Nancy Guerra | University of California, Irvine (original) (raw)

Papers by Nancy Guerra

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1989

Components of social problem solving (problem definition, generation and prioritization of soluti... more Components of social problem solving (problem definition, generation and prioritization of solutions, and generation and evaluation of consequences) were assessed in high aggressive and low aggressive boys from grades 2– 3 and 5–6. When compared with their low aggressive peers, high aggressive boys at both grade levels were more likely to (1) define social problems based on the perception that others were hostilely-motivated adversaries, (2) generate few consequences for exhibiting aggression, (3) choose a “second-best” solution that was rated as ineffective, and (4) evaluate their own affective reactions to self-generated consequences of aggression as “wouldn't care” or as not “unhappy. “ In addition, within the group of aggressive boys, problem definition was found to be significantly related to both number of solutions generated and effectiveness of solutions that subjects chose as best and second-best. These findings are discussed in terms of early patterns of cognitive mediation that differentiate high aggressive children from their low aggressive peers.

Journal of Adolescent Health, 2007

With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growi... more With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growing venue for bullying among youth. The purpose of the present study was to contrast the prevalence of Internet bullying with physical and verbal bullying among elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls, and to examine whether key predictors of physical and verbal bullying also predicted Internet bullying. As part of an ongoing, statewide bullying prevention initiative in Colorado, 3,339 youth in Grades 5, 8, and 11 completed questionnaires in 78 school sites during the fall of 2005, and another 2,293 youth in that original sample participated in a follow-up survey in 65 school sites in the spring of 2006. Questionnaires included measures of bullying perpetration and victimization, normative beliefs about bullying, perceptions of peer social support, and perceptions of school climate. The highest prevalence rates were found for verbal, followed by physical, and then by Internet bullying. Physical and Internet bullying peaked in middle school and declined in high school. Verbal bullying peaked in middle school and remained relatively high during high school. Males were more likely to report physical bullying than females, but no gender differences were found for Internet and verbal bullying. All three types of bullying were significantly related to normative beliefs approving of bullying, negative school climate, and negative peer support. Preventive interventions that target school bullying by changing norms about bullying and school context may also impact Internet bullying, given the shared predictors.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995

This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban ... more This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.

With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growi... more With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growing venue for bullying among youth. The purpose of the present study was to contrast the prevalence of Internet bullying with physical and verbal bullying among elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls, and to examine whether key predictors of physical and verbal bullying also predicted Internet bullying. As part of an ongoing, statewide bullying prevention initiative in Colorado, 3,339 youth in Grades 5, 8, and 11 completed questionnaires in 78 school sites during the fall of 2005, and another 2,293 youth in that original sample participated in a follow-up survey in 65 school sites in the spring of 2006. Questionnaires included measures of bullying perpetration and victimization, normative beliefs about bullying, perceptions of peer social support, and perceptions of school climate. The highest prevalence rates were found for verbal, followed by physical, and then by Internet bullying. Physical and Internet bullying peaked in middle school and declined in high school. Verbal bullying peaked in middle school and remained relatively high during high school. Males were more likely to report physical bullying than females, but no gender differences were found for Internet and verbal bullying. All three types of bullying were significantly related to normative beliefs approving of bullying, negative school climate, and negative peer support. Preventive interventions that target school bullying by changing norms about bullying and school context may also impact Internet bullying, given the shared predictors.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1997

Normative beliefs have been defined as self-regulating beliefs about the appropriateness of socia... more Normative beliefs have been defined as self-regulating beliefs about the appropriateness of social behaviors. In 2 studies the authors revised their scale for assessing normative beliefs about aggression, found that it is reliable and valid for use with elementary school children, and investigated the longitudinal relation between normative beliefs about aggression and aggressive behavior in a large sample of elementary school children living in poor urban neighborhoods. Using data obtained in 2 waves of observations 1 year apart, the authors found that children tended to approve more of aggression as they grew older and that this increase appeared to be correlated with increases in aggressive behavior. More important, although individual differences in aggressive behavior predicted subsequent differences in normative beliefs in younger children, individual differences in aggressive behavior were predicted by preceding differences in normative beliefs in older children.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995

This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban ... more This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.

