Social Competence as a Moderator of the Aggression-Victimization link in Elementary School Children by Naomi Sklar B.A., University of Western Ontario, 2008 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in the Department of Psychology  Naomi Sklar, 2011 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Social Competence as a Moderator of the Aggression-Victimization link in Elementary School Children by Naomi Sklar B.A., University of Western Ontario, 2008 Supervisory Committee Dr. Bonnie J. Leadbeater (Department of Psychology) Supervisor Dr. Marsha Runtz (Department of Psychology) Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Bonnie J. Leadbeater (Department of Psychology) Supervisor Dr. Marsha Runtz (Department of Psychology) Departmental Member Childhood aggression is a pervasive problem that has serious consequences for peer relationships. The relation between aggression and peer victimization has been studied extensively. Research suggests that these two constructs become intertwined in a maladaptive cycle as children age. Yet, not all aggressive children are victimized by their peers nor does aggression have the same consequences for all children. The current study seeks to investigate under what circumstances aggression leads to peer victimization and suggests that social competence is a critical moderator of this relationship. Previous research has found that levels of social competence vary among aggressive children. However, the consequences of aggression (i.e., peer victimization) at varying levels of social competence has not been previously studied. In a sample of 369 children in grades 2 through 5, the short-term longitudinal relations between physical aggression and peer victimization, and the moderating effects of social competence were examined over two time points. Social competence moderated the relation between aggression and peer victimization: At low levels of social competence, the relation between aggression and peer victimization was not significant. At moderate and high levels of social competence, a relation between aggression and peer victimization was significant. Findings demonstrate the importance of fostering social competence and prosocial conflict iv resolution strategies among aggressive children and intervening early in development in order to prevent the occurrence and consequences of childhood aggression. v Table of Contents Supervisory Committee.......................................................................................................ii   Abstract...............................................................................................................................iii   Table of Contents.................................................................................................................v   List of Tables.....................................................................................................................vii   List of Figures...................................................................................................................viii   Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................ix   Introduction.........................................................................................................................1   Types of Aggression...................................................................................................2   Aggression and Peer Victimization............................................................................4   Aggression and Social Competence...........................................................................8   Peer Victimization and Social Competence.............................................................12   Sex Differences in Aggression, Peer Victimization, and Social Competence.........14   The Current Study....................................................................................................16 Method...............................................................................................................................18   Participants.................................................................................................................18   Procedures..................................................................................................................19   Measures.....................................................................................................................19   Results...............................................................................................................................22   Plan of Analysis..........................................................................................................22   Data Preparation.........................................................................................................22 vi Preliminary Analyses..................................................................................................24   Descriptive Statistics..................................................................................................29 Path Analyses.............................................................................................................38   Discussion..........................................................................................................................42   Cross-Lag Associations Between Aggression and Peer Victimization......................44   The Moderating Effect of Social Competence...........................................................46   Limitations..................................................................................................................53   Conclusions and Implications.....................................................................................58   References.........................................................................................................................64   Appendix A: Victimization Measure.................................................................................79   Appendix B: Aggression and Social Competence Measure..............................................82 vii List of Tables Table 1: Standardized Item Loadings for CFA of Measures for Physical and Relational Victimization, Aggression, and Social Competence at T1 and T2......................28   Table 2: Relabilities, Means, and Standard Deviations of Observed Variables at T1 and T2........................................................................................................................30   Table 3: Zero-Order Correlations of Latent Variables (Full Sample)...............................32   Table 4: Zero-Order Correlations of Latent Varibales (Females Only)............................33   Table 5: Zero-Order Correlations of Latent Variables (Males Only)...............................34   Table 6: Sex Differences in Mean Levels of Aggression, Physical and Relational Victimization, and Socail Competence at T1 and T2..........................................35   Table 7: Sex Differences in Mean Levels of Social Skills, Leadership, and Adaptability at T1 and T2............................................................................................................35   Table 8: Means (and Standard Deviations) of Initial Levels of Key Variables on Levels of Social Competence..............................................................................................37 viii List of Figures Figure 1. Hypothesized conceptual model of the moderating effect of social competence on prospective relations between aggression and peer victimization..............................4 Figure 2: Higher order factor model for confirmatory factor analysis of the three factors (social skills, adaptability, and leadership) that make up the construct of social competence at Time 1....................................................................................................27 Figure 3: Structural model of longitudinal relations between aggression and physical and relational victimization at varying levels of social competence....................................41 ix Acknowledgments I would like to thank the many individuals that have supported me and helped me through this challenging task. First of all, my greatest of thanks and appreciation goes to my supervisor, Dr. Bonnie Leadbeater, whose persistence, dedication, wisdom, guidance, and support has truly contributed to my development as a researcher. I would also like to thank my committee member, Dr. Marsha Runtz, whose constructive feedback and advice has been invaluable to this thesis. Many thanks as well to my research lab, whose advice and guidance have truly helped me attain this challenging goal. Additionally, I would like to thank my dear family and friends for their continual support and words of encouragement throughout this process. Without all of you, this thesis would not be possible. Introduction Over the past few decades, the study of childhood aggression has received widespread attention. Research indicates that levels of aggression are highest among toddlers, where as many as 50% of peer-interactions involve conflict and hostility (Cairns & Cairns, 1994). Levels of aggressive behaviour typically decrease before school entry, as children acquire new interpersonal skills and coping strategies for managing peer conflicts (Cairns & Cairns, 1994; Degnan, Calkins, Keane, & Hill-Soderlund, 2008; Tremblay, Nagin, Séguin, Zoccolio, Zelazo, Boivin, et al., 2004). However, 3% to 6% of children continue to exhibit aggressive behaviour upon entry to elementary school and into adolescence and adulthood (Cairns & Cairns, 1994; Moffit, 1993). Peer relationships form the basis for social development throughout childhood and consequences of these relationships are fundamental to understanding the intraindividual differences among aggressive children (Campbell, Hansen, & Nangle, 2010). Considerable research has also linked aggression with subsequent peer victimization (Giesbrecht, Leadbeater, & MacDonald, 2011; Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2003; Leadbeater & Hoglund, 2009; Ostrov, 2010). Peer victimization is defined as the receipt of behaviours by peers that are intended to inflict harm on a child (Card & Hodges, 2008). Children who exhibit aggressive behaviour are (in turn) often victimized by their peers as a consequence of this antisocial behaviour (Barker, Boivin, Brendgen, Fontaine, Arseneault, & Vitaro et al., 2008). In fact, peer victimization appears to be increasingly stable over time (Hodges & Perry, 1999), with aggressive children showing different patterns of victimization than their nonaggressive peers (Dhami, Hoglund, Leadbeater, &