Normative Beliefs and Self-Efficacy for Nonviolence as Moderators of Peer, School, and Parental Risk Factors for Aggression in Early Adolescence

Abstract

This study examined the direct effects of beliefs about aggression and nonviolence on physical aggression and their role as protective factors that buffer adolescents from key risk factors in the peer, school, and parenting domains. Multilevel analyses were conducted on data from 5,581 adolescents representing two cohorts from 37 schools in four communities collected at the beginning and end of the sixth grade and at the end of the following 2 school years. Individual norms for aggression at Wave 1 moderated relations of delinquent peer associations and parental support for fighting with physical aggression. Self-efficacy for nonviolence at Wave 1 moderated relations of school risk, delinquent peer associations and parental support for fighting with physical aggression. There was clearer evidence for protective effects for self-efficacy for nonviolence for girls than for boys.

This study was funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Cooperative Agreement 5U49CE0011296. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We are grateful to Jeff Hall from CDC for his valuable input during various stages of this project and to the members of the Multi-Site Violence Prevention Project for permission to use the data: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA: Thomas R. Simon, Robin M. Ikeda, Emilie Smith (Penn State University); Le'Roy E. Reese (Morehouse School of Medicine); Duke University, Durham, NC: David L. Rabiner, Shari Miller (Research Triangle Institute), Donna-Marie Winn (University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill), Kenneth A. Dodge, Steven R. Asher; University of Georgia, Athens, GA: Arthur M. Horne, Pamela Orpinas, Roy Martin, William H. Quinn (Clemson University); University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL: Patrick H. Tolan, Deborah Gorman-Smith, David B. Henry, Franklin N. Gay, Michael Schoeny; Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA: Albert D. Farrell, Aleta L. Meyer (National Institute on Drug Abuse); Terri N. Sullivan, Kevin W. Allison.

Notes

Note: Values on the diagonal are correlations representing the stability of each measure from the first wave obtained at the start of the sixth grade and the last wave approximately 2½ years later. ICC = intraclass correlations.

*p < .001.

Note: The model also included intervention condition (dummy coded using the control condition represented the reference), site, and their interactions with time. Estimates for quantitative variables are regression weights standardized on Wave 1 SDs. Estimates for gender, race/ethnicity, and family structure are d-coefficients based on Wave 1 SD for aggression.

^a Represents time-varying variable.

^b Represents Wave 1 variable.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

^a Effect on intercept represents the frequency of physical aggression at Wave 1.

^b Effect on the slope represents the linear change in frequency of physical aggression over time.

^c Standardized coefficients representing moderating effect of individual norms supporting aggression on each risk factor.

^d Standardized coefficients representing moderating effect of individual norms supporting nonviolence on each risk factor.

^e Standardized coefficients representing moderating effect of self efficacy for nonviolence on each risk factor.

†p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note: Values are standardized coefficients.

^a Standardized effect for Beliefs Variable × Risk Variable × Gender Interaction.

^b Standardized effect for Beliefs Variable × Risk Variable Interaction for boys.

^c Standardized effect for Beliefs Variable × Risk Variable Interaction for girls.

†p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.