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Protective Effects Against Aggressive Behavior

Sylvie Mrug, PhD; Marc Elliott, PhD; M. Janice Gilliland, PhD; Jo Anne Grunbaum, PhD; Susan R. Tortolero, PhD; Paula Cuccaro, PhD; Mark Schuster, MD, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(8):781-786.

Objective  To determine whether positive parenting practices are associated with less aggressive and delinquent behavior in early-maturing girls.

Design  Cross-sectional survey.

Setting  Interviews with a community sample of children and their caregivers were conducted in their homes or in a research setting.

Participants  An ethnically diverse cohort of 330 fifth-grade girls (mean age, 11.25 years) from 3 metropolitan areas.

Main Exposure  Early onset of menarche, parental nurturance, knowledge of the child's activities, and communication.

Main Outcome Measures  Physical, relational, and nonphysical aggression and delinquent behavior.

Results  A total of 25% of girls could be reliably classified as early maturers. Early maturation was associated with delinquency (b = 0.53) but not aggression. Low levels of maternal nurturance were associated with delinquency and relational aggression (both b = –0.04). Early maturation was associated with higher relational aggression only at low levels of nurturance (b = 0.94), communication (b = 1.36), and knowledge (b = 1.06) (P < .05 for each interaction). Also, early maturation only predicted physical aggression when combined with low maternal nurturance (b = 0.93).

Conclusions  Early puberty is a risk factor for delinquency, and early puberty combined with low parental nurturance, communication, or parental knowledge of the child's activities presents a risk for aggressive behavior in early adolescent girls. Early-maturing girls may benefit from increased parental nurturance, communication, and knowledge.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Psychology (Dr Mrug) and Maternal and Child Health (Dr Gilliland), University of Alabama at Birmingham; RAND Corporation, Santa Monica (Drs Elliott and Schuster), and Departments of Pediatrics and Health Services, University of California, Los Angeles (Dr Schuster); Division of Adult and Community Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Grunbaum); and Texas Prevention Research Center, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston (Drs Tortolero and Cuccaro).

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