Childhood Physical Aggression Research Articles

Unveiling ethical challenges: An in-depth analysis of unethical behavior in Albanian preschool education

Background: The study delves into the prevalence and severity of unethical behavior among educators and parents in Albanian early childhood education institutions, a topic previously unexplored. Objective: The research aims to identify the most common unethical behaviors among educators and parents, understand the primary determinants of unethical behavior in preschool settings, and provide recommendations for policy development in Albanian public preschools to improve ethical norms. Settings: The study was conducted in Albanian early childhood education institutions, focusing on both educators and parents as key stakeholders. Methods: A comprehensive analysis was undertaken, utilizing questionnaires administered to educators and parents, drawing on codes of ethical behavior and thematic analysis to identify and categorize unethical behaviors. Statistical analysis using SPSS was employed to derive insights from the data. Results: Findings revealed a notable discrepancy between educators' and parents' perceptions of unethical behavior, with guardians reporting higher frequencies of unethical conduct. The most prevalent unethical behaviors included unequal treatment of children, favoritism, and use of punishment by educators, while parents commonly violated norms such as disrespecting educators and encouraging physical aggression in children. Conclusion: The study underscores the importance of addressing unethical behavior in Albanian preschool settings through enhanced awareness, training, and policy interventions. Strategies to foster better communication between educators and parents, improve professional standards, and combat discrimination are imperative for creating a more ethical environment conducive to positive child development.

Relational and physical aggression in preschool-age children: Associations with teacher, parent, sibling, and peer relationship quality.

Early childhood relationships with teachers, parents, siblings, and peers are foundational factors for later social functioning. High rates of childhood aggression have been associated with negative developmental consequences, however, the associations between child aggression on the quality of these formative relationships have not been studied extensively. In a sample of young children attending preschool (N = 114, Mage = 46.27 months, SD = 9.94, 40% girls), this study investigated associations between early childhood relational and physical aggression and the quality of concurrent teacher-child and parent-child closeness and conflict, sibling relationship quality, and positive peer interactions and peer rejection. Early childhood relational and physical aggression was associated with negative teacher-child relationships, and this was true for boys and girls. Differential patterns of prediction were found for relational and physical aggression on the other relationship variables. Relational aggression strongly predicted more positive peer interactions, whereas physical aggression predicted fewer positive peer interactions and greater peer rejection. Early childhood relational aggression predicted higher levels of teacher-child closeness, whereas physical aggression predicted lower levels of teacher-child closeness and fewer positive sibling interactions. These findings challenge common perceptions that aggression is negatively associated with relationship quality. Notably, relational aggression relative to physical aggression may be associated with some favorable relationship outcomes. We did not find support for an additive model of aggression whereby children who were both relationally and physically aggressive (co-morbid) were at higher risk for negative relationship quality. Implications of these findings for future research and prevention and intervention are discussed.

Developmental Pathway from Childhood Abuse to Adolescent Peer Victimization: The Role of Rejection Sensitivity and Aggression.

Despite the well-established relationship between early experiences of victimization and later re-victimization, little is known about the exact mechanism of this cycle of victimization. The present study examined whether the route from rejection sensitivity to aggression mediates the associations between different forms of childhood abuse and later peer victimization longitudinally. A total of 3525 adolescents (56.6% male; Mage = 13.21 ± 0.85) participated in this three-wave study, with a 6-month lag and a 9-month lag respectively. The results indicated that the association between childhood emotional abuse and peer victimization were independently mediated by aggression, and sequentially mediated by rejection sensitivity and aggression in both sexes. Sex differences existed regarding the association between childhood physical abuse and aggression, such that only in adolescent boys did physical abuse show significant effect on aggression, resulting in later peer victimization. In general, these findings suggest that maladaptive social-cognitive processes and behavioral patterns are crucial for understanding the mechanism of the vicious cycle of victimization, and sex differences must be considered when examining different types of childhood abuse.

Parenting Experience of Mothers with Children Diagnosed with ADHD: Insights from Positive Psychology Perspective

This study on the “lived” parenting experiences of the mothers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder revolved on the challenges experienced by the mothers with an ADHD child; their initial responses after diagnosis; their coping strategies; its impact on their well-being and on family relationship; the protective factors to their well-being; and their needs. Consensual qualitative research methodology was used in the study. Ten mothers were the study's participants, chosen by the purposive sample approach. In-depth interview was used and data were evaluated to identify the categories and domains. According to the findings, the mother's biggest struggles are dealing with the child's scholastic issues, physical aggression, stubbornness, and financial troubles. The variety of experiences can be explained by the psychological process that begins when their child is given an ADHD diagnosis. The mothers’ appraisal of their child may be positive or negative, depending on the psychological processes. Healthy coping, optimism, improved family relationships, positive well-being, and early acceptance of their child are all influenced by parents' favorable assessments of their child's condition. Negative appraisal causes harmful coping mechanisms, frustration, poor mental and physical health, and limited social interaction. A psychoeducational intervention anchored from the Positive Psychology framework was proposed to enhance adaptive coping strategies.

