Boarding Schools for Girls

Girls and boys express mean behaviors in different ways -- but a new study from Australia found that both boys and girls share a similar understanding and experience with mean behaviors.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Rhiarne Pronk of Griffith University studied relational aggression and victimization among teenagers, and found that both boys and girls experience unpredictable friendships, social exclusion, rumor mongering and gossip, some of which involves e-mail and the Internet. However, both groups used these techniques to enhance their social standing or acceptance.

Dr. Pronk found that certain characteristics put adolescence at higher risk for victimization in relationships. These factors might include a lack of social appeal or emotional reactiveness. Children who are too popular or too talented also attract relational aggression.

The study appeared in the Journal of Adolescent Research.

Labels: relationships, aggression, bullies

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In her research into relational aggression among adolescent girls, Dianna Murray-Close, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, has discovered that the prevalence of this behavior peaks during middle childhood, and can cause significant social and emotional damage to girls who are involved.

According to an Oct. 7 article on the UVM website, Murray-Close hopes that her studies can lead to techniques that can significantly improve the lives of young girls:

In an article in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, Murray-Close used results of tests she conducted on heart rate assessment, blood pressure and sympathetic nerve system activity among 5th graders to show that heightened cardiac reactivity to provocation is associated with relational forms of aggression among girls.

She's convinced that if girls can control their reactions at the point of increased cardiac activity, they can prevent committing acts of relational aggression.

"We have girls re-live a stressor and measure how their body reacts," she says. "One of the arguments here is that if you are someone who gets very physically worked up, this may be apre -disposition to then respond to aggression. Ultimately, I'd like to develop some coping skills for girls. There's been a lot of research on physical aggression, especially among boys, but not much on what to do about relational aggression. You'd like to think your research will ultimately help children."

Labels: aggression, adolescents, research

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Girls who go through puberty early are at risk for aggressive behaviors such as getting into fights or teasing other children. However, their risk returns to normal if they have a nurturing relationship with their parents.

Dr. Sylvie Mrug of the University of Alabama at Birmingham interviewed 330 girls who had started to menstruate at least one year earlier than their peers. She was unclear why these girls were more likely to become both verbally and physically more aggressive than other girls, or why nurturing, communication, and monitoring by parents mitigated that situation.

This study appears in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Labels: aggression, puberty

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Teens who value power are more likely to engage in school violence, including hitting and threatening others. Teens who value conformity or universalism are less likely to engage in such behaviors, according to a new study published in Child Development.

For purposes of the study, "power" meant "trying to attain social status by controlling and dominating others," conformity meant "limiting actions and urges that might violate social expectations and norms," and universalism was "promoting, understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protecting the welfare of all people and nature."

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem studied the attitudes and behaviors of 907 students in grades 10 through 12 in order to test their hypothesis that a teen's values predict behaviors. Their research indicated that values come not only from the home and parents, but also from peer groups and the culture of the teen's school.

Labels: aggression, violence, values

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A research team at the University of Alabama has concluded that early puberty and poor parenting skills can result in increased levels of aggression among adolescent girls.

The UA study, which was published in the August issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, involved interviews with 330 fifth-grade girls and their parents.

About 80 of the girls who were surveyed were discovered to have matured early, which the researchers defined as beginning to menstruate one year earlier than the average age for their racial and ethnic group. These early maturers were more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors than were the other girls, but they were not more aggressive - unless they also had parents who showed little interest in them.
"Early maturation only predicted physical aggression when combined with low maternal nurturance," wrote the authors of the study, which was led by Dr. Sylvie Mrug.

According to a press release that accompanied the study's publication, the researchers theorize that reduced parental involvement may contribute to increased aggression by forcing the young girls to find other (often less-than-ideal) mentors outside the family.

Early-maturing girls may be at higher risk of aggression or delinquency because they are more likely to be accepted by and form relationships with older boys, who are more likely than younger children to engage in undesirable behaviors, the authors note.

"Parental nurturance may decrease girls' susceptibility to negative peer influence," they write. "Also, parental nurturance may help girls cope with challenges associated with early puberty. By listening to their daughters' difficulties and providing support and encouragement, nurturing parents can help them develop better coping skills and diffuse negative emotions that might otherwise manifest as aggression."

As a result of their findings, the researchers recommend that health care professionals who treat early-maturing girls help ensure that the patients' parents understand the importance of adequate levels of guidance and nurturing.

Labels: parenting, aggression, puberty

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