مطالعه طولی از روابط با جنس مخالف، پرخاشگری و آزار و اذیت جنسی در دوران انتقال از مدرسه ابتدایی از طریق مدرسه

Abstract The period of early adolescence witnesses the onset of interest in heterosexual relationships. Prior to this period, youngsters spend much of their free time with same-sex peers. In the present longitudinal, multimethod study, two dimensions of heterosexual relationships were examined: cross-sex interaction and cross-sex aggression. We examined the extent to which youngsters interacted with peers of the opposite sex, as well as self-reported dating frequency. Cross-sex aggression was also examined. It was predicted that cross-sex interactions would increase with time and that youngsters would use playful strategies to initiate cross-sex interactions. Aggression was measured through self-report, direct observations, and adult completed checklists. It was predicted that both boys and girls would target opposite-sex peer for aggression. Lastly, a mediational model of sexual harassment was proposed whereby dating frequency in the middle of sixth grade would mediate the relation between bullying at the start of seventh grade and sexual harassment at the end of seventh grade. A sample of rural sixth and seventh grade students was studied across their first 2 years of middle school. Predictions were, for the most part, supported. Results are discussed in terms of the role of activity settings as specifying peer youngsters' interactions.

. Conclusion In this study, I have described using a multimethod, longitudinal design, the ontogeny of cross-sex interactions during youngsters' first year of secondary school. This study represents a methodological advance to the extent that students' cooperative and aggressive behaviors were directly observed across a wide variety of venues for 2 school years. We also documented a strategy used by boys, rough play and teasing, in the initial stages of heterosexual contact. Future research should examine the ways in which girls initiate cross-sex contact. It may be that girls use cross-sex games, as suggested by Thorne (1986), in much the same way as boys use rough play. Games allow girls to contact boys in a context socially sanctioned by their peers, and they can save face if they are rebuffed. In terms of aggression, we found that both boys and girls were aggressive toward opposite-sex peers. Consistent with this view, no sex differences were observed in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment at the end of seventh grade was, however, predicted by bullying at the start of sixth grade, but mediated by dating frequency. Thus, bullies will become perpetrators of sexual harassment, especially if they become interested in opposite-sex dating. Future research should address in more detail the context of girls aggressing against boys. Limitations in this work, as noted above, include no comparative behavioral data before entry in middle school. It may be, for example, that current social norms are more supportive of cross-sex contact and consequently, the current finding is an artifact of those norms. These larger social factors need to be considered as developmental change of individuals and relationships are clearly embedded in a larger historical context. Further, more sensitive techniques are needed to record the language of youngsters as they interact.