Aggression among adolescents – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Adolescence age group between 10 and 19 years is a transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood. There are about 1.2 billion adolescents in the world, around 243 million of them live in India – contributing to one-fourth of the total population in India (UNICEF – India). Taking into consideration, the increasing acts of violence among adolescent people, this study was initiated to study the prevalence of aggression among adolescents and to find out the associated risk factors. Settings and Design: It was a community-based study conducted in the senior secondary schools of urban and rural field practice area of AIMSR. Materials and Methods: Pre-tested, validated questionnaire and Buss and Perry Aggression score were used to assess the levels of aggression in the participants. Sample size of 250 was taken for each group, i.e., a total of 500. Results and Conclusion: In our study, the total prevalence of aggression was found to be 51.9% with higher scores in urban population, males having more of physical aggression and females having hostility – associated significantly with the age distribution, residency type, etc. Interventions are needed to reduce the levels of aggression among adolescents and provide them a good future.