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Characteristics of aggressive children's friends as predictors of subsequent aggression
This research investigated characteristics of aggressive children's friends and their relationship to children's subsequent levels of aggression. Previous research has focused primarily on the negative influence of association with deviant peers on aggressive children's subsequent development. Specifically, the present study examined characteristics of aggressive children's reciprocated friends, namely prosocialness and aggressiveness, and their friendship choices, and how these variables affect children's subsequent aggression and delinquency. The participants were 179 second- and third- grade children for whom parental consent was obtained and data collected. These children were nominated by teachers and they also met eligibility criteria for participation in the study. Of the 179 participants, 64 had at least one reciprocated friend. Results indicated that neither characteristics of one's friends (prosocialness and aggressiveness) nor characteristics of children's friendship choices contributed uniquely to the prediction of subsequent aggression and delinquency after controlling for pretreatment aggression and delinquency, respectively. The prosocialness index was negatively correlated with Time 1 and Time 2 aggression and delinquency, while the magnitude of association between the aggression index and aggression and delinquency at both time intervals was found to be statistically non-significant but in the expected (positive) direction. Although neither the prosocial nor aggressive index predicted teacher-rated aggressive or delinquent behavior, it was noted that stronger statistically non-significant associations were consistently provided by the prosocial index compared to the antisocial index. With a larger sample of aggressive children with reciprocated friends, and a longer time interval between assessment periods, it is possible that the prosocialness index might emerge as a statistically significant predictor of children's subsequent aggression and delinquency.
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Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-91).