Indirect But Lasting: Linking Indirect Aggression Use Over Childhood to Future Adjustment While Considering Conduct Problems

Abstract

Frequent and recurrent indirect aggressive (IA) behaviors (e.g., spreading false rumors, ignoring) are associated with later detrimental consequences. This high IA use appears to be more frequent among children with conduct problems, making it difficult to determine whether the negative outcomes of IA are related to other conduct problems or whether IA makes a distinct contribution. Therefore, the present study aims to determine whether a high trajectory of IA use from around 8 years of age to around 13 years of age is associated with negative outcomes at around 17 years of age controlling for conduct problems and other confounding variables (age, sex, income). Data for this study are drawn from an ongoing longitudinal project involving 744 children (46.8% girls), including 434 with conduct problems, recruited from eight school boards in Quebec, Canada. IA and conduct problems were measured by a composite score of parents‘ and teachers‘ ratings. Outcomes were measured by self-reported data on depressive and anxiety symptoms, life satisfaction, substance use, delinquent behaviors, social support network, and school dropout risk. Controlling for conduct problems and other confounding variables, analyses using the manual BCH method in Mplus show that high and stable IA use is associated with more problematic substance use, more delinquent behaviors, and a higher probability to drop out of school. Thus, even if conduct problems account for a large proportion of maladjustment, IA explains a significant amount of unique variance and should thus be considered as an important screening indicator.