PARENTS SOCIAL PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES IN FAMILIES WITH AGGRESSIVEAND NONAGGRESSIVE GIRLS

This study examined the differences in social problem-solving strategi es between the parents of aggressive and non-aggressive girls. The sub jects were the parents of 26 aggressive 12- and 13-year-old girls (24 mothers and 13 fathers) and of 32 non-aggressive girls (32 mothers and 24 fathers). Social problem-solving strategies were assessed from the mothers' and fathers' descriptions of six social problems arising in the daily lives of their daughters. The results showed that the mother s of the aggressive girls scored higher on reprimanding and on indiffe rence than the mothers of the non-aggressive girls, who discussed the problems with their daughters more. When the family system formed by b oth of the parents was treated as one unit, differences in the frequen cies of social problem-solving strategies between the families of the aggressive and non-aggressive girls were also found. The parents of th e aggressive girls advised their daughters on solving social problems typically (i.e., more often than the chance level) only if they direct ly asked for help. The mothers typically did not discuss the problems, vith their daughters or try to solve the problems themselves but more often diverted the responsibility to some persons outside of the home. The fathers were typically indifferent. In other words, these girls w ere often left without help from their parents. On the other hand, in the families with non-aggressive girls, indifference, avoiding discuss ion, and diverting responsibility were atypical strategies (i.e., more rare than the chance level). These results emphasize the role of the mothers, and especially the meaning of the family system, in predictin g girls' aggressiveness. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.