Farrell Ann H, Vaillancourt Tracy
1 Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
2 School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Evol Psychol. 2019 Apr-Jun;17(2):1474704919847450. doi: 10.1177/1474704919847450.
Adolescent bullying perpetration has previously been associated with dating benefits and costs in the short- and long-term, yet it is unclear how early temperament traits facilitate these associations. Therefore, the developmental pathways from temperament in early adolescence to bullying perpetration in middle adolescence and to dating outcomes in late adolescence were examined. Participants included 463 individuals who completed self-report measures on temperament traits at age 12, bullying perpetration at age 14, dating outcomes at age 19, and were in a romantic relationship at age 19. Findings from a path analysis revealed that an early adolescent temperament trait reflecting difficulty with self-regulation (i.e., lower inhibitory control) was associated with middle adolescent bullying perpetration and bullying perpetration was associated with late adolescent dating benefits (i.e., more dating partners) and costs (i.e., higher dating aggression perpetration). Lower inhibitory control also had significant indirect associations to the late adolescent dating outcomes through middle adolescent bullying perpetration. Findings suggest that although a temperament trait can facilitate adaptive dating outcomes through bullying, it can also come at a cost for romantic relationships. Results highlight the importance of early tailoring of bullying interventions to the self-regulatory difficulties of youth to prevent adverse long-term outcomes and to also recognize the challenges of developing interventions for behavior that can result in benefits.
青少年欺凌行为此前一直与短期和长期的约会收益及代价相关，但尚不清楚早期的气质特征如何促成这些关联。因此，本研究考察了从青少年早期的气质到青少年中期的欺凌行为以及青少年晚期的约会结果的发展路径。研究参与者包括463名个体，他们在12岁时完成了关于气质特征的自我报告测量，在14岁时报告了欺凌行为，在19岁时报告了约会结果，且在19岁时处于恋爱关系中。路径分析的结果显示，反映自我调节困难的青少年早期气质特征（即较低的抑制控制能力）与青少年中期的欺凌行为相关，而欺凌行为又与青少年晚期的约会收益（即更多的约会对象）和代价（即更高的约会攻击行为发生率）相关。较低的抑制控制能力还通过青少年中期的欺凌行为与青少年晚期的约会结果存在显著的间接关联。研究结果表明，尽管一种气质特征可以通过欺凌行为促成适应性的约会结果，但这也可能给恋爱关系带来代价。研究结果凸显了针对青少年自我调节困难早期定制欺凌干预措施的重要性，以防止不良的长期后果，同时也认识到为可能带来益处的行为制定干预措施所面临的挑战。
