International Journal of Behavioral Development

The actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) is a model of dyadic relationships that integrates a conceptual view of interdependence with the appropriate statistical techniques for measuring and testing it. In this article we present the APIM as a general, longitudinal model for measuring bidirectional effects in interpersonal relationships. We also present three different approaches to testing the model. The statistical analysis of the APIM is illustrated using longitudinal data on relationship specific attachment security from 203 mother–adolescent dyads. The results support the view that interpersonal influence on attachment security is bidirectional. Moreover, consistent with a hypothesis from attachment theory, the degree to which a child’s attachment security is influenced by his or her primary caregiver is found to diminish with age.

Các tiếp cận nhân học về phát triển con người chủ yếu hướng đến người trưởng thành đã được xã hội hóa, mà không chú ý đến việc hiểu các quy trình phát triển. Ngược lại, tâm lý học phát triển truyền thống thường quan tâm đến một đứa trẻ mang tính chất không có ngữ cảnh, 'khái quát'. Sau một cái nhìn lịch sử ngắn gọn, 'môi trường phát triển' được giới thiệu như một khuôn khổ để khảo sát cách văn hóa cấu trúc sự phát triển của trẻ em. Môi trường phát triển có ba thành phần: bối cảnh vật lý và xã hội mà trẻ em sống; phong tục chăm sóc và nuôi dưỡng trẻ em; và tâm lý của những người chăm sóc. Các cơ chế duy trì cân bằng có thể giữ cho ba hệ thống con hài hòa với nhau và phù hợp với mức độ phát triển và đặc điểm cá nhân của trẻ. Tuy nhiên, chúng có các mối quan hệ khác nhau với các đặc điểm khác của môi trường lớn hơn và do đó tạo thành những con đường độc lập của sự mất cân bằng và thay đổi. Các quy luật ổn định trong và giữa các hệ thống con, cùng với sự liên tục và phát triển chủ đề qua các môi trường của tuổi thơ cung cấp chất liệu từ đó trẻ em trừu tượng hóa các quy tắc xã hội, cảm xúc, và nhận thức của nền văn hóa. Các ví dụ được trình bày từ nghiên cứu trong một cộng đồng nông nghiệp ở Kenya.

Research on human aggression has been a flourishing industry in the 20th century. As the attention shifted from an instinctual paradigm to a drive paradigm and a social learning paradigm, what have we learned on the development of aggressive behaviour during childhood? Are children born with an aggressive instinct or do they have to learn to aggress?This question has deep philosophical roots, but it also has important practical implications. Should interventions prevent children from learning to aggress or should they help children learn to inhibit aggressive reactions? Since most of the 20th century work on the development of aggression was concentrated on adolescents and elementary school age children, there appeared to be an implicit assumption that aggression is learned during these developmental periods. It is argued that to understand the origins of aggressive behaviour and prevent chronic cases of physical aggression we will need to focus on the development of aggressive behaviour during the first few years after birth, and differentiate among forms of aggressive behaviour. The form of agressive behaviour that is generally considered more “serious” or “socially unacceptable” (physical aggression) is clearly ontogenetically antecedent to less “serious” forms of aggressive behaviour, such as verbal aggression or indirect aggression. Furthermore, as a rule the frequency of physical aggression appears to decrease with age. However, infants’ physical aggression has generally not been considered developmentally significant. This is probably because of “the weakness of their limbs” and the apparent lack of “intentionality”. To have a relatively complete description of the life-span developmental trajectories of human aggressive behaviour by the end of the 21st century, we will need to start recruiting pregnant women very soon.

We examined the validity of a measurement system for the study of aggression that distinguishes among four principle dimensions of aggressive behaviour: overt and relational aggression (i.e., the “whats”) and instrumental and reactive aggression (i.e., the “whys”). The sample comprised 1723 adolescents (Grades 5 through 10) from Berlin, Germany. The internal validity of the measurement system was strongly supported, revealing four discrete dimensions of aggression: two overriding forms (overt and relational) and two underlying functions (instrumental and reactive). The differential and unique patterns of criterion-related validity strongly supported the distinctions among the constructs. The importance of disentangling these dimensions in understanding the development of aggressive behaviour is discussed.

Latent variables are common in psychological research. Research questions involving the interaction of two variables are likewise quite common. Methods for estimating and interpreting interactions between latent variables within a structural equation modeling framework have recently become available. The latent moderated structural equations (LMS) method is one that is built into Mplus software. The potential utility of this method is limited by the fact that the models do not produce traditional model fit indices, standardized coefficients, or effect sizes for the latent interaction, which renders model fitting and interpretation of the latent variable interaction difficult. This article compiles state-of-the-science techniques for assessing LMS model fit, obtaining standardized coefficients, and determining the size of the latent interaction effect in order to create a tutorial for new users of LMS models. The recommended sequence of model estimation and interpretation is demonstrated via a substantive example and a Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, extensions of this method are discussed, such as estimating quadratic effects of latent factors and interactions between latent slope and intercept factors, which hold significant potential for testing and advancing developmental theories.

