This study used data from 6 sites and 3 countries to examine the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood and to analyze its linkage to violent and nonviolent offending outcomes in adolescence. The results indicate that among boys there is continuity in problem behavior from childhood to adolescence and that such continuity is especially acute when early problem behavior takes the form of physical aggression. Chronic physical aggression during the elementary school years specifically increases the risk for continued physical violence as well as other nonviolent forms of delinquency during adolescence. However, this conclusion is reserved primarily for boys, because the results indicate no clear linkage between childhood physical aggression and adolescent offending among female samples despite notable similarities across male and female samples in the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood.Children's behavior problems have long been considered precursors of juvenile delinquency and adult criminality (Carpenter, 1851;Horn, 1989; Roosevelt, 1909). The development of these behavior problems during the elementary school years was the object of intensive investigations over the last quarter of the 20th century. A number of large-scale longitudinal studies in different industrialized countries used repeated measurements over many years to trace the development of behavior problems. These studies followed older pioneering longitudinal studies that were retrospective (e.g., Robins, 1966) or that had limited their prospective assessments to one time point during childhood and one or two time points during adolescence and adulthood (e.g., Lefkowitz, Eron, Walder, & Huesmann, 1977; West & Harrington, 1973).Having reviewed this long-lived literature, the U.S. National Research Council's Panel on Understanding and Preventing Violence concluded, " [I] NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript to become violent teenagers and adults" (Reiss & Roth, 1993, p, 358). There is indeed ample evidence that, at least for boys, childhood disruptive or troublesome behavior is one of the best predictors of adolescent and adult criminality, including violent offending (e.g., Farrington, 1994;Fergusson & Horwood, 1995;Huesmann, Eron, Lefkowitz, & Walder, 1984;Moffitt, 1990;Pulkkinen & Tremblay, 1992;Stattin & Magnusson, 1989;Tremblay, Pihl, Vitaro, & Dobkin, 1994). However, Nagin and Tremblay (1999) and Tremblay (2000) pointed out that extant research generally does not distinguish physical from nonphysical aggression or violence. Thus, it is only possible to conclude that disruptive or troublesome behavior during childhood predicts later delinquent behavior, not that physical aggression during childhood per se is a distinct risk factor for physical violence in adolescence or adulthood.A determination of whether physical aggression is a distinct risk factor for later physical violence is important for both conceptual and practical reasons. Conceptually, the nature of ...

This study examined 2 aspects of friendship (presence and perceived qualities of a best friend) as moderators of behavioral antecedents and outcomes of peer victimization. A total of 393 children (188 boys and 205 girls) in the 4th and 5th grades (mean age = 10 years 7 months) participated during each of 2 waves of data collection in this 1-year longitudinal study. Results indicated that teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors predicted increases in peer-reported victimization, but the relation of internalizing behaviors to increases in victimization was attenuated for children with a protective friendship. Victimization predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviors but only for children without a mutual best friendship. Results highlight the importance of peer friendships in preventing an escalating cycle of peer abuse.

The behavioral activating system appears to be the major dimension underlying the propensity toward early onset of antisocial behavior, but both the behavioral inhibition system and the need for social rewards play important roles. The behavioral style (personality) that results from the interplay of these systems is clearly in place by the kindergarten year. Preventive efforts should target preschool children with at-risk behavior profiles. However, longitudinal-experimental studies with at least yearly assessments between birth and school-entry age are needed to understand the extent to which the behavioral styles are antecedent to preschool disruptive behavior disorders.

Aggressive behaviors in children and adolescents have undergone important conceptual and definitional modifications in the past two decades. In particular, subtypes of aggression have been proposed that separate the form and the function of the aggressive behaviors (i.e., social vs. physical aggression; reactive vs. proactive aggression). Moreover, new methodological tools have been developed to examine the developmental course of these subtypes, as well as their correlates. These conceptual and methodological innovations, in turn, have introduced new views of the development of aggressive behaviors. These “new views” contrast with more traditional perspectives about the evolution of aggressive behaviors from infancy to young adulthood, particularly with respect to the existence of individuals who begin to become aggressive by adolescence only. This article gives an overview of these definitional, conceptual, and methodological innovations. It also tries to reconcile different views about the development of aggressive behaviors from infancy through early adulthood. Theoretical and practical/clinical implications are also reviewed. The conclusion describes an integrative framework and identifies possible areas of research for the future.

We conclude that children characterized by reactive or proactive aggression differ on several dimensions of personal functioning, and that reactive and proactive aggression are distinct forms of aggression, although both co-occur in a large proportion of aggressive children.