Exploring the social dynamics of peer aggression in middle childhood

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to expand on current research on peer aggression using three separate, interrelated studies that examine the multi-level predictors, correlates, and outcomes of peer aggression in middle childhood. Using three sets of secondary data collected from children attending urban elementary schools, these studies seek to accomplish this in the following ways: Study 1 examined relations between children's executive functioning skills and involvement in peer aggression; Study 2 used a person-centered approach to identify patterns of aggression involvement and prosocial behavior among girls; Study 3 explored the moderating effect of network-based social norms on relations between children's aggression and peer acceptance. To meet the aims of each study, specific analyses were selected in an effort to isolate the key factors most important to the investigation. In undertaking the overarching goal, this dissertation explored both aggression perpetration and victimization in order to understand the various ways in which children are involved in peer aggression. In addition, each of these studies highlighted the importance of considering how aggression is manifested within elementary school classrooms by examining both overt and relational aggression. Moreover, this work placed specific focus on gender, both as an individual characteristic as well as a feature of the larger classroom context, as an important factor to consider. Overall, this dissertation aims to make both conceptual contributions to extant peer aggression research as well as methodological and analytic contributions to understanding the role of peer aggression in children's lives. The findings of these studies were as follows: Study 1 found that poor behavior regulation was related to overt aggression perpetration, and that this relationship was significantly stronger for boys; Study 2 identified four distinct subgroups of girls: prosocial, victims, perpetrator/victims victims, and perpetrator/overt victims and; Study 3 found that classroom overt and relational aggression norms significantly moderated linkages between individual overt aggression and social preference. Together, these findings highlight the role of inter- and intrapersonal processes in children's social interactions with peers, providing a grounded and multi-layered picture of peer aggression as it unfolds in elementary school classrooms.