Understanding the Gender Differences in Pathways to Social Deviancy: Relational Aggression and Emotion Regulation

This study explored the associations among childhood emotion regulation, overt aggression, relational aggression, and adolescent deviant social behaviors. Data were drawn from the Family Health Project, a longitudinal study conducted over 4 years. The sample consisted of 111 children at Time 1 who ranged in age from 51/2 to 12 years at Time 1 and 8 to 14 years at Time 3. A significant finding was that, for girls, lower emotion regulation predicted later relational aggression (β = −2.95, P < .05). Moreover, low prosocial skills coupled with relational aggression were associated with deviant social behaviors.