Beliefs Supporting Violence, Attitudes and Aggressive Behavior Among School Adolescents in Rural Delhi.

Abstract

Violence and aggression amongst adolescents is increasing across the globe. However, the research on adolescent violence in India is limited. The present study was undertaken to study aggressive beliefs, attitudes, behavior rural schools in north district of Delhi. It was a cross-sectional study conducted among adolescents studying in grade VIII-X in three rural schools in Delhi, selected by non-probability sampling. The data was collected using a questionnaire adapted from CDC Compendium of tools measuring aggression. Out of the total 270 adolescents, there were 119 boys (44.1%) and 151 (55.9%) girls. The mean score of beliefs, attitude aggressive behaviour for private co-ed school was highest while all girls' school had lowest (p < 0.001). Being male (p < 0.001), studying in private co-ed school (p < 0.001) and having attitude towards violence (p = 0.02) contributed significantly to total aggression score. The study highlighted that type of school, gender and attitudes influence adolescents' behavior towards aggression.