Trajectories of relational aggression were examined in a large,
diverse sample of fourth-grade students. Hierarchical linear modeling was
used to examine relational aggression over 1 calendar year. The results
indicated that relational aggression increased in a linear fashion for
girls over the course of the study. In addition, increases in friend
intimate exchange were associated with time-dependent increases in
relational aggression among girls only. Relational aggression and
internalizing “tracked” together across the course of the
study. Overall, the findings suggest relational aggression becomes
increasingly common among elementary school girls, and girls' close,
dyadic relationships may fuel relationally aggressive behavior in some
contexts. Finally, the results indicate that relational aggression
trajectories are dynamically associated with maladjustment.This study was funded by grants from NIMH
(MH63684) and NSF (BCS-0126521) to N. C. Crick. Preparation of this
manuscript was supported by a NIMH Traineeship (MH-15755) to D.
Murray-Close and J. M. Ostrov. Portions of this manuscript were presented
at the 2004 Biennial Meeting of The Society for Research on Adolescence,
Baltimore, MD. We thank Kathleen E. Woods for her assistance and comments
on an earlier draft, Dr. Jeff Long for his statistical consultation and
assistance with this study, and Peter Ralston and the entire School
Buddies Project team for assistance with the collection of this data.
Finally, we thank the principals, teachers, parents, and children for
their participation.