Abstract
Aggression and social withdrawal are two major dimensions of individual differences in behavior during childhood. The present paper introduces a longitudinal study of the development of children selected from a general school population who were high on aggression and withdrawal and describes results relating aggression and withdrawal to outcomes during adolescence. High aggressiveness was predictive of low intelligence, poor school achievement, and psychiatric problems. For females, high aggressiveness was also predictive of general health problems. High social withdrawal appeared to be predictive of inaccurate, negative self-perceptions. In addition, females who were high on withdrawal were more likely than the others to have had an abortion. Individuals who were high on both aggression and withdrawal had relatively poor social competence, general problems with behavior, low intelligence, and were performing poorly in school. Expectations for the future development of these individuals are considered, and plans for the incorporation of contextual variables in future studies are described.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T.M., & Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.
Bohman, M., Cloninger, C.R., von Knorring, A.L., & Sigvardsson, S. (1984). An adoption study of somatoform disorders. III. Cross-fostering analysis and genetic relationship to alcoholism and criminality. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 872–878.
Block, J. (1977). Advancing the psychology of personality: Paradigmatic shift or improving the quality of research. In D. Magnusson & N.D. Endler (Eds.), Personality at the crossroads: Current issues in interactional psychology (pp. 37–63 ). Hillsdale, N. J.: Erlbaum.
Buss, D.M., & Craik, K.H. (1983). The act frequency approach to personality. Psychological Review, 90, 105–126.
Bronson, W.C. (1966). Central orientations: A study of behaviour organization from childhood to adolescence. Child Development, 37, 125–155.
Caspi, A. (1987). Personality in the life course. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1203–1213.
Caspi, A., Elder, G.K., Jr., & Bem, D.D. (1987). Moving against the world: Life course patterns of explosive children. Developmental Psychology, 23, 308–313.
Caspi, A., Elder, G.K., Jr., & Bem, D.D. (1988). Moving away from the world: Life course patterns of shy children. Developmental Psychology, 24, 824–831.
Cannon-Spoor, W.E., Potkin, S.G., & Wyatt, R.J. (1982). Measurement of premorbid adjustment in chronic schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 8, 470–484.
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.
Crowne, D.P., & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley.
Dohrenwend, B., & Shrout, P.E. (1985). “Hassles” in the conceptualization and measurement of life stress variables. American Psychologist, 40, 780–785.
Epstein, S. (1980). The stability of behavior: II. Implications for psychological research. American Psychologist, 35, 790–806.
Huesmann, L.R., Eron, L.D., Lefkowitz, M.M., & Walder, L.O. (1984). The stability of aggression over time and generations. Developmental Psychology, 20, 1120–1134.
Huesmann, L.R., Eron, L.D., & Yarmel, P.W. (1987). Intellectual functioning and aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 232–240.
Kohlberg, L., Ricks, D., & Snarey, J. (1984). Childhood development as a predictor of adaptation in adulthood. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 110, 94–162.
Loeber, R., & Dishion, T. (1983). Early predictors of male delinquency: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 68–99.
McClelland, D.C., Floor, E., Davidson, R.J., & Saron, C. (1980). Stressed power motivation, sympathetic activation, immune function, and illness. Journal of Human Stress, 6, 11–18.
Magnusson, D. (1988). Individual development from an interactional perspective: A longitudinal study. New York: Wiley.
Moskowitz, D.S. (1982). Coherence and cross-situational generality in personality: A new analysis of old problems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 754–768.
Moskowitz, D.S. (1986). Comparison of self-reports, reports by knowledgeable informants, and behavioural observation data. Journal of Personality, 54, 294–317.
Moskowitz, D.S. (1988). Cross-situational generality in the laboratory: Dominance and friendliness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 829–839.
Moskowitz, D.S., & Schwartzman, A.E. (1988). Intellectual characteristics of aggressive and withdrawn children. Unpublished manuscript, McGill University.
Moskowitz, D., Schwartzman, A.E., & Ledingham, J. (1985). Stability and change in aggression and withdrawal in middle childhood and adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 30–41.
Nock, S.L., & Rossi, P.H. (1979). Household types and social standing. Social Forces, 57, 1325–1345.
Olweus, D. (1979). Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 825–875.
Olweus, D. (1981). Continuity in aggressive and withdrawn, inhibited behavior patterns. Psychiatry and Social Sciences, 1, 141–159.
Parker, J.G. & Asher, S.R. (1987). Peer relationships and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102, 357–389.
Pekarik, E.G., Prinz, A.J., Liebert, D.E., Weintraub, S. & Neale, J.M. (1976). The Pupil Evaluation Inventory: A sociometric technique for assessing children’s social behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 4, 83–97.
Quay, H.C. (1986). Classification. In H.C. Quay & J.S. Werry (Eds.), Psycho- pathological disorders of childhood, ( 3rd ed, pp. 1–34 ). New York: Wiley.
Robins, L.N. (1966). Deviant children grown up. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Robins, L., (1986). The consequences of conduct disorder in girls. In D. Olweus, J. Block & M. Radke—Yarrow (Eds.), Development of antisocial and prosocial behavior: Research, theories, and issues (pp. 385–414 ). New York: Academic Press.
Sarason, I.G., Johnson, J.H., & Siegal, J.M. (1978). Development of the Life Experiences Survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 932–946.
Schwartzman, A.E., Ledingham, J., & Serbin, L. (1985). Identification of children at risk for adult schizophrenia. International Review of Applied Psychology, 34, 363–380.
Schwartzman, A.E., & Moskowitz, D.S. (1987). Aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive-withdrawn children: Social competence and health status. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Snyder, M., & Ickes, W. (1985). Personality and social behavior. In G. Lindsay and E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 883 – 947 ). New York: Random House.
Thoits, P.A. (1986). Social support as coping assistance. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 416–423.
Turner, R.J., Frankel, G., & Levine, D.M. (1983). Social support: Conceptualization, measurement, and implications for mental health. In J.R. Greenley (Ed.), Research in community and mental health, (Vol 3, pp. 67–111 ). Greenwich: JAI Press.
Wachtel, P. (1973). Psychodynamics, behavior therapy, and the implacable experimenter: An inquiry into the consistency of personality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 83, 324–334.
Weissman, M.M., & Klerman, G.L. (1977). Sex differences and the epidemiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 98–111.
Wiggins, J.S., & Winder, C.L. (1961). The Peer Nomination Inventory: An empirically derived sociometric measure of adjustment in preadolescent boys. Psychological Reports, 9, 643–677.
Wright, J.C., & Mischel, W. (1987). A conditional approach to dispositional constructs: The local predictability of social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1159–1177.
Zigler, E., & Levine, L. (1981). Age on first hospitalization of schizophrenics: A developmental approach. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 458–467.
Zigler, E., & Phillips, L. (1960). Social competence and symptomatic behaviors.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62, 231–238.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Moskowitz, D.S., Schwartzman, A.E. (1989). Life Paths of Aggressive and Withdrawn Children. In: Buss, D.M., Cantor, N. (eds) Personality Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0634-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-0634-4_7
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-0636-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-0634-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive