Research Paper on Relational Aggression

Introduction

The term 'relational aggression' refers to interpersonal manipulative behaviors. It is manifested through children's exclusion of their friends or their peers from social groups or plays (social exclusion), a person's direct control of his or her peers such as through giving them conditions that must be met for friendship to be maintained, alienation of friends from social groups by giving the affected individuals silent treatment, and through rejection of peers which can be done through spreading untrue things about a peer to make others reject them. These behaviors are both intentional and repetitive and are meant to cause harm to the targeted individual (Swit & McMaugh, 2012).

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Even though it was previously thought that relational aggression is not a serious thing, and thus was largely ignored, empirical studies have shown that it can have the same damage or even more adverse consequences compared to physical aggression. Consequently, E.L. Young, Nelson, Hottle, Warburton, and B.K. Young (2010) reported that relational aggression should be a primary focus of bullying and that preventive measures should be administered to curb it. It has been established that although relational aggression has many potential negative impacts as physical aggression, it has mostly been ignored because it cannot be overtly seen, readily observed, and thus cannot be easily confronted (Young et al., 2010). Consequently, it is crucial for school leaders to understand the impacts of relational aggression and its attributes and manifestations with the aim of establishing effective ways of curbing or intervening, thus maintaining a conducive learning environment.

The repetitive use of relational aggression to assert power over another individual has also been described as a form of bullying. It is a common problem among children and has been established to be a normal part of growth and development. Consequently, it has been posited and well-established that children will out-grow aggression over time. However, research has shown that relational aggression can also be found among adults (Swit & McMaugh, 2012). This paper is aimed at examining the prevalence of relational aggression and its long-term effects on emotional and behavioral health.

Literature Review

The Prevalence of Relational Aggression

The prevalence of relational aggression has been explored the most among preschoolers. In one of these studies, Meysamie, Ghalehtaki, Ghazanfari, Daneshvar-Fard, and Mohammadi (2013) established that the prevalence was 6% as reported by the teachers, and 1.6% as reported by the parents. Meysamie et al. (2013) further established that preschoolers' relational aggression was associated with different factors. Some of the factors that were identified by the parents as the predictors included pregnancy at the young age of between 18 and 35 years old, excessive watching of violent television programs, single parenthood, and high educational attainment of the mothers. On the other hand, teachers reported that preschoolers' relational aggression was linked to maternal employment and presence of chronic disease in one or more of the family members. In a related study, Sullivan, Helms, Kliewer, and Goodman (2010) established that the prevalence of relational aggression ranged from 9% for children who told their peers that they would not like them unless they did what they required them to do to 58% for children who preferred saying something about another child to make other children laugh.

In a related study, Hemphill, Kotevski, Herrenkohl, Toumbourou, Carlin, Catalano, and Patton (2010) established that relational aggression is highly prevalent among adolescents aged 10 and 16 years old. Both boys and girls reported having been involved in relational aggression more than once in the past month. In this study, the prevalence was found to be 36%. It was further established that the prevalence of relational aggression was higher among female participants than their male counterparts. Specifically, 28.6% to 48.8% of them had relational aggression in the past six months while the male respondents had 17.4% to 44.2% relational aggression activities in the same period. Consequently, it was concluded that there are gender differences in relational aggression.

Chirwa-Mwanza and Menon (2015) carried out a cross-sectional study aimed at exploring relational aggression among adolescents. Specifically, the study was aimed at exploring the prevalence of relational aggression, gender differences in relational aggression, and whether a relationship exists between relational aggression and the mental health of those who perpetrate it. Findings of this study revealed that relational aggression is highly prevalent among adolescents with both boys and girls reporting their involvement in relational aggression a few times in the past month. Specifically, 36% of adolescents were highly involved in relational aggression.

More recently, Auslander, Sterzing, Threlfall, Gerke, and Edmond (2016) established that the prevalence of relational aggression among participants aged 12 to 19 years old was 51.5%. Additionally, the researchers found out that adolescents' aggressive behaviors were linked to a history of physical and emotional abuse, with a positive association between the two variables. Moreover, it was established that depression and post-traumatic stress mediated the association between emotional abuse and aggressive behaviors.

