Exposure to Violence, Social Information Processing, and Problem Behavior in Preschool Children

Abstract

Understanding the mechanisms by which early risk factors for social maladjustment contribute to disruptive behaviors in social settings is vital to developmental research and practice. A major risk factor for social maladjustment is early exposure to violence which was examined in this short-term longitudinal study in relation to social information processing patterns and externalizing and internalizing behaviors in a sample of 256 preschool children. Data on exposure to violence were obtained via parent report, data on social information processing were obtained via child interview, and data on child problem behavior were obtained via teacher report. Findings supported the hypothesis that, compared to children not exposed to violence, children reported to witness and/or experience violence are more likely to attribute hostile intent to peers, generate aggressive responses, and evaluate socially unaccepted responses (aggressive and inept) as socially suitable. The former were also found to exhibit higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Finally, social information processing mediated the link between exposure to violence and problem behavior thus supporting this study’s general approach which argues that the link between exposure to violence and children’s problem behaviors are better understood within the context of their perceptions about social relationships.

Relationship between particular areas of victimization and mental health in the context of multiple victimizations in Spanish adolescents

“…As for WIV, this kind of victimization appears to be especially related to girls' behavior towards others. Thus, it could be that adolescent girls who report witnessing violence are more likely to attribute hostile intent to peers and to generate aggressive and externalizing responses [33]. A further conclusion to be drawn from these results is that although the combination of victimization areas is generally more harmful for adolescents' mental health, the number of individually relevant areas of victimization is higher among girls.…”

Bullying and victimization in early adolescence: Relations to social information processing patterns

“…The model has been particularly useful in helping to identify unique patterns of SIP in children who show aggressive behaviors, especially in three of the five mental stages: interpretation of cues, response construction, and response decision. More specifically, in previous SIP research, aggressive children are described as less accurate in their interpretation of peers' social intentions (Dodge & Price, 1994;Dodge, Murphy, & Buchsbaum, 1984;Hart et al, 1992;Katsurada and Sugawara, 1998;Lansford et al, 2006;Orobio de Castro, Merk, Koops, Veerman, & Bosch, 2005;Runions & Keating, 2007;Slaby & Guerra, 1988;Ziv, 2012), more likely to construct aggressive or inept responses (Orobio de Castro et al, 2005;Schultz & Shaw, 2003;Webster-Stratton & Lindsay, 1999), and more likely to expect positive instrumental and interpersonal outcomes for an aggressive response (Crick & Ladd, 1990;Hart et al, 1992;Orobio de Castro et al, 2005;Ziv & Sorongon, 2011;Ziv, 2012).…”

Assessment of hostile and benign intent attributions in early childhood: Can we elicit meaningful information?

“…Surprisingly, however, a majority of studies in early childhood find no relation between intent attributions and either age or cognitive/verbal ability. While in one study older children (Ziv, ) and in another study older girls (but not boys; Meece & Mize, ) attributed hostile intent less often than younger children, a majority of studies find no relation between age and hostile attributions (Choe, Lane, Grabell, & Olson, ; Coy et al, ; Katsurada & Sugawara, ; Munsun‐Miller, ; Schultz et al, ; Stetson Werner, Wright Cassidy, & Juliano, ; Yagmurlu, ; Ziv, ; Ziv, Hadad, & Khateeb, ; Ziv & Sorongon, ). And while in two studies more cognitively advanced children (Choe et al, ; Runions & Keating, ) and in another girls (but not boys) with greater receptive vocabulary (Meece & Mize, ) less often attributed hostile intent to others, a majority of studies in early childhood find no relation between hostile/benign attributions and cognitive or verbal abilities (Coy et al, ; McElwain, Booth‐LaForce, Lansford, Wu, & Dyer, ; Meece & Mize, ; Stetson Werner et al, ; Ziv, ; Ziv & Sorongon, ).…”

“…This relationship has not been found as consistently in early childhood, however. Of the 12 studies that have examined both intent attributions and response access in early childhood, only two (Helmsen, Koglin, & Petermann, ; Yagmurlu, ) have found significant relationships (Garner & Lemerise, ; Meece & Mize, ; Raikes, Virmani, Thompson, & Hatton, ; Schultz et al, ; Stetson Werner et al, ; Ziv, ; Ziv & Sorongon, ). Whether methodological or developmental issues explain this inconsistency of findings more fully is unclear.…”