Association between childhood physical abuse and suicidal behaviors among Chinese adolescents: The mediation of aggression

BackgroundAlthough previous studies have examined many predictors of suicidal behaviors. However, little is known for childhood physical abuse (CPA) and aggression, which are prevalent among adolescents. This study aimed to explore association between CPA and suicidal behaviors, and the potential mediating role of aggression. MethodA total of 16,111 students graded 7 to 12 were recruited using a stratified cluster sampling across five representative provinces in China. Conflict Tactics Scale-Parents to Child (CTS-PC) and Buss and Warren's Aggression Questionnaire (BWAQ) were used to measure CPA and aggression, respectively. ResultsDuring the last year, 16.0 % of adolescents reported suicidal behaviors. Specifically, 7.9 % were suicide ideators, 4.6 % were planners, and 3.5 % were attempters. The prevalence of CPA in mild, moderate, and severe was 15.7 %, 26.9 %, and 4.4 %, respectively. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that moderate and severe CPA and overall aggression were associated with suicide ideators, planners, and attempters. In five sub-types of aggression, only hostility was significantly associated with all three suicidal behaviors. Structural equation modelling showed that aggression partially mediate the relationship between CPA and suicidal behaviors. The mediation proportion of overall aggression, physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, hostility, and indirect aggression were 27.2 %, 22.4 %, 5.2 %, 14.2 %, 23.5 %, and 12.1 %, respectively. LimitationsCross-sectional design, self-reported questionnaire, and no other forms of childhood maltreatment. ConclusionsCPA is a critical risk factor of suicidal behaviors among Chinese adolescents and aggression is a mediator between CPA and suicidal behaviors. Targeted suicide prevention should focus on those adolescents who report CPA and aggression, especially for hostility.

Pakistani orphanage caregivers' perspectives regarding their caregiving abilities, personal and orphan children's psychological wellbeing.

Pakistan is home to 4.6 million children who have been orphaned. Limited data on caregiving in orphanages suggests that caregivers do not have specialized training and experience heavy workloads and high-stress levels. Supporting these caregivers to provide responsive and consistent caregiving can improve their well-being along with the psychological and physical development of children who have been orphaned. This research explored the main caregiving-related challenges faced by caregivers in orphanage settings, their professional and personal needs and perceived emotional and behavioural problems manifesting in children under their care. This research adopted a qualitative research design with a thematic analysis approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 caregivers who were currently caring for four to 12-year-old children in Pakistani orphanages. Five main themes: (1) religiosity, (2) economic relief, (3) caregivers' needs and well-being, (4) caring for children who have been orphaned and (5) need for context specific training, emerged from the data, which included several subthemes. Findings revealed the presence of positive religious views regarding the upbringing and care of children who have been orphaned. Work-provided accommodation was an important economic relief. Caregivers' psychological, physiological and personal lives were affected by job-related stress and demands. Many helpful and unhelpful parenting practices were documented, and challenges such as children's verbal and physical aggression, stealing, non-cooperation and poor social skills were reported. The main professional issues included low salary, high numbers of children in care and lack of context specific professional caregiving training provided. This study established the need for a tailored programme that suits the context specific caregiving needs in Pakistani orphanages to support the training and professional growth of caregivers and promote their wellbeing along with positive developmental outcomes in the children under their care.

Examining effortful control as a moderator in the association of negative parenting and aggression among Hong Kong Chinese preschoolers

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study examined whether physical coercion and psychological control by mothers and fathers can influence preschoolers’ use of physical and relational aggression, and whether the relations are moderated by children’s effortful control in a Hong Kong Chinese sample. Data were collected from a sample of 168 children (88 girls; M = 60.97 months, SD = 5.51 months) and their parents twice, six months apart. At Time 1, mothers and fathers reported on their spouse’s, as well as their own use of physical coercion and psychological control, and a puzzle box task was administered to assess child effortful control. At Time 2, mothers, fathers, and teachers completed questionnaires to assess child physical and relational aggression. Results show that mothers’ physical coercion was associated with child physical and relational aggression. In contrast, fathers’ physical coercion was significantly related to child physical aggression but its relation with child relational aggression was not statistically significant, and both these two associations were moderated by effortful control. Practice or Policy: These results suggest that general intervention efforts are needed to prevent aggression among children of physically coercive parents, and particularly among children with low effortful control and physically coercive fathers.

Head start parents' vocational preparedness indirectly predicts preschoolers' physical and relational aggression.

