Introduction

1. Teen Close Friendship Competence - Teen’s close friendship competence was assessed from friend reports using the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988). A sample item is “Some people are able to make really close friends.” Friends’ positive relatedness during conflict - Friends’ ability to positively relate to teen was assessed from observed best friend behaviors promoting relatedness during a videotaped conflict task. Interactions were coded using the Autonomy-Relatedness Coding System for Peer Interactions (Allen et al., 2001). The Promoting Relatedness scale includes the ability of friends to positively connect to the teen through warmth and engagement as well as being collaborative/cooperative. Teens’ Romantic Relational Aggression - Teen romantic relational aggression was assessed using romantic partner reports of relational victimization from teen on the Romantic Relational Aggression and Victimization measure (Morales & Crick, 1998). A sample item includes “My romantic partner doesn’t pay attention to me when he/she is mad at me.” The Darker Side of Romantic Relationships: Family and PeerPredictors of Relational AggressionJoanna M. Chango, Joseph P. Allen, Jill Antonishak & F. Christy McFarlandUniversity of VirginiaThis study was made possible by funding from The National Institute of Mental Health awarded to Joseph P. Allen, Principal Investigator(Grant #R01-MH58066) • Teen friendship competence moderated the relationship between friends’ • ability to maintain relatedness and romantic relational aggression. For • teens with poor friendship competence, their friends’ inability to positively • relate during conflict predicted higher levels of romantic relational aggression. • For teens with high friendship competence their level of romantic relational • aggression was unaffected by their friends’ ability to maintain positive • connection during conflict. Introduction • Relational aggression includes behaviors intended to manipulate or harm others by damaging relationships or feelings of acceptance (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). • Examples of romantic relational aggression include attempting to make a romantic partner jealous as a way of getting back at him/her and threatening to break up with a romantic partner in order to get what you want (Linder et al., 2002). • Problematic parenting has been linked to the development of relational aggression. Previous research shows that high levels of maternal coercion and psychological control is associated with relational aggression in children (Hart et al., 1998; Nelson & Crick, 2002). • In addition, past research has demonstrated links between experiences in peer relationships and later romantic relationships (Collins & Sroufe, 1999; Connelly & Goldberg, 1999) such that poor peer relations may set the stage for problematic romantic relationships (Connolly et al., 2000). Specifically, alienation from peers has been positively associated with romantic relational aggression (Linder et al., 2002). • Present Study Hypotheses: • Maternal overinvolvement during conflict would predict high levels of teen romantic relational aggression. • Poor adolescent friendship competence, as well as friends’ lack of positive relatedness during conflict would each predict high levels of teen romantic relational aggression. • Adolescents with both poor individual friendship competence AND those who have friends that demonstrate an inability to maintain relatedness during conflict • would show even higher levels of romantic relational aggression. Results Hierarchical multiple regression analyses using Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) revealed that: Conclusions • Maternal overinvolvement during conflict at age 13 significantly predicted higher levels of teen relational aggression toward romantic partners at age 18 • Specific interactional patterns of behavior during conflict within adolescent maternal and peer relationships were identified as having implications for the development of romantic relational aggression. • Results suggest that even after accounting for teen close friendship competence, the kinds of friends that adolescents tend to choose (Allen, 2007 (Sat. @ 2:30pm, CC208)) influence their use of relational aggression in later romantic relationships. • Furthermore, for adolescents who already lack close friendship ability, their tendency to choose harmful friends plays a particularly important role. • In general, early parent and peer interactions may be demonstrating unhealthy behavioral strategies to deal with conflict, which might make adolescents more at risk for using relationally aggressive tactics with romantic partners later on. Method • Participants • Data were drawn from a larger longitudinal, multi-method study of adolescent development within the context of familial and peer relationships • 98 target adolescents (41 male, 57 female) were first interviewed at age 13.4 with their mothers and best friends • Adolescents were then re-interviewed with their romantic partners at age 18.3 • Couples were together for an average of 15 months • Target teens: 56% Caucasian and 44% minority or mixed ethnic group • Measures • Maternal Overinvolvement during conflict • - Level of involvement was assessed from observed maternal behaviors • inhibiting teen autonomy during a videotaped adolescent-mother conflict task. • Interactions were coded using the Autonomy-Relatedness Coding System • (Allen et al., 2000). The Undermining Autonomy scale includes the degree to • which mothers inhibit productive discussion of a disagreement by placating, • overpersonalizing, and pressuring the teen. • Poor teen friendship competence and friends’ inability to remain positively connected with the teen during conflict tasks at age 13 each uniquely predicted higher levels of relational aggression toward romantic partners at age 18. References Allen, J. P. (2007). The lasting lessons of early adolescent friendships: The benefits of autonomy and the mixed blessings of early intensity. Paper presented at the Biennial Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA (Forthcoming in April 2007). Allen, J. P., Hauser, S. T., Bell, K. L., McElhaney, K. B., Tate, D. C., Insabella, G. M., et al. (2000). The autonomy and relatedness coding system. Unpublished manuscript. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. Allen, J. P., Porter, M. R., & McFarland, C. F. (2001). The autonomy and relatedness coding system for peer interactions. University of Virginia: Charlottesville, Virginia. Collins, W.A., & Sroufe, L.A. (1999). Capacity for intimate relationships: A developmental construction. In W. Furman, B. Brown, & C. Feiring (Eds.), The development of romantic relationships in adolescence (pp.125-147). New York: Cambridge University Press. Connelly, J., Furman, W., & Konarski, R. (2000). The role of peers in the emergence of heterosexual romantic relationships in adolescence. Child Development, 71, 1395-1408. Connolly, J. & Goldberg, A. (1999). Romantic relationships in adolescence: The role of friends and peers in their emergence and development . In W. Furman, B. Brown, & C. Feiring (Eds.), The development of romantic relationships in adolescence (pp.266-290). New York: Cambridge University Press. Crick, N.R. & Grotpeter, J.K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710-722. Hart, C.H., Nelson, D.A., Robinson, C.C., Olsen, S.F., & McNeilly-Choque, M.K. (1998). Overt and relational aggression in Russian nursery-school-age children: Parenting style and marital linkages. Developmental Psychology, 34, 687-697. Harter, S. (1988). Manual for the self-perception profile for adolescents. Denver, Colorado: University of Denver. Linder, J.R., Crick, N.R., & Collins, W.A. (2002). Relational Aggression and Victimization in Young Adults’ romantic relationships: Associations with perceptions of parent, peer, and romantic quality. Social Development, 11(1), 69-86. Morales, J.R. & Crick, N.R. (1998). Self-report measure of aggression and victimization. Unpublished measure. Nelson, D.A, & Crick, N.R. (2002). Parental psychological control: Implications for childhood physical and relational aggression. In B.K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parenting: How psychological control affects children and adolescents (pp.161-189). Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association (APA) Books.