Child Development, 2006

Using longitudinal data collected over 2 years on a sample of 2,745 urban elementary school child... more Using longitudinal data collected over 2 years on a sample of 2,745 urban elementary school children (1st–6th graders, ages 6–11 years) from economically disadvantaged communities, effects of stressful experiences within 3 contexts (school, family, neighborhood), cumulative stress, and multiple context stress on 3 indices of children's adjustment (achievement, depression, and aggression) were examined. All 3 stressor contexts were related contemporaneously and longitudinally to negative outcomes across adjustment measures, with differential paths in each predictive model. Cumulative stress was linearly related to increases in adjustment problems but multiple context stress was not related to problematic adjustment beyond effects of cumulative stress alone. The important influence of life events stress on children's adjustment in disadvantaged communities is discussed.

Developmental Psychology, 1988

The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and f... more The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and female adolescents incarcerated for antisocial aggression offenses and high-school students rated as either high or low in aggression were compared in terms of two sets of cognitive ...

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995

A developmental-ecological perspective is offered as a framework for prediction and prevention of... more A developmental-ecological perspective is offered as a framework for prediction and prevention of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. The primary assumptions of the approach and the advantages of such an approach for relating prediction, prevention, and implementation are high-lighted. It is suggested that such an approach facilitates integration of the recent advances in prevention theory and methods, the accumulating knowledge about the causes and effective interventions for antisocial behavior, and the need for careful consideration of context. Six key advances in the field are listed, and important steps are suggested.

American Journal of Community Psychology, 2000

This study examines the prevalence, stability, and contextual correlates of peer victimization in... more This study examines the prevalence, stability, and contextual correlates of peer victimization in a sample of African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White urban elementary school-age children. A total of 1956 children (40% African-American, 42% Hispanic, and 18% White) attending any 1 of 14 public elementary schools located in one large and one mid-sized Midwestern city participated in this study. Peer ratings of victimization were obtained at two points in time, separated by a 2-year period. Findings revealed that risk for being victimized by peers varied by ethnicity and by school context. Hispanic children had lower victimization scores than did either African-American or White children. These findings, however, were moderated by school context, such that attending ethnically integrated schools was associated with a significantly higher risk of victimization for White children and a slightly lower risk of victimization for African-American children and did not affect the risk of victimization for Hispanic children. In addition, African-American children were less likely than Hispanic and White children to be repeatedly victimized by peers over time. The importance of considering ethnicity and context in explaining peer victimization is discussed and suggestions for preventive interventions and future research are provided.

The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and f... more The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and female adolescents incarcerated for antisocial aggression offenses and high-school students rated as either high or low in aggression were compared in terms of two sets of cognitive ...

Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 1994

This study examined a stress-process model in which stressful life events and association with de... more This study examined a stress-process model in which stressful life events and association with delinquent peers mediated the relationship of neighborhood disadvantage to Mexican American early adolescents' mental health. We also proposed that child gender, child generation, and neighborhood informal social control would moderate the relationship of neighborhood disadvantage to children's experiences of stressful life events. With data from 738 Mexican American early adolescents, results generally provided support for the theoretical model although the relationships of neighborhood disadvantage to stressful life events and adjustment were weaker than expected. Additional research is needed to corroborate these results and determine why neighborhood disadvantage may have different relationships to adjustment for Mexican American early adolescents than for others.

American Journal of Community Psychology, 2000

We report a study aimed at understanding the effects of classroom normative influences on individ... more We report a study aimed at understanding the effects of classroom normative influences on individual aggressive behavior, using samples of 614 and 427 urban elementary school children. Participants were assessed with measures of aggressive behavior and normative beliefs about aggression. We tested hypotheses related to the effects of personal normative beliefs, descriptive classroom norms (the central tendency of classmates' aggressive behavior), injunctive classroom normative beliefs (classmates' beliefs about the acceptability of aggression), and norm salience (student and teacher sanctions against aggression) on longitudinal changes in aggressive behavior and beliefs. Injunctive norms affected individual normative beliefs and aggression, but descriptive norms had no effect on either. In classrooms where students and teachers made norms against aggression salient, aggressive behavior diminished over time. Implications for classroom behavior management and further research are discussed.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2002

A multiyear, multicontext aggression prevention intervention was provided during the early or lat... more A multiyear, multicontext aggression prevention intervention was provided during the early or late elementary school years in an inner-city and an urban poor community. Sixteen schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) no-treatment control, (b) general enhancement classroom program, (c) general enhancement plus small-group peer-skills training, or (d) general enhancement plus small-group peer-skills training plus family intervention. This article reports on results for the high-risk subsample of 1,500 children. Results from hierarchical linear modeling indicate that comprehensive interventions, if provided in early grades, can be effective for children in schools in settings with resources adequate to support learning and development, but some unintended effects can occur in schools in the most distressed communities when delivered too late in development.

