This paper reviews and critiques the growing literature on the distinction between reactive and proactive aggression in children and adolescents. Empirical findings suggest that the subtypes of aggression are (a) preceded by different familial precursors, (b) associated with different behavioral outcomes, (c) driven by different social-cognitive and emotional processes, and (d) related to different social experiences. Because measurement difficulties have been a prominent concern in the study of reactive and proactive aggression, a discussion of various assessment approaches is included. Suggestions are made for future research directions, including a greater use of observational and laboratory-based methods, more longitudinal designs, and a greater focus on the careful assessment of the subtypes of aggression.

This study explored the role of the classroom teacher in peers' evaluations of liking and disliking of their classmates. Teacher cognitions about children (teacher liking of students, teacher attributions for aggressive student behavior) and teacher behavior toward children (positive, corrective/negative) were examined as mediators in the link between children's own behavior (aggression, prosocial behavior) and peer liking and disliking. Participants were 127 second-graders in 12 classrooms (64 males, 63 females). Data on child behavior were collected through peer and teacher report, data on teacher cognitions about children were collected through self report, data on teacher behavior toward children were collected through naturalistic classroom observations, and data on peer liking and disliking were collected through peer nominations. Data were analyzed using path analysis. Results indicated that teacher cognitions about children and corrective/negative teacher behavior toward children mediated the relations between aggressive and prosocial child behavior and peer disliking.

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A theoretical distinction has been made between two types of childhood aggression that serve different functions. Reactive aggression is defensive, retaliatory, and in response to real or perceived provocation. Proactive aggression, on the other hand, is displayed to reach a goal, whether that goal involves material or territorial gain or social dominance. Throughout the years, researchers and theorists have used different labels to describe this distinction, including hostile/instrumental, retaliatory/predatory, and effectual/ineffectual. Each of these pairs of labels refers to the same idea, namely, that when children display aggression, their behavior sometimes is driven by defense and retaliation, whereas at other times, it is driven by a cool and deliberate purpose.Researchers originally hypothesized that distinct groups of aggressive children existed, with one group displaying primarily reactive aggression and the other group displaying primarily proactive aggression (Dodge, 1991). However, most studies to date have suggested the two subtypes of aggression tend to co-occur, with most aggressive children displaying some degree of both reactive and proactive aggression. Thus, the reactive/proactive distinction may be more useful in describing the function of particular episodes of children's aggressive behavior than in describing aggressive children themselves.

This study investigated connections between qualities of parents' own friendships and children's negative peer relationships (i.e., aggression and peer rejection). Participants were 57 dyads of second-grade children (29 girls and 28 boys; mean age = 7.6 years) and their parents. Data on child aggression were collected from teachers and peers, and child peer rejection was assessed using unlimited peer nominations. Parents reported on their own friendship network size, satisfaction, quality, and conflict. Results revealed that two aspects of parents' friendships, conflict and satisfaction, predicted children's peer rejection and aggression. Reasons for these linkages, and implications for intervention, are discussed.