Predictions from early adolescent interpersonal aggression to accelerated aging in adulthood: Relational and biological mechanisms of linkage.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined early adolescent interpersonal aggression, subsequent conflict with parents, and aggression toward close peers as predictors of accelerated biological aging by age 30.

METHOD: Participants (N = 123; 46 males and 75 females) were assessed repeatedly, along with parents and close friends, ages from 13 to 30.

RESULTS

Early adolescent interpersonal aggression was found to predict later accelerated aging even after accounting for adolescent gender, family income, prior health difficulties, and body shape ratings in adolescence. Path analyses suggested that the effects of early interpersonal aggression were potentially mediated via higher levels of father-adolescent conflict reported by fathers in adolescence and by aggressive behavior toward close peers as reported by those peers in early adulthood. Follow-up analyses suggested that these same factors also predicted adult body mass index scores after accounting for body shape in adolescence.

CONCLUSIONS

Results are interpreted as evidence that social difficulties with lifelong health implications may be identified beginning in early adolescence, thus highlighting the potential importance of early interventions to address these difficulties. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).