10.1177/1066480703261953 ARTICLETHE FAMILY JOURNAL: COUNSELING AND THERAPY FOR COUPLES AND FAMILIES / April 2004Lambert, Cashwell / PRETEENS TA KING TO PAR NTS Preteens Talking to Parents: Perceived Communication and School-Based Aggression

In order to combat escalating aggression and violence in schools, it is important to understand the relationship between intrafamilial communication and aggressive behaviors. In this study, the authors examined the link between preadolescents ’ perceptions of parent-child communication and their levels of school-based aggressive be-havior. The results indicate that perceived effective communication was highest for mother-girl dyads, followed in order by mother-boy, father-boy, and father-girl dyads. Second, no difference between preadolescents’levels of aggressive behaviors in school on the basis of gender of child was found. Finally, the results indicated that preadolescents ’ perceptions of effective parent-child communica-tion were negatively correlated with school-based aggression. Implications for prevention and intervention strategies are discussed