1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«To address [the] gaps in the current literature, the first goal of our study was to examine the trajectories of IA [indirect aggression] among girls from childhood to early adolescence, after controlling for PA [physical aggression]. Secondly, we aimed to identify possible individual-, family-, and peer-related risk factors, assessed in the early school years, associated with group membership.» (p. 178)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Following developmental theories of aggression, we expected that a subgroup showing frequent and persistent IA would be characterized by more temperamental, family, and peer risks, even after controlling for PA. Specifically, based on the literature review, it appeared that girls who presented higher levels of negative affectivity, had more difficulty regulating their emotions, and were more extraverted would follow trajectories involving higher levels of IA over time. Girls in more unstable families and experiencing negative parenting at home were expected to be more likely to follow trajectories with higher levels of IA.» (p. 178)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Participants were 347 French-speaking Canadian elementary school girls aged less than 10 years of age at initial recruitment (T1), their teachers, and their principal caretaker (299, 86.2 % mothers). The girls were recruited from disadvantaged neighborhoods in eight school boards in four different administrative regions in the province of Quebec.» (p. 178) «Four measurement times at 12-month intervals, from 2008 to 2011, were used in our study: Time 1 (T1: 347 girls […]), Time 2 (T2: 324 girls […]), Time 3 (T3: 324 girls […]) and Time 4 (T4: 316 girls […]).» (p. 179)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Three trajectories emerged from our study: 18.9 % (n = 57) of the girls in our sample followed a trajectory that started out at the mean and then increased (“mean-increasing”; high-risk), 44.5 % (n = 134) of the girls followed a trajectory that started out at the mean and then decreased (“mean-decreasing”), and 36.5 % (n = 110) of the girls followed a trajectory that started out below the mean and then decreased (“low-decreasing”).» (p. 183) «Girls with surgency/extraversion temperamental tendencies were at higher odds of following a path characterized with elevated use of IA. Thus, temperament traits characterized by dominant, pleasure seeking behaviors at school entry serve as a risk factor for higher levels of IA use across elementary school years—a time when the peer relationships and the need for acceptance become increasingly salient. Hostile parent–child relationships also differentiated girls in the “mean-decreasing” group from the “low-decreasing” group.» (p. 183) «Overall, our results suggest that girls following the “mean-increasing” trajectory may have been exposed to greater family dysfunction during their childhood (Pagani et al. 2010).» (p. 184)