Severe poverty has profound impacts on child outcomes, yet much of the research on poverty fails to consider the psychological experiences of poverty, frames low-socioeconomic status families as a monolith, and until recently, has not considered the utility of behavior within the poverty context. This short-term (4 months) longitudinal study was designed to consider children's aggression as predicted by their inhibitory control (IC) and parents' experiences of poverty-related strain in an urban Head Start sample. At Time 1, parents reported on their family's economic situation (income, family size), education, vocational preparedness, and completed a measure of psychological economic strain; children (N = 90; Mage = 52.78 months) completed two IC tasks (Day/Night Stroop; Whisper). Four months later, parents completed the Preschool Proactive and Reactive Aggression survey, used to assess children's physical and relational aggression. Mediation analyses supported that physical and relational aggression were both fully mediated from parents' vocational preparedness, though through different mechanisms. Physical aggression was mediated by parents' psychological economic strain. Relational aggression was mediated through children's IC. Findings support the proposal that aggression should be viewed within context and that typical assumptions about developmental patterns of physical aggression may not hold for all children.

Patterns of Child Maltreatment and the Development of Conflictual Emerging Adult Romantic Relationships: An Examination of Mechanisms and Gender Moderation.

Individuals who experienced child maltreatment are at heightened risk for involvement in conflictual romantic relationships. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of patterns of child maltreatment on the development of maladaptive romantic relationships in emerging adulthood (EA), as well as to determine whether childhood physical aggression and disinhibition mediate this risk. Utilizing a longitudinal sample of emerging adult participants (N = 398 emerging adults; Mage = 19.67 years) who took part in a summer research camp as children (Mage = 11.27 years), we employed a combination of person-centered and variable-centered methods to test study aims. Significant differences in child behavior and developmental pathways emerged not only between those who experienced maltreatment and those who did not, but also among maltreated individuals with different constellations of maltreatment experiences. Specifically, childhood aggression was a robust mechanism underlying the risk associated with chronic/multi-subtype maltreatment, and the risk associated with neglect only, for involvement in dysfunctional EA romantic relationships. Together, these findings highlight the utility of person-centered methods for conceptualizing maltreatment, identify childhood aggression as a pathway of risk, and the underscore the criticality of prevention and early intervention to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of high conflict and aggression within families.

Perinatal and early-life factors associated with stable and unstable trajectories of psychopathic traits across childhood.

This study aimed to identify perinatal and early-life factors associated with trajectories of psychopathic traits across childhood. Participants were 1631 children (51.5% girls) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. A wide range of perinatal and early-life factors were assessed from pregnancy to age 2.5 years using medical files and mothers' reports. Psychopathic traits were assessed via teachers' reports at ages 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 years. Latent class growth analyses and multinomial logistic regressions controlling for child sex were conducted. Two-way interaction effects between perinatal/early-life factors and child sex were explored. Four trajectories of psychopathic traits were identified: High-stable (4.48%), Increasing (8.77%), Decreasing (11.46%), and Low-stable (75.29%). A few perinatal factors and most child-level and family-level early-life factors significantly increased the odds of following the High-stable v. the Low-stable trajectory. Higher levels of psychotropic exposures during pregnancy, socioeconomic adversity, child's physical aggression, child's opposition, mother's depressive symptoms, and hostile parenting increased the likelihood of following the Increasing instead of the Low-stable trajectory. Higher socioeconomic adversity, mother's depressive symptoms, and inconsistent parenting were associated with membership to the High-stable instead of the Decreasing trajectory. Most associations were not moderated by child sex. These results shed light on the perinatal and early-life factors that are associated with specific pathways of psychopathic traits during childhood and suggest that different factors could be targeted to prevent the exacerbation (v. low and stable levels) or the stability at high levels (v. attenuation) of these traits.

Listening In: How Parent-Child Communication Relates to Social and Physical Aggression.

In this study, we investigated the relations between features of parent-child conversations (neutral talk, positive and negative in-dyad and out-dyad talk) and children's social and physical aggression from ages 9-18. Participants were 297 youth (52% girls) of about 9 years old at Time 1 and their parent. Fifty-two percent of this United States sample identified as White, 20% Black, 20% Hispanic, 8% other races/ethnicities. One hundred eighty-seven parents participated in the parent-child observation task. Ninety four percent of parent participants were mothers. Parent-child conversations were observed in the laboratory during preadolescence, and teachers reported child's aggression. Using multinomial logit analyses, we found that coded observations of communication features predicted membership in linear trajectories of social and physical aggression across nine years of adolescence; trajectories were derived via mixture modeling. Parent and child communication characteristics were related to trajectories of aggression that spanned preadolescence and adolescence; however, not all predicted associations were significant. Children's talk about neutral topics predicted being on a lower social aggression trajectory. Positive out-dyad talk from children was related to being on a lower physical aggression trajectory, as was parent in-dyad positive talk. After controlling for other factors, neither parent nor child in- or out-dyad negative talk was associated with social or physical aggression. These findings highlight the importance of positive communication by youth and toward youth in association with long-term social adjustment.

