Aggression and victimization as a function of children's attachment strategies with parents and best friends

One hundred ninety-four children in the fourth through eighth grades were administered self-report questionnaires to measure hyperactivating and deactivating coping strategies with their parents and best friends. Subjects also completed a peer nomination inventory designed to assess the degree to which peers are aggressive and/or victimized. It was hypothesized that children who scored higher on hyperactivating strategies would be rated as higher in victimization and that children who scored higher on deactivating strategies would be rated as higher in aggression. It was also hypothesized that as children get older, other relationships besides that with the mother begin to play a major role in predicting children's behavior with peers. Results confirmed these hypotheses.