Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T08:20:30.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The impact of classroom aggression on the development of aggressive behavior problems in children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

DUANE E. THOMAS  and
KAREN L. BIERMAN
DUANE E. THOMAS
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
KAREN L. BIERMAN
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Prior research suggests that exposure to elementary classrooms characterized by high levels of student aggression may contribute to the development of child aggressive behavior problems. To explore this process in more detail, this study followed a longitudinal sample of 4,907 children and examined demographic factors associated with exposure to high-aggression classrooms, including school context factors (school size, student poverty levels, and rural vs. urban location) and child ethnicity (African American, European American). The developmental impact of different temporal patterns of exposure (e.g., primacy, recency, chronicity) to high-aggression classrooms was evaluated on child aggression. Analyses revealed that African American children attending large, urban schools that served socioeconomically disadvantaged students were more likely than other students to be exposed to high-aggressive classroom contexts. Hierarchical regressions demonstrated cumulative effects for temporal exposure, whereby children with multiple years of exposure showed higher levels of aggressive behavior after 3 years than children with primacy, less recent, and less chronic exposure, controlling for initial levels of aggression. Implications are discussed for developmental research and preventive interventions.Members of the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group include Karen L. Bierman, Pennsylvania State University; John D. Coie, Duke University; Kenneth A. Dodge, Duke University; E. Michael Foster, Pennsylvania State University; Mark T. Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University; John E. Lochman, University of Alabama; Robert J. McMahon, University of Washington; and Ellen E. Pinderhughes, Tufts University. This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Grants R18MH48083, R18MH50951, R18MH50952, and R18MH50953. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Department of Education, and the National Institute for Drug Abuse also provided support for FAST Track through a memorandum of support with the NIMH. Support has also come from the Department of Education grant S184430002, NIMH Grants K05MH00797 and K05MH01027, and a research grant from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Appreciation is expressed to the parents, teachers, students, and school district personnel who supported this research in the Durham, NC, Nashville, TN, central Pennsylvania, and Seattle, WA areas. The first author thanks Drs. Nicholas Ialongo and Shani Harris-Peterson, Johns Hopkins University, for their input on earlier drafts of this manuscript, as well as Drs. Chi-Ming Kam and Brenda Heinrichs, Pennsylvania State University, and Dr. Sharon Smith, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, for their statistical consultation with this project.

Type
REGULAR ARTICLE
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2006 , pp. 471 - 487
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Dauber, S. L. (1993). First-grade classroom behavior: Its short- and long-term consequences for school performance. Child Development, 64, 801–814.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asarnow, J. R. (1983). Children with peer adjustment problems: Sequential and nonsequential analyses of school behaviors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 709–717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Astor, R. A., & Meyer, H. A. (2001). The conceptualization of violence-prone school subcontexts: Is the sum of the parts greater than the whole? Urban Education, 36, 374–399.Google Scholar
Barth, J. M., Dunlap, S. T., Dane, H., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2004). Classroom environment influences on aggression, peer relations, and academic focus. Journal of School Psychology, 42, 115–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Battistich, V., Solomon, D., Kim, D., Watson, M., & Schaps, E. (1995). Schools as communities, poverty levels of student populations, and student attitudes, motives, and performance: A multilevel analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 627–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., & MacKinnon, C. (1994). Transition to school: Developmental trajectories and school experiences. Early Education and Development, 5, 106–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boivin, M., Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1995). Individual-group behavioral similarity and peer status in experimental play groups of boys: The social misfit revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 269–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broidy, L. M., Nagin, D. S., Trembley, R. E., Bates, J. E., Brame, B., Dodge, K. A., et al. (2003). Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six-site, cross-national study. Developmental Psychology, 39, 222–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brophy, J. E. (1996). Teaching problem students. New York: Guilford Press.
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1998). Aggression and antisocial behavior. In W. Damon (Ser. Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 779–862). New York: Wiley.
