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Multiple trajectories of physical aggression among adolescent boys and girls
Author(s) -
Martino Steven C.,
Ellickson Phyllis L.,
Klein David J.,
McCaffrey Daniel,
Edelen Maria Orlando
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20215
Subject(s) - aggression , psychology , developmental psychology , poison control , impulsivity , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , distress , association (psychology) , suicide prevention , clinical psychology , medicine , medical emergency , psychotherapist
Latent growth mixture modeling was used to identify discrete patterns of physical aggression from Grades 7 to 11 among a sample of 1,877 youth. Four trajectory classes adequately explained the development of physical aggression in both boys and girls: Low/No Aggression; Persistent High Aggression; Desisting Aggression, characterized by decreasing risk throughout adolescence; and Adolescent Aggression, characterized by low early risk that increases until Grade 9, levels out, and then declines in late adolescence. Girls were less likely than boys were to be in any trajectory besides the Low/No Aggression trajectory. Parental supervision, deviant peer association, academic orientation, impulsivity, and emotional distress at Grade 7 were all strongly associated with trajectory class membership. These associations did not differ by gender. These findings strongly suggest that the processes involved in the development of physical aggression in adolescence operate similarly in boys and girls. Aggr. Behav. 34:61–75, 2008. ©2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.