 9-year-old disaster survivors, and with…

This study examined the additive and interactive effects of temperament and harsh and indulgent parenting on Chinese children's proactive and reactive aggression. Participants were 401 children (M [subscript age] = 9.29 years, 203 girls) and their parents who were recruited from 2 elementary schools in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The…

To evaluate whether conjoined maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are associated with increased behavioral problems among terrorism-exposed preschool children (N = 116; 18-54 months), this study compared clinically significant child behavioral problem rates among the preschool children of mothers with PTSD and depression,…

Peer contagion of adolescent males' aggressive/health risk behaviors was examined using a computerized "chat room" experimental paradigm. Forty-three 11th-grade White adolescents (16-17 years old) were led to believe that they were interacting with other students (i.e., "e-confederates"), who endorsed aggressive/health risk behaviors and whose…

Aggressive and nonaggressive third- through fifth-grade African-American boys were assigned to a behavior intervention program designed to reduce aggressive males' tendency to attribute hostile intentions to peers, an attention training program, or a nonintervention control group. The benefits and limitations of the intervention program are…

Tested four different theoretical models (risk, protective, potentiator, and person-environment fit) describing ways that geographical neighborhoods might be associated with aggression and peer relationship problems in 1,271 elementary school children. Results suggest a protective effect of middle-SES neighborhoods on the aggressive behavior among…

Examined how relational stressors and supports interface with aggression to influence early adjustment trajectories from Fall of kindergarten year to Spring of first grade. Found that with few exceptions, relational experiences predicted adjustment beyond children's aggressive risk status. Chronicity of aggressive risk status and relational…

Compared aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive/withdrawn children to normative and matched control groups on teacher and peer relationship attributes, loneliness, and social satisfaction from kindergarten through grade 2. Found that withdrawn behavior was neither highly stable nor predictive of relational difficulties. Aggression was fairly stable…