Longitudinal patterns of anger reactivity and risk-taking: The role of peer-context.

Abstract

The current study examined the interplay between children's dispositional anger and susceptibility to peers' influence in increasing children's risk-taking behaviors. Participants in the current study were children from a larger study of temperament and social-emotional development who were followed across 9, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months. Dispositional anger was measured using mothers' reports across 9 and 48 months. At 60 months, children played a risk-taking computer game in presence of an unfamiliar peer who watched the child play. The child's risk-taking was assessed during the game as the unfamiliar peers' reactions were coded based on comments that were peer directed, reflective of praising the target child's performance, or object directed, indicative of excitement toward the game. A latent profile analysis revealed three longitudinal anger profiles across infancy to early childhood: high stable, average stable, and low stable anger. Results suggested that as peers' object-directed comments predicted risk-taking independent of children's anger, the association between peer-directed comments and risk-taking was dependent on children's dispositional anger. Specifically, when peers praised the target child's performance, children in the high stable anger profile showed increased risk-taking propensity. Findings are discussed based on the importance of considering both temperamental characteristics and aspects of the peer context in relation to children's risk-taking.