Understanding the Context of Romantic Partner Relational Victimization: Links between Relationship Satisfaction, Depressive Symptoms, and Alcohol-Related Problems.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine links across romantic partner relational victimization, depressive symptoms, and drinking problems during young adulthood. We were interested in evaluating depression as a mediator of the association between relational victimization by one's romantic partner, drinking problems, and the conditional indirect effects of relationship satisfaction. METHOD: 269 individuals aged 18 to 26 years (68% female, Mage = 22.78 years, SD = 4.70) participated in the study. They completed self-report measures online. RESULTS: Mediation results indicated that depression significantly mediated the association between relational victimization and alcohol-related problems. Furthermore, tests of conditional indirect effects suggest that depression mediated the association between romantic partner relational victimization and alcohol-related problems among those who were lower in relationship satisfaction, but not among those who were higher in relationship satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Findings are discussed with attention to the developmental significance of romantic relationships during the transition to young adulthood. Specifically, the current findings add to the existing literature, which has suggested that both relationship aggression and depression are associated with problematic drinking.

Reactive/proactive aggression and the development of internalizing problems in males: the moderating effect of parent and peer relationships.

The current study examined whether reactive and/or proactive aggression in adolescent males prospectively predicted increased levels of internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety) in late adolescence. It was postulated that reactive aggression would be robustly related to later internalizing problems, but only among adolescent males who had problematic family or peer social relationships. Participants were a racially diverse group of 289 adolescent males (Mean age = 16). Measures of reactive and proactive aggression, peer rejection, and poor parent-adolescent communication were examined as predictors of both depression and anxiety symptoms assessed approximately 3 years later. The interactive effects between the two facets of aggression and measures of peer rejection and poor parent-adolescent communication in predicting internalizing problems was also examined. Adolescents with high levels of reactive aggression were more likely to exhibit elevated internalizing problems during late adolescence, even when controlling for pre-existing levels of anxiety/depression. However, this association only emerged for adolescents who had high levels of peer rejection and/or poor communication with their parent. Consistent with expectations, proactive aggression was unrelated to internalizing symptoms regardless of social relationship quality. Adolescent reactive, but not proactive, aggression is a risk factor for the development of internalizing problems. However, the findings suggest that interventions designed to foster positive social relationships among reactively aggressive youth may help protect them from developing significant internalizing problems over time.

Associations between relational aggression, depression, and suicidal ideation in a child psychiatric inpatient sample.

The current study examined relations between relational aggression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation in a child clinical population. Participants included 276 children (M(age) = 9.55 years; 69% Male) who were admitted to a child psychiatric inpatient facility. Findings suggested that relational aggression was associated with depressive symptoms, which in turn was associated with suicidal ideation. The test of indirect effects suggested that depressive symptoms fully accounted for the link between relational aggression and suicidal ideation. Moreover, these relations were found when also controlling for the variance associated with overt aggression, history of abuse, and social problems. Current findings appear to suggest that relational aggression is linked to depressive symptoms, which is linked to suicidal ideation within a clinical population, and as such there may be clinical utility in assessing relational aggression.