Relational Vulnerability: A Model for Understanding Girls, Aggression, and Adjustment Nicki Crick & Tasha Geiger University of Minnesota USA Melanie Zimmer-Gembeck Griffith University, Gold Coast Australia

This work was supported by grant from the National Institute of Mental Health awarded to Nicki Crick. Thanks to all the members of the School Buddies Project!

What is Relational Aggression? Physical aggression Behaviors that harm others through damage (or threat of damage) to physical well-being. Physical aggression Behaviors that harm others through damage (or threat of damage) to physical well-being. E.g., hitting, kicking, saying “I’m gonna beat you up if you don’t do what I tell you”. Relational aggression Behaviors that harm others through damage (or threat of damage) to relationships, feelings of acceptance, friendship, or group inclusion. Relational aggression Behaviors that harm others through damage (or threat of damage) to relationships, feelings of acceptance, friendship, or group inclusion. E.g., using social exclusion as a way to punish or control others, spreading nasty rumors, giving someone the silent treatment, saying “I won’t be your friend if you don’t do what I say”.

Overview of Relational Aggression and Gender Research has shown that boys are more physically aggressive than girls. Research has shown that boys are more physically aggressive than girls. Although findings are mixed in some cases, most studies find that girls are more relationally aggressive than boys. Although findings are mixed in some cases, most studies find that girls are more relationally aggressive than boys. Numerous studies provide evidence that relational aggression is more salient for girls, and viewed as more hurtful by girls. Numerous studies provide evidence that relational aggression is more salient for girls, and viewed as more hurtful by girls.

Relational Aggression and Adjustment A number of studies have shown that relational aggression is associated with significant concurrent and future adjustment problems A number of studies have shown that relational aggression is associated with significant concurrent and future adjustment problems  Relational aggression in 3 rd grade predicts peer rejection three years later in 6 th grade, even when a number of other important factors have been controlled (e.g., concurrent and future levels of physical aggression, prosocial behavior)  Relational aggression is related to significant internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., depression, delinquent behavior)

Study Purpose To test a relational vulnerability model of the association between relational aggression and social-psychological problems To test a relational vulnerability model of the association between relational aggression and social-psychological problems Identify factors that might be useful for prevention and intervention Identify factors that might be useful for prevention and intervention

Relational Vulnerability Model Maladjustment Internalizing  Externalizing Relationally-Biased Social Information Processing  Cognitive sensitivity  Emotional sensitivity  Perceived peer and friend problems

Participants Approximately 300 children Approximately 300 children –Primarily 4th graders (74%) »5th graders (18%), 3rd graders (6%), 6th graders (2%) –52% males & 48% females –Ethnicity »African-American = 22% »White = 41% »Latino = 12% »Asian = 16% »Other = 9%

Measures Relational Aggression Relational Aggression –Children’s Social Behavior Scale (Teacher Reports; Crick, 1996) »Relational aggression (e.g., When mad at a peer, this child ignores the peer or stops talking to the peer) Lack of Social Skills Lack of Social Skills –Children’s Social Behavior Scale (Teacher Reports; Crick, 1996) »Relational inclusion (e.g., When this child notices that another kid has been left out of an activity or game s/he invites the kid to join the group) »Leadership (e.g., Other kids follow this child’s lead in social situations)

Measures Peer-Related Stress Peer-Related Stress –Children’s Social Experiences Scale (Teacher reports; Cullerton-Sen & Crick, 2002)  Relational peer victimization (e.g., This child gets ignored by other children when a peer is mad at them)  Physical peer victimization (e.g., This child gets pushed or shoved by peers)

Measures Relationally-Biased Social Information Processing Relationally-Biased Social Information Processing  Why Kids Do Things (Crick, 1995; Crick, Grotpeter, & Bigbee, in press) –Cognitive sensitivity to relational conflicts »Measures hostile attributions in relational conflicts –Emotional sensitivity to relational conflicts »Assesses degree of anger/distress in relational conflicts

Relational Conflicts Example: Example: –Imagine that you are in the bathroom one day after lunch. While you are in there, two other classmates come in and start talking to each other. You hear one of them invite the other one to a birthday party. The kid says that there are going to be a lot of people at the party. You have not been invited to this party. »Why hasn’t the kid invited you to the birthday party? »In this story, do you think the classmates were trying to mean or not trying to be mean? »How upset or mad would you be if the things in this story really happened to you?

Measures Maladjustment Maladjustment –Internalizing: Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI; Self Reports; Kovacs, 1985) –Externalizing: Children’s Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Teacher Reports; Achenbach, 2001)

Does the association between relational aggression and depression depend on cognitive sensitivity to relational conflicts? Does the association between relational aggression and depression depend on cognitive sensitivity to relational conflicts? –Regression predicting depression: F (3, 295) = 10.76, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.21, p<.001 »cognitive sensitivityß =.20, p<.001 »interactionß =.10, p<.08 – Interaction shows that children who are highly relationally aggressive and cognitively sensitive to relational conflicts are more depressed than other children. Further, those who are nonrelationally aggressive and not cognitively sensitive to relational conflicts are the least depressed.

Does the association between relational aggression and externalizing depend on cognitive sensitivity to relational conflicts? Does the association between relational aggression and externalizing depend on cognitive sensitivity to relational conflicts? –Regression predicting externalizing: F (3, 308) = 46.6, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.55, p<.001 »cognitive sensitivityß = -.12, p<.05 »interactionß = -.12, p<.05 –Interaction shows that children who are highly relationally aggressive, but not cognitively sensitive to relational conflicts are more externalizing than all other children. Also, those who are relationally aggressive and cognitively sensitive to relational conflicts have more externalizing problems than nonrelationally aggressive children.

Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on emotional sensitivity to relational conflicts? Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on emotional sensitivity to relational conflicts? –Regression predicting depression: F (3, 299) = 9.98, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.21, p<.001 »emotional sensitivityß =.15, p<.01 »interaction ß =.12, p<.05 –Interaction shows that children who are highly relationally aggressive and emotionally sensitive to relational conflicts are significantly more depressed than others.

Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on emotional sensitivity to relational conflicts? Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on emotional sensitivity to relational conflicts? –Regression predicting externalizing: F (3, 310) = 44.9, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.54, p<.001 »emotional sensitivityß =-.04, n.s. »interactionß =-.13, p<.01 –Interaction shows that children who are highly relationally aggressive, but not emotionally sensitive to relational conflicts are more externalizing than all other children. Also, those who are relationally aggressive and cognitively sensitive to relational conflicts are more externalizing than nonrelationally aggressive children.

Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on peer stress (teacher’s reports of relational and physical victimization by classmates)? Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on peer stress (teacher’s reports of relational and physical victimization by classmates)?  Relational Victimization –Regression predicting depression: F (3, 297) = 27.9, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.40, p<.01 »relational victimization ß =-.41, p<.09 »interactionß =.28, p<.07. –Interaction shows that highly relationally aggressive children and relationally victimized are more depressed than peers. Also, nonrelationally aggressive children who are not relationally victimized are less depressed than peers.

Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on peer stress (teacher’s reports of relational and physical victimization by classmates)? Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on peer stress (teacher’s reports of relational and physical victimization by classmates)?  Relational Victimization –Regression predicting ext.: F (3, 327) = 85.1, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =-.12, n.s. »relational victimization ß =.11, n.s. »interactionß =.67, p<.0001 –Interaction shows that children who are relationally aggressive and relationally victimized are more externalizing than peers. Also, nonrelationally aggressive children who are not relationally victimized are the least externalizing.

 Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on peer stress (teacher’s reports of relational and physical victimization by classmates)?  Physical victimization  Regression predicting depression: F (3, 304) = 6.32, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.15, n.s. »physical victimizationß =.06. n.s. »interactionß =.06, n.s.

 Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on peer stress (teacher’s reports of relational and physical victimization by classmates)?  Physical victimization  Regression predicting externalizing: F (3, 327) = 104.2, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =-.01, n.s. »physical victimization ß =.08, n.s. »interactionß =.63, p<.001 –Interaction shows that children who are relationally aggressive and physically victimized are more externalizing than peers. Also, nonrelationally aggressive children who are not physically victimized are the least externalizing.

Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on social skills? Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on social skills? Relational inclusion: Relational inclusion: –Regression predicting depression: F (3, 302) = 8.45, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.26, p<.001 »relational inclusion ß = -.06, n.s. »interaction ß =.14, p<.05 –Interaction shows that children who are low on relational aggression and high on relational inclusion skills, experience significantly lower levels of depression than others.

Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on social skills? Does the relation between relational aggression and depression depend on social skills? Leadership skills: Leadership skills: –Regression predicting depression: F (3, 304) = 9.00, p<.001 »relational aggression ß =.47, p<.05 »leadership ß =.03, n.s. »interaction ß =-.31,.n.s.

Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on social skills? Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on social skills? Leadership skills: Leadership skills: –Regression predicting externalizing: F (3, 327) = 62.5, p<.001 »relational aggression ß =.95, p<.001 »leadership ß =.07, n.s. »interaction ß =-.54, p<.001 –Interaction means that children who are relationally aggressive and who lack leadership skills are the most externalizing. Those who are not relationally aggressive and who do have leadership skills are the least externalizing.

Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on social skills? Does the relation between relational aggression and externalizing depend on social skills? Relational inclusion: Relational inclusion: –Regression predicting externalizing: F (3, 325) = 83.6, p<.001 »relational aggressionß =.39, p<.001 »relational inclusionß =-.33, p<.001 »interactionß =.23, p<.05 –Interaction shows that children who are low on relational aggression and high on relational inclusion skills are less externalizing than other children. Further, those who are high in relational aggression and low in relational inclusion skills are the most externalizing.

Conclusions Relationally aggressive children who exhibit relational vulnerability appear to be particularly likely to experience adjustment problems Relationally aggressive children who exhibit relational vulnerability appear to be particularly likely to experience adjustment problems  Lack of social skills, exposure to peer-related stress, and relationally-biased social information processing patterns combine with relational aggression to predict risk for maladjustment The moderators appear to differentially predict internalizing vs. externalizing The moderators appear to differentially predict internalizing vs. externalizing  Children who were relationally aggressive and exhibited relational vulnerability tended to have the highest internalizing scores. These components of relational vulnerability may offer a starting place for intervention These components of relational vulnerability may offer a starting place for intervention

Conclusions cont’d Need to look at how all of the components in the model are associated (e.g., mediating effects are possible). Need to look at how all of the components in the model are associated (e.g., mediating effects are possible). Need to examine these associations longitudinally Need to examine these associations longitudinally

Relevance for Intervention Relational aggression is harmful. Teachers and parents should take this behavior seriously, and work to reduce its occurrence. Relational aggression is harmful. Teachers and parents should take this behavior seriously, and work to reduce its occurrence. Promote relational inclusion and leadership skills Promote relational inclusion and leadership skills Point out hostile attributions to children, and teach to evaluate evidence before jumping to conclusions Point out hostile attributions to children, and teach to evaluate evidence before jumping to conclusions Monitor and teach emotion regulation skills Monitor and teach emotion regulation skills