Date of Award

Summer 8-2015

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Program

Psychology

Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Marsee, Monica

Second Advisor

Frick, Paul

Third Advisor

Weems, Carl

Fourth Advisor

Laird, Robert

Fifth Advisor

LaHoste, Gerald

Abstract

Research shows that parental psychological control is associated with youth aggression in peer relationships. This includes various aggression roles (aggression and victimization), forms (overt and relational), and functions (proactive and reactive). The current study examined the role of two youth individual traits, Machiavellianism and dysregulation, in the association between psychological control and youth aggression. A sample of 142 participants (age M = 15.4, SD = 1.13, 93% male, 82% African-American) were recruited from several juvenile detention facilities in Louisiana. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including self-reports of Machiavellianism, dysregulation, aggression, victimization, and parental psychological control. Bootstrap analyses indicated youth Machiavellianism partially mediated the associations between psychological control and the aggression roles, forms, and functions. Youth dysregulation partially mediated the associations between psychological control and the aggression roles and forms. For the aggression functions, dysregulation partially mediated the association between psychological control and reactive aggression, and fully mediated the association between psychological control and proactive aggression. Regression analyses indicated psychological control and dysregulation were more strongly associated with reactive aggression than proactive aggression. Findings demonstrate the importance of the youth individual traits, Machiavellianism and dysregulation, in explaining the association between psychological control and youth aggression problems. These findings have implications for youth interventions, in that these individual traits may be useful targets to help decrease bullying and aggressive behaviors in peer relationships.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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