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1989

Components of social problem solving (problem definition, generation and prioritization of soluti... more Components of social problem solving (problem definition, generation and prioritization of solutions, and generation and evaluation of consequences) were assessed in high aggressive and low aggressive boys from grades 2– 3 and 5–6. When compared with their low aggressive peers, high aggressive boys at both grade levels were more likely to (1) define social problems based on the perception that others were hostilely-motivated adversaries, (2) generate few consequences for exhibiting aggression, (3) choose a “second-best” solution that was rated as ineffective, and (4) evaluate their own affective reactions to self-generated consequences of aggression as “wouldn't care” or as not “unhappy. “ In addition, within the group of aggressive boys, problem definition was found to be significantly related to both number of solutions generated and effectiveness of solutions that subjects chose as best and second-best. These findings are discussed in terms of early patterns of cognitive mediation that differentiate high aggressive children from their low aggressive peers.

Journal of Adolescent Health, 2007

With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growi... more With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growing venue for bullying among youth. The purpose of the present study was to contrast the prevalence of Internet bullying with physical and verbal bullying among elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls, and to examine whether key predictors of physical and verbal bullying also predicted Internet bullying. As part of an ongoing, statewide bullying prevention initiative in Colorado, 3,339 youth in Grades 5, 8, and 11 completed questionnaires in 78 school sites during the fall of 2005, and another 2,293 youth in that original sample participated in a follow-up survey in 65 school sites in the spring of 2006. Questionnaires included measures of bullying perpetration and victimization, normative beliefs about bullying, perceptions of peer social support, and perceptions of school climate. The highest prevalence rates were found for verbal, followed by physical, and then by Internet bullying. Physical and Internet bullying peaked in middle school and declined in high school. Verbal bullying peaked in middle school and remained relatively high during high school. Males were more likely to report physical bullying than females, but no gender differences were found for Internet and verbal bullying. All three types of bullying were significantly related to normative beliefs approving of bullying, negative school climate, and negative peer support. Preventive interventions that target school bullying by changing norms about bullying and school context may also impact Internet bullying, given the shared predictors.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995

This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban ... more This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.

With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growi... more With the Internet quickly becoming a new arena for social interaction, it has also become a growing venue for bullying among youth. The purpose of the present study was to contrast the prevalence of Internet bullying with physical and verbal bullying among elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls, and to examine whether key predictors of physical and verbal bullying also predicted Internet bullying. As part of an ongoing, statewide bullying prevention initiative in Colorado, 3,339 youth in Grades 5, 8, and 11 completed questionnaires in 78 school sites during the fall of 2005, and another 2,293 youth in that original sample participated in a follow-up survey in 65 school sites in the spring of 2006. Questionnaires included measures of bullying perpetration and victimization, normative beliefs about bullying, perceptions of peer social support, and perceptions of school climate. The highest prevalence rates were found for verbal, followed by physical, and then by Internet bullying. Physical and Internet bullying peaked in middle school and declined in high school. Verbal bullying peaked in middle school and remained relatively high during high school. Males were more likely to report physical bullying than females, but no gender differences were found for Internet and verbal bullying. All three types of bullying were significantly related to normative beliefs approving of bullying, negative school climate, and negative peer support. Preventive interventions that target school bullying by changing norms about bullying and school context may also impact Internet bullying, given the shared predictors.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1997

Normative beliefs have been defined as self-regulating beliefs about the appropriateness of socia... more Normative beliefs have been defined as self-regulating beliefs about the appropriateness of social behaviors. In 2 studies the authors revised their scale for assessing normative beliefs about aggression, found that it is reliable and valid for use with elementary school children, and investigated the longitudinal relation between normative beliefs about aggression and aggressive behavior in a large sample of elementary school children living in poor urban neighborhoods. Using data obtained in 2 waves of observations 1 year apart, the authors found that children tended to approve more of aggression as they grew older and that this increase appeared to be correlated with increases in aggressive behavior. More important, although individual differences in aggressive behavior predicted subsequent differences in normative beliefs in younger children, individual differences in aggressive behavior were predicted by preceding differences in normative beliefs in older children.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995

This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban ... more This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.

Child Development, 2006

Using longitudinal data collected over 2 years on a sample of 2,745 urban elementary school child... more Using longitudinal data collected over 2 years on a sample of 2,745 urban elementary school children (1st–6th graders, ages 6–11 years) from economically disadvantaged communities, effects of stressful experiences within 3 contexts (school, family, neighborhood), cumulative stress, and multiple context stress on 3 indices of children's adjustment (achievement, depression, and aggression) were examined. All 3 stressor contexts were related contemporaneously and longitudinally to negative outcomes across adjustment measures, with differential paths in each predictive model. Cumulative stress was linearly related to increases in adjustment problems but multiple context stress was not related to problematic adjustment beyond effects of cumulative stress alone. The important influence of life events stress on children's adjustment in disadvantaged communities is discussed.

