Diverging Pathways from Elementary School Aggression to Adolescent Antisocial Activity: The Roles of Parent and Peer Influence

Introduction: Children who are aggressive in elementary school are at increased risk for becoming antisocial and delinquent in adolescence. The middle school years represent an important transitional period in which antisocial behaviors emerge and escalate into criminal activity for some children with a background of aggression, but not for all. Socialization experiences with parents and peers may play a critical role in the diverging pathways experienced by aggressive children during the middle school years. For example, harsh and punitive discipline may aggravate aggressive behaviors, modeling the use of force and undermining positive parent-child relationships and communication. In addition, aggressive children may form friendships with other aggressive youth, as a function of homophily and/or as a result of rejection by mainstream peers, which also serve to model and reinforce antisocial behaviors and delinquent activities. While parent and peer influences associated with the emergence of antisocial activity in adolescence have been widely investigated, very little research has explored them together. As a result, little is known about the associations between parent and peer influences on antisocial behavior and how they may uniquely or cumulatively contribute to trajectories of adolescent risk during middle school. Methods: Participants in this study were drawn from the Fast Track Project, a longitudinal, multi-site program aimed at the prevention of childhood conduct problems. The present sample of 754 participants (46% African American, 50% European American, 4% other ethnic/racial groups; 58% male) included children categorized as high-risk due to elevated aggression in kindergarten (60%) in addition to a normative sample of children. Data used in this study came from time points corresponding to fifth grade, eighth grade and the high school years. Measures included parent and teacher ratings of aggressive behavior, parent self-report of discipline strategies, parent and child ratings of parent-child communication, parent and child ratings of deviant friendships, and child self-report of delinquency. Results: Initial regression analyses revealed direct and indirect pathways from fifth grade aggression to high school delinquency via social interactions with parents and peers in middle school. Additional analyses will be completed including supplementary regression analyses and person-oriented analyses to further explore the direct and indirect effects of these two distinct pathways, the relationship between these pathways across time, and individual differences in trajectories of externalizing behavior. Conclusion: Findings suggest that, while early aggression reflects a common vulnerability for the emergence of antisocial activity in adolescence, interpersonal experiences with parents and peers during the middle school years contribute to diverging pathways, resulting in individual differences in adolescent risk.