My research team (see the Crick Social Development Lab) has focused recently on the study of relational aggression (e.g., using social exclusion or rumor spreading as a form of retaliation), a form of aggression that has been shown to be more characteristic of girls than are the physical, overt forms of aggression that traditionally have been studied in the past. To date, our studies have shown that 1) relationally aggressive children are at risk for both concurrent and future social-psychological maladjustment (e.g., peer rejection, problematic friendships), 2) children who engage in gender non-normative forms of aggression (relationally aggressive boys and overtly aggressive girls) may be at heightened risk for maladjustment, and 3) social information-processing factors may play a role in the generation of relationally aggressive behaviors. We are currently conducting a five-year longitudinal study of the antecedents (e.g., parent and sibling socialization factors), correlates (e.g., friendship qualities), and consequences (e.g., depression, delinquency) of relational and overt aggression in which we are following children from their third to their sixth years of school.

Selected Publications

1. Tseng, W., Gau, S. S., Banny, A. M., Lingras, K. A., & Crick, N. R. (in press). Associations of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity with preadolescent peer functioning: The mediating roles of aggressive and prosocial behaviors.  Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

   Gentile, D., Mathieson, L., & Crick, N. R. (2011). Media violence associations with the form and function of aggression among elementary school children.  Social Development, 20(2), 213-232.

   Mathieson, L. C. & Crick, N. R. (2010).  Reactive and Proactive Subtypes of Relational and Physical Aggression in Middle Childhood: Links to Concurrent and Longitudinal Adjustment. School Psychology Review, 39(4), 601-611.

   Leff, S. S., Waasdorp, T. E., & Crick, N. R. (2010) A Review of Existing Relational Aggression Programs: Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions. School Psychology Review, 39(4), 508-535.

   Kawabata, Y., Crick, N.  R., & Hamaguchi, Y.  (2010). The role of culture in relational aggression:  A link to social-psychological adjustment problems among Japanese and US school children.  International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34(4), 354-362.

   Murray-Close, D., Ostrov, J. M.; Nelson, D. A.; Crick, N. R. & Coccaro, E. F. (2010). Proactive, reactive, and romantic relational aggression in adulthood: Measurement, predictive validity, gender differences, and association with intermittent explosive disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 44(6), 393-404.

   Crick, N. R., Murray-Close, D., Marks, P., & Mohajeri-Nelson, N.  (2009).  Aggression and peer relationships in middle childhood and early adolescence.  In K. H. Rubin, W. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups.  New York: Guilford.

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