Developmental Psychology, 1988

The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and f... more The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and female adolescents incarcerated for antisocial aggression offenses and high-school students rated as either high or low in aggression were compared in terms of two sets of cognitive ...

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1995

A developmental-ecological perspective is offered as a framework for prediction and prevention of... more A developmental-ecological perspective is offered as a framework for prediction and prevention of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. The primary assumptions of the approach and the advantages of such an approach for relating prediction, prevention, and implementation are high-lighted. It is suggested that such an approach facilitates integration of the recent advances in prevention theory and methods, the accumulating knowledge about the causes and effective interventions for antisocial behavior, and the need for careful consideration of context. Six key advances in the field are listed, and important steps are suggested.

American Journal of Community Psychology, 2000

This study examines the prevalence, stability, and contextual correlates of peer victimization in... more This study examines the prevalence, stability, and contextual correlates of peer victimization in a sample of African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White urban elementary school-age children. A total of 1956 children (40% African-American, 42% Hispanic, and 18% White) attending any 1 of 14 public elementary schools located in one large and one mid-sized Midwestern city participated in this study. Peer ratings of victimization were obtained at two points in time, separated by a 2-year period. Findings revealed that risk for being victimized by peers varied by ethnicity and by school context. Hispanic children had lower victimization scores than did either African-American or White children. These findings, however, were moderated by school context, such that attending ethnically integrated schools was associated with a significantly higher risk of victimization for White children and a slightly lower risk of victimization for African-American children and did not affect the risk of victimization for Hispanic children. In addition, African-American children were less likely than Hispanic and White children to be repeatedly victimized by peers over time. The importance of considering ethnicity and context in explaining peer victimization is discussed and suggestions for preventive interventions and future research are provided.

The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and f... more The role of cognitive mediators in identifying differences in aggression was examined. Male and female adolescents incarcerated for antisocial aggression offenses and high-school students rated as either high or low in aggression were compared in terms of two sets of cognitive ...

Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 1994

This study examined a stress-process model in which stressful life events and association with de... more This study examined a stress-process model in which stressful life events and association with delinquent peers mediated the relationship of neighborhood disadvantage to Mexican American early adolescents' mental health. We also proposed that child gender, child generation, and neighborhood informal social control would moderate the relationship of neighborhood disadvantage to children's experiences of stressful life events. With data from 738 Mexican American early adolescents, results generally provided support for the theoretical model although the relationships of neighborhood disadvantage to stressful life events and adjustment were weaker than expected. Additional research is needed to corroborate these results and determine why neighborhood disadvantage may have different relationships to adjustment for Mexican American early adolescents than for others.

American Journal of Community Psychology, 2000

We report a study aimed at understanding the effects of classroom normative influences on individ... more We report a study aimed at understanding the effects of classroom normative influences on individual aggressive behavior, using samples of 614 and 427 urban elementary school children. Participants were assessed with measures of aggressive behavior and normative beliefs about aggression. We tested hypotheses related to the effects of personal normative beliefs, descriptive classroom norms (the central tendency of classmates' aggressive behavior), injunctive classroom normative beliefs (classmates' beliefs about the acceptability of aggression), and norm salience (student and teacher sanctions against aggression) on longitudinal changes in aggressive behavior and beliefs. Injunctive norms affected individual normative beliefs and aggression, but descriptive norms had no effect on either. In classrooms where students and teachers made norms against aggression salient, aggressive behavior diminished over time. Implications for classroom behavior management and further research are discussed.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2002

A multiyear, multicontext aggression prevention intervention was provided during the early or lat... more A multiyear, multicontext aggression prevention intervention was provided during the early or late elementary school years in an inner-city and an urban poor community. Sixteen schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) no-treatment control, (b) general enhancement classroom program, (c) general enhancement plus small-group peer-skills training, or (d) general enhancement plus small-group peer-skills training plus family intervention. This article reports on results for the high-risk subsample of 1,500 children. Results from hierarchical linear modeling indicate that comprehensive interventions, if provided in early grades, can be effective for children in schools in settings with resources adequate to support learning and development, but some unintended effects can occur in schools in the most distressed communities when delivered too late in development.