title: A cross-lagged structural equation model of relational aggression, physical aggression, and peer status in a Chinese culture.
abstract: This short-term longitudinal study examined the associations among relational aggression, physical aggression, and peer status (i.e., acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity) across three time points, six months apart, in a Taiwanese sample. Participants were 198 fifth grade students (94 girls and 104 boys; Mean age = 10.35 years) from Taipei, Taiwan. Study variables were assessed using peer nomination procedure. Results from the cross-lagged structural equation models demonstrated that there were longitudinal associations between relational aggression and each of the peer status constructs while only one longitudinal association was found for physical aggression such that physical aggression positively predicted subsequent peer rejection. The longitudinal associations did not vary with gender. Results also showed high stabilities of relational aggression, physical aggression, and the three peer status constructs over 1 year as well as high concurrent association between relational and physical aggression. In addition, relational aggression and physical aggression were concurrently related to less acceptance, more rejection, and less perceived popularity, especially at the outset of the study. Findings of this study demonstrated both similarities and differences in relation to previous literature in primarily Western cultures. This study also highlights the bidirectional and complex nature of the association between aggression and peer status, which appears to depend on the form of aggression and on the particular indicator of peer status under study.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA. tsen0039@umn.edu
authors.forename: Wan-Ling
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Adrienne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Banny
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: Nicki R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Crick
authors.forename: Susan Shur-Fen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Gau
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012574:Schools; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013624:Taiwan