Given the rapid increase in studies of bullying and peer harassment among youth, it becomes important to understand just what is being researched. This study explored whether the themes that emerged from children's definitions of bullying were consistent with theoretical and methodological operationalizations within the research literature, and whether the provision of a definition when administering bullying experience items would lead to different prevalence rates in reported victimization and bullying. Students aged 8—18 ( N = 1767) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In the first condition, students were provided with a standard bullying definition; in the second condition, students provided their own definition of bullying. Results indicated that students' definitions of bullying rarely included the three prominent definitional criteria typically endorsed by researchers: intentionality (1.7%), repetition (6%), and power imbalance (26%), although almost all students (92%) did emphasize negative behaviors in their definition. Younger children made more mention of physical aggression, general harassing behaviors, and verbal aggression in their definitions, whereas the theme of relational aggression was most prominent in the middle years and reported more by girls than boys. Finally, students who were given a definition of bullying reported being victimized less than students not provided with a definition. As well, boys who were given a definition of bullying tended to report higher levels of bullying than those not given a definition (marginal effect).

In 2006, the Finnish Ministry of Education mandated our research group to develop an antibullying program for comprehensive schools. The new program, KiVa, includes both universal and indicated actions to reduce bullying. The present study reports the effects of KiVa on nine different forms of being bullied in a sample of 5,651 fourth to sixth graders from 78 schools (39 intervention, 39 control). The findings showed positive effects on each form of being bullied assessed. After 9 months of intervention, control school students were 1.32— 1.94 times as likely to be bullied as students in intervention schools. A well-designed, research-based program can thus reduce multiple forms of being bullied, and there might be no need to develop specific programs for different forms of bullying.

The effects of cognitive capacity, perceived parenting, traumatic events, and activity, which were ” rst measured in the midst of the political violence of the Intifada in 1993, were examined on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emotional disorders, school performance, and neuroticism three years later in more peaceful conditions among 86 Palestinian children of 14.04 ± 0.79 years of age. The results showed, ” rst, that PTSD was high among the children who had been exposed to a high level of traumatic events and had responded passively (not actively) to Intifada violence. Discrepant perceived parenting was also decisive for adjustment: Children who perceived their mothers as highly loving and caring but their fathers as not so showed a high level of PTSD. High intellectual but low creative performance was also characteristic of the children suffering from emotional disorders. Second, the hypothesis that cognitive capacity and activity serve a resiliency function if children feel loved and nonrejected at home was confirmed. Third, neuroticism decreased significantly over the three years, especially among the children who had been exposed to a high number of traumatic events.

Chúng tôi cung cấp bằng chứng về tính đa chiều, sự biến đổi và khả năng thay đổi trong bản chất và phương hướng của sự thay đổi trong sức khỏe thể chất, chức năng nhận thức và hạnh phúc trong giai đoạn giữa của cuộc đời. Bức tranh về hạnh phúc ở độ tuổi trung niên dựa trên các dữ liệu dài hạn từ nghiên cứu Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) tích cực hơn nhiều so với những gì đã thể hiện trong các nghiên cứu cắt ngang trước đây. Chúng tôi trình bày độ tuổi trung niên như một giai đoạn then chốt trong quá trình sống về việc cân bằng giữa sự phát triển và suy giảm, liên kết các giai đoạn sớm và muộn trong cuộc sống, và tạo cầu nối giữa các thế hệ trẻ và già. Chúng tôi nhấn mạnh vai trò của các yếu tố bảo vệ và khả năng chống chịu đa hệ thống trong việc giảm thiểu sự suy giảm. Những người trong độ tuổi trung niên đóng vai trò trung tâm trong cuộc sống của những người trẻ hơn và những người lớn tuổi hơn tại nhà, tại nơi làm việc, và trong xã hội nói chung. Do đó, việc chú trọng vào việc thúc đẩy sức khỏe và hạnh phúc ở độ tuổi trung niên có thể mang lại tác động sâu rộng.

The current study used longitudinal data (N 1/4 1322; 648 males, 674 females) from adolescents ages 12 to 19 years (in 1994) to investigate gender differences in and risk factors for depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes (MDEs). The sample had participated in three waves of Canada’s National Population Health Survey (1994, 1996, and 1998). Results showed that although there was not a statistically significant increase in depressive symptoms in early adolescence, there was a robust gender difference in the levels of depressive symptoms and the prevalence of MDE, with girls more affected than boys. Over time, decreases in social support and increases in smoking were both linked to increases in depressive symptoms. Moreover, youth who smoked and who were free from major depression in 1994 were 1.4 times more likely to report a MDE in 1996 or 1998. To be effective, prevention and treatment programmes for depression may also need to address risks such as poor social support and smoking, as these risk factors may serve to maintain depressive symptoms over time.