The best friendships of aggressive boys: Relationship quality, conflict management, and rule-breaking behavior

doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2003.11.004

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

Volume 88, Issue 1, May 2004, Pages 5-24

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2003.11.004 Get rights and content

Abstract

The current study examined the best friendships of aggressive and nonaggressive boys (N=96 boys, 48 dyads, mean age=10.6 years). Friends completed self-report measures of friendship quality, and their interactions were observed in situations that required conflict management and provided opportunities for rule-breaking behavior. Although there were no differences in boys’ self-reports of friendship quality, observers rated nonaggressive boys and their friends as showing greater positive engagement, on-task behavior, and reciprocity in their interactions compared with aggressive boys and their friends. Aggressive boys and their friends provided more enticement for rule violations and engaged in more rule-breaking behavior than did nonaggressive boys and their friends. Also, the intensity of negative affect in observed conflicts between aggressive boys and their friends was greater than that between nonaggressive boys and their friends. The findings suggest that friendships may provide different developmental contexts for aggressive and nonaggressive boys.

Section snippets

The features and quality of aggressive and nonaggressive boys’ friendships

The quality of a friendship reflects the relative amount of positive and negative features in the relationship (Berndt, 1996; Parker & Asher, 1993) and may be especially related to individual differences in children’s experiences with friends and in the outcomes of their relationships (Hartup, 1996). For example, Kupersmidt, Burchinal, and Patterson (1995) found that children’s likelihood of being delinquent increased as the level of conflict with their best friends increased over time.

Our

Conflict management within aggressive and nonaggressive boys’ interactions with friends

The final question examined conflict management between friends. Conflict occurs in any close intimate relationship, and children’s friendships are no exception. In fact, the collaborative friendships that Sullivan (1953) described provide an important context for developing skills in conflict management (Hartup, 1992; Newcomb & Bagwell, 1995). When a conflict arises between friends, they are invested in continuing their interactions in the short term and in maintaining their relationship in

Participants

A total of 96 boys participated in the study. There were 24 aggressive and 24 nonaggressive target boys (mean age=10.5 years) who participated with their best friends (mean age=10.7 years). The target boys were enrolled in the fourth and fifth grades in an urban school district in the southeastern United States. The schools served a predominantly African American (80%) lower to lower middle-class population. Because of the small number of Caucasian children in the schools, only African American

Overview of analyses

The observational measures of conflict management were measured at the level of the dyad. Measures from the friendship interview and observational measures of interaction features and rule violations were collected for each individual child. Correlations between the two friends were generally high for interaction features, rule violations, and interviewer ratings of friendship features (r=.51 to .96). For these measures, dyadic scores were calculated as the mean of the two friends’ scores. Some

Discussion

The primary purpose of this study was to address a gap in our understanding of the friendships of aggressive children by examining the features and quality of their best friendships and investigating their behavior in situations that require conflict management and provide opportunities for rule-breaking behavior. The most striking findings were that there are differences in aggressive and nonaggressive boys’ friendships that may have implications for the maintenance and escalation of

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (11893 F31) and by a summer fellowship from the University of Richmond to the first author. Portions of the manuscript were presented at the 2001 biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN. We are grateful to Steven Asher, Patrick Curran, Janis Kupersmidt, John Lochman, and Martha Putallaz for valuable comments on an earlier version of this article. In addition, we thank

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The best friendships of aggressive boys: Relationship quality, conflict management, and rule-breaking behavior

Abstract

Section snippets

The features and quality of aggressive and nonaggressive boys’ friendships

Conflict management within aggressive and nonaggressive boys’ interactions with friends

Participants

Overview of analyses

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Behavior Therapy

Exploring the effects of friendship quality on social development

Rejected children and their friends: A shared evaluation of friendship quality?

Merrill-Palmer Quarterly

Assessing aggressive and depressed children’s social relations with classmates and friends: A matter of perspective

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Measuring friendship quality during pre- and early adolescence: The development and psychometric properties of the Friendship Qualities Scale

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences

Predicting early adolescent disorder from childhood aggression and peer rejection

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment

Psychological Bulletin

Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: Relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process

Child Development

Peer adaptations in the development of antisocial behavior: A confluence model

Family, school, and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers

Developmental Psychology

Social competence in children

Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development

Speculations about social and affective development: Friendship and acquaintanceship through adolescence

Relational aggression, overt aggression, and friendship

Child Development

Conflict and friendship relations

The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance

Child Development

Conflict and friendship relations in middle childhood: Behavior in a closed-field situation

Child Development