Apart from studies that have examined the prevalence of relational aggression in children, some studies have also looked at the presence and the prevalence of relational aggression in adulthood. In one of these studies, Williams (2011), explored the presence of relational aggression among adults. In William's (2011) descriptive research study, the sample comprised of 67 students above the age of 19 years with a mean age being 27.04 years. Participants' degree of relational aggression was assessed using Self-Report of Aggression and Social Behavior Measure. Findings of this study revealed that there is a high prevalence of relational aggression among adults. It was further established that age was negatively correlated with proactive relational aggression and reactive relational aggression.

Impacts of Relational Aggression on Emotional and Behavioral Health

Relational aggression has been reported to lead to emotional and behavioral problems among the affected individuals or the victims. One of the adverse emotional and behavioral outcomes of relational aggression is increased anxiety (Gros, Stauffacher Gros, & Simms, 2010). Gros et al. (2010) carried out a study aimed at investigating the relationship between the symptoms of anxiety and relational aggression. The sample for this study comprised of 315 emerging adults. Findings of this study showed that relational aggression positively predicted all symptoms of social and general anxiety. Additionally, Gross et al. (2010) established that relational victimization was associated with cognitive and somatic anxiety symptoms.

In a related study, Zimmer-Gembeck and Pronk (2012) sought to investigate if relational aggression predicted depression and anxiety in a sample comprising of 335 participants aged between 9 and 15 years. Findings of this study revealed that participants who reported having depressive and anxiety symptoms were victims of relational aggression. The participants further reported that their peers could not be trusted. In another empirical study, Deason, Dahlen, Madson, and Bullock-Yowell (2019) recently investigated whether a relationship existed between peer relational aggression and the Five-Factor Model of personality and social anxiety in a sample consisting of college students. Findings of this study revealed that relational aggression inversely predicted conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability. However, relational aggression positively predicted extraversion. Lastly, relational aggression was found to be positively linked to social anxiety.

Relational aggression has also been found to be a significant predictor of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (Fite, Stoppelbein, Greening, & Preddy, 2011). In Fite et al.'s (2011) study, the researchers established that depressive symptoms were more common among victims of relational aggression and that depression, in turn, leads to suicidal ideation.

Researchers have also explored the relationship between relational aggression and self-esteem. In one of these studies, Halmos (2012) examined the relationship between self-esteem and aggression. The sample of this study consisted of 141 adolescents whose mean age was 13.55 years. Findings of this study revealed that proactive relational aggression was significantly associated with self-esteem. Specifically, Halmos (2012) established that proactive relational aggression was negatively associated with self-esteem. This implies that relational aggression impairs the victims' self-esteem. Similarly, Gomes (2011) reported that relational aggression lowers the victims' self-esteem.

Aizpitarte, Atherton, and Robins (2017) investigated the bidirectional relationships between relational aggression and two psychiatric disorders, conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Findings of this study showed that adolescents who engaged in relational aggression against their peers while they were young had conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms later in life. Specifically, it was established that increased levels of relational aggression result in increased conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms over time. Following these findings, it was concluded that relational aggression is a precursor to conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms. Moreover, findings of the study showed that youths who developed higher levels of conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms at a younger age had a higher likelihood of relationally victimizing their peers later in adolescence.

Kritzer (2015) explored how relational aggression affects victims and their families. Findings of the study showed that relational aggression leads to the internalization of negative thoughts in the affected adolescent victim. Specifically, Kritzer (2015) reported that the child victim felt ashamed that she thought she had manifested a negative character to her peers and put all the blame on herself for being relationally aggressed. The victim of relational aggression was also found to have difficulties with emotional coping. This was manifested through sadness, anger, rage, and despair. The victim felt that she had no control over her emotions.

Furthermore, the child victim had mental health difficulties which were manifested through suicidal ideations, not eating, lack of sleep, self-injury, panic attacks, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, findings of Kritzer (2015) showed that the parents of the child victim had emotional coping problems similar to that of the child. Additionally, parents reported relationship damage. The mother reported that following relational aggression, her daughter became emotionally distraught and could not connect and share with her like it was before. Lastly, the mother reported despair following their child's relational aggression.

Moreover, Randall and Brumfield (2013) carried out a study aimed at examining the long-term effects of relational aggression on girls who are victimized. The researchers reported that relational aggression has many devastating effects on its victims. Specifically, it was reported that victims of relational aggression are likely to portray suicidal ideation, truancy, poor academic achievement, social withdrawal, sexual promiscuity, drug and alcohol addiction, depression and anxiety, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. A...