Impulsivity and its relationship to aggression, social cognition, and peer status

Previous research has shown that children who exhibit externalizing behavior problems (e.g., ADHD and aggression) are at risk for being disliked and rejected by their peers. Moreover, children who are rejected by their peers are at risk for subsequent adjustment problems. While previous research has focused primarily on the association between aggression and peer status, current conceptualizations of externalizing behavior problems suggest that impulsivity underlies diverse behavior problems and may contribute to peer rejection.;The purpose of the current study was to examine the relative strength of the relationship between peer status, aggression, and impulsivity and to assess the degree to which the effects of impulsivity and aggression on peer status are mediated by social cognition. To explore possible developmental differences in the association among impulsivity, aggression, social cognition, and peer status, this study included samples of second- and fifth-grade boys. The results suggest that the organization and differentiation of externalizing behaviors differ across childhood. In the school-based sample, impulsivity and aggression could not be differentiated in second-grade boys; by fifth grade the boundaries between these traits were more delineated and the traits were differentially associated with peer relationships. The association between aggression and peer relationships could be largely accounted for by impulsivity. This suggests that impulsivity may have a greater influence on peer relationships than aggression and supports the importance of impulsivity as a potential organizing factor in understanding externalizing behaviors. Moreover, the results suggest that social problem-solving ability had little impact on the relationship between impulsivity and peer status, while social problem-solving ability did mediate the relationship between aggression and peer status when investigated independently from the effects of impulsivity. The differences in the mediational role of social cognition suggest that the mechanisms that lead to problematic peer relationships may be different for impulsivity and aggression. These results have implications for treatment specifically for children showing behaviors of either impulsivity or aggression, or both.