Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Functions of Aggression and Disciplinary Actions Among Elementary School-Age Youth

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Child & Youth Care Forum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

A link between aggression and disciplinary actions has been established; however, specific associations between reactive and proactive functions of aggression and disciplinary actions in the elementary school setting have not been evaluated. A better understanding of links between functions of aggression and disciplinary actions could directly inform whom to target and how to intervene to reduce infractions at school before more serious consequences (i.e., suspension or expulsion) occur.

Objective

The present study evaluated unique associations between reactive and proactive aggression and increases in disciplinary actions at school over the course of 1 year.

Methods

A sample of 173 elementary school-age youth (ages 8–10, 55.5% female) participated in the current study, with teacher and student reports as well as school record data collected.

Results

Correlation analyses indicated that both reactive and proactive aggression were associated with increases in disciplinary actions; however, the magnitude of effects was stronger for reactive aggression. Further, path analyses indicated that when simultaneously evaluating reactive and proactive aggression, only reactive aggression was uniquely positively associated with increases in disciplinary actions.

Conclusions

Reactive aggression appears to be the function of aggression to target for the prevention of disciplinary actions in the elementary school setting. Findings and their implications for intervention and future research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Note that the data collection window during the T2 semester was slightly truncated (Aug–Nov) compared to the T1 year (Aug–Dec) because there was a problem with the data collection platform, which may partially account for the lower overall frequency of discipline actions during the latter semester. The data between the two semesters are otherwise comparable.

References

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baly, M. W., Cornell, D. G., & Lovegrove, P. (2014). A longitudinal investigation of self- and peer reports of bullying and victimization across middle school. Psychology in the Schools, 51(3), 217–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bierman, K. L. (2004). Peer rejection: Developmental processes and intervention strategies. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Card, N. A., Stucky, B. D., Sawalani, G. M., & Little, T. D. (2008). Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Development, 79(5), 1185–1229.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christle, C. A., Jolivette, K., & Nelson, C. M. (2005). Breaking the school to prison pipeline: Identifying school risk and protective factors for youth delinquency. Exceptionality, 13(2), 69–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Civil Rights Project. (2016). Nationwide suspension rates at U.S. Schools (2011–2012). Retrieved from http://www.schooldisciplinedata.org/ccrr/index.php.

  • Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., Terry, R., & Wright, V. (1991). The role of aggression in peer relations: An analysis of aggression episodes in boys’ play groups. Child Development, 62(4), 812–826.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2010). Fast track intervention effects on youth arrests and delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 6(2), 131–157.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2011). The effects of the fast track preventive intervention on the development of conduct disorder across childhood. Child Development, 82(1), 331.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, D. F., Steingard, R. J., Anderson, J. J., & Melloni, R. H., Jr. (2003). Gender differences in reactive and proactive aggression. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 33(4), 279–294.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, J. L., & Fite, P. J. (2016). Peer victimization and forms of aggression during middle childhood: The role of emotion regulation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44(3), 535–546.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooley, J. L., Fite, P. J., Rubens, S. L., & Tunno, A. M. (2015). Peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and rule-breaking behavior in adolescence: The moderating role of peer social support. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 37(3), 512–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1996). Social information-processing mechanisms in reactive and proactive aggression. Child Development, 67(3), 993–1002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A. (1991). The structure and function of proactive and reactive aggression. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 201–218). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1987). Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children’s peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(6), 1146–1158.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., Lansford, J. E., Burks, V. S., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., Fontaine, R., et al. (2003). Peer rejection and social information-processing factors in the development of aggressive behavior problems in children. Child Development, 74(2), 374–393.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., Lochman, J. E., Harnish, J. D., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1997). Reactive and proactive aggression in school children and psychiatrically impaired chronically assaultive youth. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106(1), 37–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(12), 939–944.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, S. C., Pederson, C. A., Fite, P. J., Blossom, J. B., & Cooley, J. L. (2016). Teacher-reported irritable reported irritable and defiant dimensions of oppositional defiant disorder: Social, behavioral, and academic correlates. School Mental Health, 8(2), 292–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C. J., & Meehan, D. C. (2011). With friends like these…: Peer delinquency influences across age cohorts on smoking, alcohol and illegal substance use. European Psychiatry, 26(1), 6–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D. M., Woodward, L. J., & Horwood, L. J. (1999). Childhood peer relationship problems and young people’s involvement with deviant peers in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27(5), 357–369.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., & Colder, C. R. (2007). Proactive and reactive aggression and peer delinquency: Implications for prevention and intervention. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 27(2), 223–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2008). Developmental trajectories of proactive and reactive aggression from fifth to ninth grade. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 37(2), 412–421.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Craig, J. L., Colder, C. R., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2016). Proactive and reactive aggression. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence. Switzerland: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_211-2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Rathert, J. L., Grassetti, S. N., Gaertner, A. E., Campion, S., Fite, J. L., et al. (2011). Longitudinal investigation of the link between proactive and reactive aggression and disciplinary actions in an after-school care program. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33(2), 205–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Williford, A., Cooley, J. L., DePaolis, K., Rubens, S. L., & Vernberg, E. M. (2013). Patterns of victimization locations in elementary school children: Effects of grade level and gender. Child & Youth Care Forum, 42(6), 585–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forgatch, M. S., Patterson, G. R., Degarmo, D. S., & Beldavs, Z. G. (2009). Testing the Oregon delinquency model with 9-year follow-up of the Oregon Divorce Study. Development and Psychopathology, 21(2), 637–660.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Geiser, S., & Santelices, M. V. (2007). Validity of high-school grades in predicting student predicting success beyond the freshman year: High-school record vs. standardized tests as indicators of four-year college outcomes. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE. 6.07. Center for Studies in Higher Education.

  • Hawkins, J. D., Lishner, D. M., Catalano, R. F., & Howard, M. O. (1986). Childhood predictors of adolescent substance abuse: Toward an empirically grounded theory. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 18(1–2), 11–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kempes, M., Matthys, W., de Vries, H., & van Engeland, H. (2005). Reactive and proactive aggression in children: A review of theory, findings and the relevance for child and adolescent psychiatry. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(1), 11–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lamarche, V., Brendgen, M., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., Dionne, G., & Perusse, D. (2007). Do friends’ characteristics moderate the prospective links between peer victimization and reactive and proactive aggression? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 665–680.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsee, M. A., & Frick, P. J. (2007). Exploring the cognitive and emotional correlates to proactive and reactive aggression in a sample of detained girls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 969–981.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McConville, D. W., & Cornell, D. G. (2003). Aggressive attitudes predict aggressive behavior in middle school students. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 11(3), 179–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674–701.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monahan, K. C., VanDerhei, S., Bechtold, J., & Cauffman, E. (2014). From the school yard to the squad car: School discipline, truancy, and arrest. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(7), 1110–1122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, G. M., Anthony, S., Storino, M., & Dillon, C. (2001). An examination of disciplinary histories and the individual and educational characteristics of students who participate in an in-school suspension program. Education and Treatment of Children, 24(3), 276–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdock, T. B., Anderman, L. H., & Hodge, S. A. (2000). Middle-grade predictors of students’ motivation and behavior in high school. Journal of Adolescent Research, 15(3), 327–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2012). Mplus user’s guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulin, F., & Boivin, M. (2000). The role of proactive and reactive aggression in the formation and development of boys’ friendships. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 233–240.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., & Aikins, J. W. (2004). Cognitive moderators of the longitudinal association between peer rejection and adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 32(2), 147–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., Boergers, J., Spirito, A., Little, T. D., & Grapentine, W. L. (2000). Peer functioning, family dysfunction, and psychological symptoms in a risk factor model for adolescent inpatients’ suicidal ideation severity. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 29(3), 392–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raffaele Mendez, L. M., & Knoff, H. M. (2003). Who gets suspended from school and why: A demographic analysis of schools and disciplinary infractions in a large school district. Education and Treatment of Children, 26(1), 30–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid, J. B., Patterson, G. R., & Snyder, J. (2002). Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: A developmental analysis and model for intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reijntjes, A., Kamphuis, J. H., Prinzie, P., Boelen, P. A., van der Schoot, M., & Telch, M. J. (2011). Prospective linkages between peer victimization and externalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis. Aggressive Behavior, 37(3), 215–222.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skiba, R. J., Arredondo, M. I., & Williams, N. T. (2014). More than a metaphor: The contribution of exclusionary discipline to a school-to-prison pipeline. Equity & Excellence in Education, 47(4), 546–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smithmyer, C. M., Hubbard, J. A., & Simons, R. F. (2000). Proactive and reactive aggression in delinquent adolescents: Relations to aggression outcome expectancies. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29(1), 86–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2011). Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 7(1), 27–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • U. S. Census Bureau. (2010). State and county quickfacts. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov.

  • Valois, R. F., & McKewon, R. E. (1998). Frequency and correlates of fighting and carrying weapons among public school adolescents. American Journal of Health Behavior, 22(1), 8–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernberg, E. M., Jacobs, A. K., & Hershberger, S. L. (1999). Peer victimization and attitudes about violence during early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28(3), 386–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., & Brendgen, M. (2012). Subtypes of aggressive behaviors: Etiologies, development and consequences. In T. Bliesnder, A. Beelman, & M. Stemmler (Eds.), Antisocial behavior and crime: Contributions of theory and evaluation research to prevention and intervention (pp. 17–38). Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., Pedersen, S., & Brendgen, M. (2007). Children’s disruptiveness, peer rejection, friends’ deviancy, and delinquent behaviors: A process-oriented approach. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 433–453.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waschbusch, D. A., Pelham, W. E., Jr., Jennings, J. R., Greiner, A. R., Tarter, R. E., & Moss, H. B. (2002). Reactive aggression in boys with disruptive behavior disorders: Behavior, physiology, and affect. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30(6), 641–656.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waschbusch, D. A., & Willoughby, M. T. (1998). Criterion validity and the utility of reactive and proactive aggression: Comparisons to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and other measures of functioning. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27(4), 396–405.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westrick, P. A., Le, H., Robbins, S. B., Radunzel, J. M., & Schmidt, F. L. (2015). College performance and retention: A meta-analysis of the predictive validities of ACT® scores, high school grades, and SES. Educational Assessment, 20(1), 23–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Child Psychology Program and Consortium for Translational Research on Aggression and Drug Abuse (ConTRADA), University of Kansas, Dole HDC Rm2012, Lawrence, KS, 60045, USA

    Paula J. Fite, Spencer C. Evans, Casey A. Pederson & Elizabeth C. Tampke

Authors
  1. Paula J. Fite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Spencer C. Evans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Casey A. Pederson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Elizabeth C. Tampke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paula J. Fite.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fite, P.J., Evans, S.C., Pederson, C.A. et al. Functions of Aggression and Disciplinary Actions Among Elementary School-Age Youth. Child Youth Care Forum 46, 825–839 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-017-9410-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-017-9410-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation