We observed 48 children from rural preschools (M = 64 months old) in two different social contexts to test hypotheses about the type (relational, physical, verbal, nonverbal), contextual independence, and sociometry of girls' and boys' aggressive tactics. We predicted and generally found that (1) girls displayed more relational aggression than boys while boys displayed more physical and verbal aggression than girls, and that children received more physical and verbal aggression from male peers, and tended to receive more relational aggression from female peers, (2) behavioral observations of aggression corresponded with teacher reports of children's aggressive styles, (3) aggression observed during free play predicted children's aggressive styles in a structured setting at both the group and individual levels, and (4) aggressive tactics were associated with projected sociometric characteristics (dominance and peer acceptance).

Although great strides have recently been made in our understanding of relational aggression and its consequences, one significant limitation has been the lack of prospective studies. The present research addressed this issue by identifying and assessing groups of relationally aggressive, physically aggressive, relationally plus physically aggressive (co-morbid), and nonaggressive children during their third grade year in elementary school and then reassessing them a year later, during fourth-grade (N = 224, 113 girls). Two aspects of social-psychological adjustment were assessed during both assessment periods including internalizing difficulties (i.e., withdrawal, depression/anxiety, and somatic complaints) and externalizing problems (i.e., aggressive behavior, delinquency). It was revealed that the strongest predictor of future social-psychological adjustment problems and increases in these problems from third to fourth was the combination of relational and physical aggression. Relational aggression also contributed unique information, relative to physical aggression, in the prediction of future maladjustment. Implications of these findings for future research and prevention efforts, particularly for aggressive girls, are discussed.

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A multi-informant and multi-measure short-term longitudinal study of the association between subtypes of aggression and peer victimization was conducted in an early childhood sample (M = 44.36 months; SD = 11.07; N = 120). Observational and teacher report measures demonstrated appropriate reliability and validity as well as stability across an academic year. Concurrent associations revealed that observed relational aggression was uniquely associated with teacher reported relational victimization and observed physical aggression was uniquely associated with teacher reported physical victimization. Prospective findings indicated that observed relational aggression predicted increases in teacher reported relational victimization for girls only, controlling for the variance associated with physical aggression, prosocial behavior, physical victimization, and gender. Peer rejection partially mediated the association between observed relational aggression at time 1 and teacher reported relational victimization at time 2. Ways in which these and other prospective findings extend the extant literature are discussed.