Aggressive Behavior in Response to Violence Exposure: Is It Adaptive for Middle-School Children?.

The role of aggression in adaptation to family and community violence was examined in a sample of 667 inner-city schoolchildren studied annually over three years in middle school. Regression analyses indicated that the association between Year 1 exposure to family and community violence and Year 2 aggression was mediated by aggression occurring contemporaneously with Year 1 exposure. Cognitive justification of aggression and friends' delinquency made small independent contributions to prediction of Year 2 aggression, delinquency, and externalizing behaviors. Year 2 aggression mediated the association between Year 1 community violence victimization and Year 3 negative adaptation (internalizing problems, anxiety, and depression). Year 2 aggression also mediated the negative association between Year 1 witnessing community violence and Year 3 positive adaptation (self-esteem). Cognitive justification of aggression and friends' delinquency made independent contributions to Year 3 negative adaptation. The pattern of relations among variables infrequently varied by gender. Implications for intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)