Relación entre diferenciación del self y agresión entre pares en estudiantes universitarios argentinos / Relationship between Differentiation of Self and Peer Aggression among Argentine University Students

RESUMEN

Resumen La agresión entre pares, sea un caso aislado o recurrente, se ha convertido en un problema cada vez más frecuente que socava el desarrollo psicoafectivo saludable en adolescentes y universitarios. Como en el caso de otras conductas de riesgo, la investigación sugiere que los aspectos emocionales son relevantes para su prevención. El objetivo de este trabajo fue explorar la posible relación entre la agresión entre pares, la agresión frecuente como potencial conducta de bullying, y la diferenciación del self, un constructo procedente de la perspectiva sistémica, vinculado con la autorregulación emocional y la madurez afectiva. Universitarios de entre 17 y 20 años (. = 365), completaron sendos cuestionarios autoadministrados sobre estilos de vida (Carlos et al., 2016) y diferenciación del self (Duch-Ceballos et al., 2022). En esta muestra, los análisis realizados indican que menores niveles de diferenciación del self en los varones se asocian con mayor probabilidad de agresión entre pares, tanto sufrida como ejercida. Además, uno de los componentes de la diferenciación del self, la reactividad emocional, predijo también las probabilidades de agresión (sufrida y ejercida) entre las mujeres. La diferenciación del self está recibiendo una creciente atención como variable relevante para explicar la conducta de los adolescentes y jóvenes emergentes, especialmente en lo que refiere a conductas de riesgo. Este sería el primer estudio sobre la relación entre diferenciación del self, agresión entre pares y agresión frecuente como potencial conducta de buylling. Finalmente, a partir de los resultados encontrados, se plantean futuras líneas de investigación y aplicaciones prácticas.

ABSTRACT

Abstract The socio-emotional well-being of children and adolescents is a subject of interest, both for academics and researchers, as well as for parents, teachers, and educators. Initiatives on this subject promoted from the scientific and social fields are constantly increasing, and tend to have multiple objectives, among which one is to understand the dynamics of violence and aggression (which can lead to harassment situations), in order to design more effective prevention and intervention programs. Research suggests that emotional aspects are relevant to the prevention of aggression. Within this realm, we have focused on Differentiation of self (DoS). The Differentiation of Self is the central construct of Bowen's (1978) systemic family theory, considered from the systemic perspective as one of the most comprehensive theories of human behavior. With multiple applications in various fields, DoS is a multidimensional construct, defined as the ability to balance emotional and intellectual functioning -intrapsychic dimension-, and intimacy and autonomy in personal relationships -interpersonal dimension-. Based on previous studies in which associations between bullying and socio-emotional competencies were found, the objective of this study was to find relationships between differentiation of self and peer aggression. The sample of this study was comprised of university students between 17 and 20 years old (. = 365; . = 18.3, SD = .7), who were studying the first or second year of different careers at a private university in Argentina. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires on lifestyles (Carlos et al., 2016) and the Spanish version of the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Revised (S-DSI; Rodríguez-González et al., 2015). Considering that peer aggression does not represent bullying in all cases, the association between self-differentiation and peer aggression was first analyzed and, second, this same association was analyzed, but considering frequent aggression. Peer aggression was perpetrated by 54 % of women and 63 % of men (. = .043) and suffered by 72 % of women and 61 % of men (. = .124). Frequent peer aggression was perpetrated by 15 % of women and 21 % of men (. = .001) and suffered by 41 % of women and 24 % of men (. = .146). Both measures of DoS (Emotional reactivity and Emotional cutoff) were associated with a lower prevalence of both aggression and frequent aggression. This work offers two main findings. First, given the high incidence of peer aggression, the results of this study confirm the relevance of the research on peer aggression and, specifically, on frequent aggression associated with bullying. Second, present data suggests the existence of a relationship between differentiation of self and aggression. Since the idea and perceptions about aggression could be changing, new research is suggested, based around the cultural context and social changes that identify how the concept of bullying evolves should be promoted. Moreover, it would be positive to develop new research that can delve into the role played by the differentiation of self, since it is a factor that impacts the development and health of adolescents. The significant relationship between peer aggression and DoS found in this study contributes to the empirical corpus that affirms the relevance of the emotional factor in aggressive and bullying behaviors. In this sense, this study joins others that support the idea of intervening in aggression and buylling through the development of school intervention programs aimed at developing emotional competencies, involving students and also parents and educators.