Proactive and Reactive Aggression and Boys' Friendship Quality in Mainstream Classrooms

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Abstract
In this study, the authors examined the concurrent and predictive relationships between boys' proactive and reactive aggression and the quality of their friendships. At the beginning and the end of the school year, 149 boys ages 10 to 12 participated in a sociometric interview and completed a questionnaire on the quality of their relationship with their best friends. Teachers provided ratings of proactive and reactive aggression for the boys and for their best friends. Results indicated that boys' proactive aggression was associated with a supportive, satisfying, and low-conflict friendship at the beginning of the year but predicted an increase in conflict in stable friendship throughout the year. Furthermore, their friends' proactive aggression was related to conflict in and dissatisfaction with the friendship. In contrast, boys' reactive aggression was negatively associated with friendship quality at the beginning of the year but predicted a decrease in conflict in stable friendship over the year. These results suggest that although proactive aggression plays a functional role in the formation of friendship, it is also associated with a deterioration in relationship quality over time. The implications of these results for developmental research and intervention for students with emotional and behavioral disorders are discussed.