This study investigated differences in children's and adolescents' experiences of harming their siblings and friends. Participants ("N" = 101; 7-, 11-, and 16-year-olds) provided accounts of events when they hurt a younger sibling and a friend. Harm against friends was described as unusual, unforeseeable, and circumstantial. By contrast,…

In this study, the prevailing view that girls are pervasively more skilled in their friendships than boys was challenged by examining whether girls respond more negatively than boys when a friend violates core friendship expectations. Fourth- and fifth-grade children (n = 267) responded to vignettes depicting transgressions involving a friend's…

"Interpersonal" rejection and "intergroup" exclusion in childhood reflect different, but complementary, aspects of child development. Interpersonal rejection focuses on individual differences in personality traits, such as wariness and being fearful, to explain bully-victim relationships. In contrast, intergroup exclusion focuses on how in-group…

This research explored the contribution of social goal orientation, specifically, development (improving social skills and relationships), demonstration-approach (gaining positive judgments), and demonstration-avoidance (minimizing negative judgments). Children (N = 373; M age = 7.97, SD = 0.34) were followed from 2nd to 3rd grades. Validity of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distinct forms (i.e., physical and relational) and functions (i.e., proactive and reactive) of aggressive behavior during early childhood (n = 101; M age = 45.09 months). Forms, but not functions, of aggressive behavior were stable over time. A number of contributors to aggression were associated…

Trajectories in bullying through adolescence were studied along with individual, family, and peer relationship factors. At the outset, participants' ages ranged from 10 to 14; 74% identified as European Canadian with the remainder from diverse backgrounds. With 8 waves of data over 7 years, 871 students (466 girls and 405 boys) were studied to…

Results of a study of aggression and friendship involving 315 children, ages 9-12, indicated that friendships of relatively aggressive children were characterized by relatively high levels of intimacy, exclusivity/jealousy, and relational aggression within the friendship context. In contrast, the friendships of overtly aggressive children were…

Examined the ability of children of different ages to encode and retrieve from memory descriptions of aggressive and withdrawn behavior displayed by hypothetical peers. Descriptions of two hypothetical peers were read aloud to the children studied. (PCB)

Latent growth curve modeling employed data from a longitudinal study of 451 sibling families to examine parents, siblings, and family economics as factors in individual differences in the developmental course of interpersonal aggression during adolescence. Findings suggest that individual change in interpersonal aggression during adolescence can…

Social information processing and moral domain theories have developed in relative isolation from each other despite their common focus on intentional harm and victimization, and mutual emphasis on social cognitive processes in explaining aggressive, morally relevant behaviors. This article presents a selective summary of these literatures with…

Examined responses of 6- to 7- and 9 to 10-year olds to adult-child conflict, compared them to responses to adult-adult conflict, and further examined responses in relation to verbal and physical expression of anger. Participants in the conflict, the form of anger, and the age and gender of the subject moderated some responses. (DR)

Studied rejected children by assessing aspects of their self-concepts and their perceptions of relationships with significant others. Assessed possible biases in the processing of information about the self across status groups. Explored potential differences among subgroups of children who had been classified as sociometrically rejected. (RH)

Three studies examine the relationship of rejection sensitivity measured on the Children's Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire to individual differences in response to peers' social rejection in urban, minority fifth to seventh graders. Found that rejection-sensitive children behaved more aggressively and experienced increased interpersonal…