Does Parental Relational Aggression Interact with Parental Psychological Control in the Prediction of Youth Relational Aggression?

ABSTRACT

In a sample of 117 youth and their parents, the associations between parental relational aggression, psychological control, youth gender, and youth relational aggression were examined. Boys with parents high on relational aggression and psychological control reported more relational aggression than boys with parents high on relational aggression and low on psychological control. Girls with parents low on relational aggression and high on psychological control reported more relational aggression than girls with parents low on relational aggression and psychological control. Results indicate youth may learn to use relational aggression from their parents, and have implications for intervention with relationally aggressive youth.

Acknowledgments

Katherine S. L. Lau conceived the article, developed hypotheses, conducted the statistical analyses, and wrote the initial and final article. Monica A. Marsee helped refine hypotheses, suggested statistical analyses, provided invaluable feedback, edited, revised, and contributed to the writing of the final article. Genevieve E. Lapré provided invaluable feedback and contributed to the writing of the article, as well as to editing and revising the article and organized/supervised data collection. Miklos B. Halmos helped in the collection of data, and helped to edit and revise the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine S. L. Lau

KATHERINE S. L. LAU is an Assistant Professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at Oneonta. She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of British Columbia, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology at the University of New Orleans. She recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Leadership Education in Adolescent Health program. Dr. Lau’s research focuses on the development of aggressive and antisocial behaviors, maladaptive personality traits, racial/ethnic health disparities, and youth involvement in the juvenile justice system.

Monica A. Marsee

MONICA A. MARSEE is an Associate Professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University. She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Marsee’s research focuses on investigating the development and maintenance of externalizing problems, such as aggression, delinquency, anger, and conduct problems. She is particularly interested in using her research to inform current understanding of the development and correlates of different types of aggression in youth with disruptive behavior symptoms. Her goal is to apply her research toward designing effective prevention and intervention programs for youth.

Genevieve E. Lapré

GENEVIEVE E. LAPRÉ earned her B.S. in psychology from Louisiana State University, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology from the University of New Orleans. Dr. Lapré’s research interests include parenting strategies, specifically psychological control and corporal punishment, and their associations with youth aggression.

Miklos B. Halmos

MIKLOS B. HALMOS is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. He received his B.S. in psychology from the University of New Orleans. Mr. Halmos' research interests include examining the interaction between alcohol and aggression, the biological basis of aggression, and gender differences in intimate partner violence. His goal is to apply his research on aggression toward violence intervention and prevention.