Abstract

In relation to a sample of 875 adolescents (463 M and 412 F) (mean age at t1 = 15.13, sd = 0.492) followed longitudinally for 3 years, this study aims at: 1) investigating the stability of peer aggression across the 3 years and selecting groups of participants which show stability, desistance or increase of the problem; 2) analysing whether the peer trajectories correlate with dating violence trajectories. The measures used comprised: 1) a shortened version of Olweus questionnaire (1993); 2) a shortened version of AAUW Sexual Harrassment Survey (AAUW, 1993); 3) a shortened version of Relational Aggression Scale (Crick, 1995); 4) a shortened version of the Physical Aggression Scale in the Conflict Tactics Scale-Form R (Straus, 1979). The measures used for dating aggression were the same as the peer context revised for partner aggression (AAUVV, 1993; Crick, 1995; Straus, 1979). Results confirm that the two types of aggression are correlated during adolescence, specifically higher level of peer aggression, either stable or occasional implies a higher probability of dating aggression. Only in the third wave data collection (late adolescence) a stronger differentiation appears showing how peer and dating aggression can have different meanings at different developmental stages.