Colder, C. R., Mott, J. A., Flay, B. R., & Levy, S. (2000). The relationship between neighborhood danger and childhood aggression: A test of mediational mechanisms. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 83–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1992). A developmental and clinical model for the prevention of conduct disorders: The FAST Track program. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 509–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1999). Initial impact of the fast track prevention trail for conduct problems: II. Classroom effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 648–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crick, N. R., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2003). The development of psychopathology in females and males: Current progress and future challenges. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 719–742.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeRosier, M. E., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Patterson, C. J. (1994). Children's academic and behavioral adjustment as a function of the chronicity and proximity of peer rejection. Child Development, 65, 1799–1813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J., McCord, J., & Poulin, F. (1999). When interventions harm: Peer groups and problem behavior. American Psychologists, 54, 755–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Spracklen, K. M., Andrews, D. W., & Patterson, G. R. (1996). Deviancy training in male adolescent friendships. Behavior Therapy, 27, 373–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dohrenwend, B. S., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1984). Life stress and illness: Formulation of the issues. In B. S. Dohrenwend & B. P. Dohrenwend (Eds.), Stressful life events and their contexts: Vol. 2. Series in psychosocial epidemiology (pp. 1–27). Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
DuRant, R. H., Pendergrast, R. A., & Cadenhead, C. (1994). Exposure to violence and victimization and fighting behavior by urban Black adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 15, 311–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farmer, T. W. (2000). The social dynamics of aggressive and disruptive behavior in school: Implications for behavior consultation. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 11, 299–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia Coll, C., Lamberty, G., Jenkins, R., McAdoo, H. P., Crnic, K., Wasik, B. H., et al. (1996). An integrative model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67, 1891–1914.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guerra, N. G., Tolan, P. H., Eron, L. D., Huesmann, L. R., & Van Acker, R. (1995). Stressful events and individual beliefs as correlates of economic disadvantage and aggression among urban children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 518–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2001). Early teacher–child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eight grade. Child Development, 72, 625–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G. (2000). The roles of ethnicity and school context in predicting children's victimization by peers. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 201–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, J. D., VonCleve, E., & Catalano, R. F. (1991). Reducing early childhood aggression: Results of a primary prevention program. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 208–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, D., Guerra, N., Huesmann, R., Tolan, P., VanAcker, R., & Eron, L. (2000). Normative influences on aggression in urban elementary school classrooms. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 59–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howley, C., Strange, M., & Bickel, R. (2000). Research about school size and school performance in impoverished communities (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED448968). ERIC Digests. Retrieved from www.ericdigests.org/2001-3/size.htm
Hughes, J. N., Cavell, T. A., & Jackson, T. (1999). Influence of the teacher–student relationship on childhood conduct problems: A prospective study. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 173–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, J. H. (1988). Life events as stressors in childhood and adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kellam, S. G., Ling, X., Merisca, R., Brown, C. H., & Ialongo, N. (1998). The effect of the level of aggression in the first grade classroom on the course and malleability of aggressive behavior in middle school. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 165–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellam, S. G., & Rebok, G. W. (1992). Building developmental and etiological theory through epidemiologically based preventive intervention trials. In J. McCord & R. E. Trembley (Eds.), Preventing antisocial behavior: Interventions from birth to adolescence (pp. 162–195). New York: Guilford Press.
Leff, S., Costigan, T., & Power, T. (2004). Using participatory research to develop a playground-based prevention program. Journal of School Psychology, 42, 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLoyd, V. C. (1998). Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist, 53, 185–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller-Johnson, S., Costanzo, P. R., Coie, J. D., Rose, M. R., Browne, D. C., & Johnson, C. (2003). Peer social structure and risk-taking behaviors among African American early adolescents. Journal of youth and adolescence, 32, 375–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics. (2001). Characteristics of the 100 largest school districts in the United States: 1999–2000. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/100_largest/highlights.asp
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullies on the playground: The role of victimization. In C. H. Hart (Ed.), Children on playgrounds: Research perspectives and applications (pp. 85–128). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Patterson, G. R., Capaldi, D., & Bank, L. (1991). An early starter model for predicting delinquency. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 139–168). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Perry, K. E., & Weinstein, R. S. (1998). The social context of early schooling and children's school adjustment. Educational Psychologists, 33, 177–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1983). School effects on pupil progress: Research findings and policy implications. Child Development, 54, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, J. (1998). Using SAS PROC MIXED to fit multilevel models, hierarchical models, and individual growth models. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 24, 323–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephenson, P., & Smith, D. (1989). Bullying in the junior school. In D. Tattum & D. Lane (Eds.), Bullying in schools (pp. 45–59). Stoke on Trent: Trentham.
Stormshak, E. A., Bierman, K. L., Brushi, C., Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., & The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (1999). The relation between behavior problems and peer preference in different classroom contexts. Child Development, 70, 169–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tversky, A. (1977). Features of similarity. Psychological Review, 84, 327–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster-Stratton, C., Reid, M. J., & Hammond, M. (2004). Treating children with early-onset conduct problems: Intervention outcomes for parent, child, and teacher training. Journal of Clinical child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 105–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werthamer-Larsson, L., Kellam, S. G., & Wheeler, L. (1991). Effect of first-grade classroom environment on shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems. American Journal of Community Psychology, 19, 585–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, J. C., Giammarino, M., & Parad, H. W. (1986). Social status in small groups: Individual-group similarity and the social “misfit.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 523–536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar