Neighborhood is a key context where children learn to process social information; however, the field has largely overlooked the ways children's individual characteristics might be moderated by neighborhood effects. We examined 1,030 six- to 11-year-olds (48.7% female; 82% White) twin pairs oversampled for neighborhood disadvantage from the Twin…

To understand whose parenting (mothers vs. fathers) and which type of parenting (warmth vs. hostility) is more important in predicting adolescent aggression, this study applied dominance analysis to evaluate the relative importance of four different parenting dimensions (maternal hostility, paternal hostility, maternal warmth, and paternal…

Children who show elevated levels of indirect aggression (IA) from childhood to adolescence are at increased risks of experiencing detrimental outcomes. Some studies suggest that psychopathic traits could act as a predisposing vulnerability in the development of IA, but the contributions of all three dimensions of psychopathic traits in explaining…

This study examined the course and correlates of the happy victimizer tendency--the expectation that harming others to achieve a goal will result in positive emotional outcomes for the transgressor--from 4 to 6 years of age in a community sample of Canadian children (N = 150; 50% female; Time 1 M[subscript age] = 4.53 years, SD = 0.30; 33%…

In adolescence, being rejected by one's peers is positively associated with aggression. However, whether self-perceptions of being rejected or accepted by peers, and biases in these perceptions, are linked to aggression remains unclear, as the literature points to 2 perspectives: Youth are more likely to be aggressive when they (a) know or believe…

The present study investigated prenatal and early postnatal risk factors associated with developmental patterns of disruptive behaviors (DBs; e.g., hyperactivity-impulsivity, noncompliance, physical aggression) from ages 1.5 to 5 years in a population birth cohort (N = 2,057; 50.7% boys). Six high-trajectory classes obtained by latent growth…

There is a well-documented interdependency between destructive interparental conflict (IPC) and parenting difficulties (i.e., spillover effect), yet little is known about the mechanisms that "carry" spillover between IPC and parenting. Guided by a cascade model framework, the current study used a longitudinal, multimethod,…

The goal of the current study was to investigate whether children's social information processing (SIP) predicts their conversations with peers, including both their remarks to peers and peers' remarks to them. When children (N = 156; 55% male; United States; Representation by Race: 60% African American, 18% Mixed race, 15% European American, 7%…

Peer victimization is a common concern in adolescence that includes both relational (e.g., exclusion, rumor spreading) and overt (e.g., hitting, threatening) forms (Crick & Bigbee, 1998). Relational and overt peer victimization have shown to be differentially associated with depressive symptoms, with relational peer victimization showing a…

This study utilized latent profile analyses to identify unique configurations of children's family-based social experiences during the first 3 years of life and examine differences across profiles with respect to developmental outcomes at 36 and 48 months of age. Seven family process variables were used: maternal emotional functioning, maternal…

Parenting behaviors and children's prosociality (i.e., voluntary behaviors intended to benefit others) are linked across development. Contextual risk and environmental stressors may undermine parenting behaviors known to promote children's prosocial behavior. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique context in which to examine how stress and…

Victimization during school years can have detrimental effects on individuals' adjustment, lasting even into adulthood. In the current study, we examine whether there is an indirect effect of victimization on adult depression and aggression, via sad and angry rumination about past victimization. Participants included 1,319 Finnish individuals…

Adolescent marijuana use has become increasingly more problematic compared with the past; thus, understanding developmental processes that increase the liability of marijuana use is essential. Two developmental pathways to adolescent substance use have been proposed: an externalizing pathway that emphasizes the expression of aggressive and…

Although a number of social--cognitive and contextual correlates of defending against bullying have been identified, research on the personality traits associated with defending have yielded weak and inconsistent results. The current study provided a novel examination as to whether a tendency toward social withdrawal is associated with less…

This study examined whether adolescents' social aggression is socialized through exposure to peers' socially aggressive text messaging. Using data on the socially aggressive content of text messages that 221 participants (M[subscript age] = 15.02 years; 46.7% female) sent to and received from peers, and teacher ratings of participants' in-person…