Biomedical subjects

Paul Boxer

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Boxer.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Middle childhood and adolescent contextual and personal predictors of adult educational and occupational outcomes: a mediational model in two countries.

The authors examined the prediction of occupational attainment by age 40 from contextual and personal variables assessed during childhood and adolescence in 2 participant samples: (a) the Columbia County Longitudinal Study, a study of 856 third graders in a semirural county in New York State that began in 1960, and (b) the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development, a study of 369 eight-year-olds in Jyväskylä, Finland, that began in 1968. Both samples were followed up during adolescence and early and middle adulthood. Structural modeling analyses revealed that in both countries, for both genders, children's age 8 cognitive-academic functioning and their parents' occupational status had independent positive long-term effects on the children's adult occupational attainment, even after other childhood and adolescent personal variables were controlled for. Further, childhood and adolescent aggressive behavior negatively affected educational status in early adulthood, which in turn predicted lower occupational status in middle adulthood.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Proximal peer-level effects of a small-group selected prevention on aggression in elementary school children: an investigation of the peer contagion hypothesis.

Examined peer contagion in small group, selected prevention programming over one school year. Participants were boys and girls in grades 3 (46 groups, 285 students) and 6 (36 groups, 219 students) attending school in low-resource, inner city communities or moderate resource urban communities. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling (observations within individuals within groups) indicated that individual change in aggression over time related to the average aggression of others in the intervention group. The individual child was "pulled" toward peers' mean level of aggression; so the intervention appeared to reduce aggression for those high on aggression, and to make those low on aggression more aggressive. Effects appeared to be magnified in either direction when the child was more discrepant from his or her peers. From these results we derive a principle of "discrepancy-proportional peer-influence" for small group intervention, and discuss the implications of this for aggregating aggressive children in small group programs.

Aggression↗

PubMed2005

Developmental issues in school-based aggression prevention from a social-cognitive perspective.

Contemporary research on the development and prevention of aggressive behavior in childhood and adolescence emphasizes the importance of social-cognitive factors such as perceptual biases, problem-solving skills, and social-moral beliefs in the maintenance of aggression. Indeed, school-based social-cognitive intervention approaches have been identified as best practices by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, because child age is an important covariate of both intervention effectiveness and social-cognitive ability, school-based prevention program designers should keep in mind a number of issues identified through developmental research. In this paper, we review the social-cognitive model of aggressive behavior development as applied to prevention programming. We then discuss some of the ways in which the broader developmental research base can inform the design of aggression prevention programs. EDITORS' STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS: Educational administrators and policy makers will find evidence in this review that school-based programs that employ a social-cognitive model represent a strategy that works for preventing violence. Prevention researchers will also benefit from the authors' insights regarding theoretical mediating processes and the importance of a developmental view.

Aggression↗

PubMed2003

Adolescents' attributions about aggression: an initial investigation.

This study examined causal attributions about aggression made by 362 participants from three age groups: early (138 7th and 8th graders), middle (121 11th and 12th graders), and late (103 college students through age 22) adolescence. Participants read a brief vignette describing a peer who displayed either proactive (non-emotional, instrumental) or reactive (emotional, undercontrolled) aggression. Participants then rated the extent to which they attributed each of 48 descriptors to be causes for the peer's aggressive behaviour. Confirmatory factor analyses of the attribution questionnaire supported the hypothesized model of causal beliefs. The strength of endorsements of internally oriented causal factors increased with age. Findings are discussed with regard to social-cognitive development in adolescence and implications for future research on aggression in the peer context.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Theoretical and methodological considerations in cross-generational research on parenting and child aggressive behavior.

The four studies in this special issue represent important advances in research on the intergenerational transmission of aggressive behavior. In this commentary, we review the key features and findings of these studies, as well as our own cross-generational study of aggression, the Columbia County Longitudinal Study. Next, we consider important theoretical issues (e.g., defining and operationalizing "aggression" and "parenting"; assessing reciprocal effects of parenting and child aggression; identifying the ages at which aggression should be assessed across generations; broadening the investigation of contextual and individual factors). We then discuss several methodological issues (e.g., determining the most informative measurement intervals for assessing prospective effects; sampling considerations; measuring potential moderating and mediating variables that might explain cross-generational continuities and discontinuities in parenting and aggression). Finally, we raise implications of cross-generational research for designing interventions targeting the reduction and prevention of child aggression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Assessing allegations of domestic violence in child custody evaluations.

There has been an increased focus on child custody evaluations involving domestic violence allegations with much criticism of evaluators' training, practices, and procedures. A national survey of 115 child custody evaluators (doctoral and master's level) was conducted to explore these criticisms. Findings revealed adequate training, multiple sources of data collection, and practices/procedures that closely adhere to child custody guidelines. However, robust, specialized domestic violence instruments, tests, and questionnaires were underutilized. Respondents indicated that findings supporting domestic violence allegations had a substantial impact on their subsequent recommendations. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of assessing domestic violence when conducting custody evaluations and the need for developing practice standards in this domain. Generally, results did not support common criticisms of custody evaluation practice.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Marital and severe parent-to-adolescent physical aggression in clinic-referred families: mother and adolescent reports on co-occurrence and links to child behavior problems.

This study examined the interplay of marital and severe parental physical aggression, and their links to child behavior problems, in 232 families of clinic-referred adolescents. Combined reports from mothers and adolescents indicated that two thirds of adolescents exposed to marital aggression in the past year had also experienced parental aggression. Mothers and fathers who used and/or were victims of marital aggression were both more likely to direct aggression toward their adolescent. Mother and youth reports of marital aggression were tied to each party's report of greater externalizing problems and to youth reports of greater internalizing problems. Severe parental aggression uniquely predicted maternal reports of both behavior problems, after controlling for marital aggression; the reverse was not true. Also, adolescents exposed to both types of family aggression did not display greater maladjustment than those subjected to only one type of family aggression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Exposure to "low-level" aggression in school: associations with aggressive behavior, future expectations, and perceived safety.

Examined associations with witnessing and being victimized by "low-level" aggressive acts (e.g., pushing, gossip) and three indicators of psychosocial functioning in a sample of 771 elementary school students from one urban and one suburban school district. Results indicated that exposure to low-level aggression appears to relate to psychosocial functioning in ways similar to more severe forms of aggression. Students who were exposed to higher levels of both witnessing and victimization by low-level aggression reported the highest levels of engagement in aggression, the lowest levels of positive expectations for the future, and the lowest levels of perceived safety. Findings are discussed in the context of research on exposure to aggression in general, with suggestions offered for future studies. Implications of the findings for school-based intervention programs are raised.

Aggression↗