Physical and relational aggression as predictors of children's friendship experiences: Examining the moderating role of preference norms.

Aggressive behavior is generally detrimental to children's friendships, both in terms of having friends and in terms of keeping friends. Despite this general tendency, many aggressive children have friends and some of these friendships are stable. We examined the moderating role of preference norms in the classroom and child's sex in the association between children's physical and relational aggression and their friendship experiences. A total of 1135 children (M = 10.24 years, SD = 1.01) in Grades 4 to 6 completed a peer nomination inventory in the Fall (T1) and Spring (T2) of the same school year. Norms were operationalized as the class- and sex-specific correlation between physical or relational aggression and social preference. Norms moderated associations between each form of aggression and number of friends. At T1, physical and relational aggression were concurrently associated with having more friends when norms favored this behavior and with fewer friends when norms were unfavorable. The latter effect was especially pronounced in girls. Over time, youth lost friends when norms favored physical aggression and gained friends when norms favored relational aggression. T1 friends' physical and relational aggression were strong predictors of new friends' aggressive behavior, suggesting that friends provide a type of norm more significant to new friend selection than norms of the peer group and individual aggressive behavior. Overall, our results suggest that physical and relational aggression are not necessarily detrimental to children's friendship experiences and may even be beneficial in specific social contexts.

The Role of Inhibitory Control, Attention and Vocabulary in Physical Aggression Trajectories From Infancy to Toddlerhood.

Physical aggression has its origin very early in development, but no studies to date have examined physical aggression trajectories starting before the age of 1.5 years. This study examined whether cognition plays a role in the development of physical aggression from infancy onward. In a sample of 182 mother-child dyads (94 boys; 88 girls), child physical aggression was assessed by maternal report using the Physical Aggression Scale for Early Childhood at 12, 20, and 30 months. Children performed cognitive tasks measuring inhibitory control and attention, and mothers rated children’s vocabulary at 12 and 30 months. Results showed that differential development of physical aggression already starts at 12 months of age: low-stable, low-increasing, moderate-decreasing and high-stable trajectory groups were identified. Inhibitory control, attention and vocabulary at 12 months and development of these abilities from 12 to 30 months were selectively related to the likelihood of following the low-increasing and moderate-decreasing trajectories compared to the low-stable physical aggression trajectory. This study is the first to show that specific aspects of cognition and cognitive development are related to differential physical aggression development from infancy onward.

Childhood Physical Maltreatment and Aggression among Chinese Young Adults: The Roles of Resilience and Self-Esteem

ABSTRACT While the association between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression has been verified by many studies, the mechanisms of this relationship are still unclear, particularly in China. The present study delineated characteristics of childhood physical maltreatment among Chinese young adults and estimated the relationship between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression. Data were obtained from 809 college students aged 17 to 22 years. All participants completed measures of childhood physical maltreatment, aggression, resilience, and self-esteem. Rates of physical abuse and neglect were 27.81% and 64.88%, respectively; while there were significant gender differences in childhood physical maltreatment, gender did not moderate the relationship between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression. Childhood physical maltreatment was positively associated with aggression; moreover, resilience and self-esteem mediated this relationship. Findings suggest that childhood physical maltreatment is an important public health issue; it not only has direct effects on aggression, but also has indirect effects on aggression via resilience and self-esteem. Increasing resilience and self-esteem should be applied in interventions to reduce aggression of childhood physically maltreated young adults.

Pathways From Early Family Violence to Adolescent Reactive Aggression and Violence Victimization.

The current study examined how early childhood (EC) family violence and risk (i.e., maternal aggression, sibling aggression, environmental risk) predicted early adolescent (EA) reactive physical and relational aggression and violence victimization through middle childhood (MC) parenting (i.e., guilt induction, power assertive discipline). Mother-infant dyads (N = 216; 72% African American) were recruited as part of a larger longitudinal study on prenatal cocaine and other substance exposure. Observations, interviews, and maternal and child self-report measures were collected from dyads in early childhood (1 to 36 months), middle childhood (84 months), and early adolescence (12 to 15 years). A cascading path model was specified where current variables were regressed on variables from the preceding time point. Primary results showed that environmental risk and EC child physical aggression predicted higher levels of MC caregiver power assertive discipline, which subsequently predicted lower levels of EA reactive relational aggression. Maternal substance use in pregnancy and the child's continuous placement with biological caregivers predicted higher levels of reactive physical aggression in EA. Finally, MC physical aggression and EA reactive relational aggression predicted higher levels of EA violence victimization. There were a series of direct paths from early childhood family violence and demographic factors to reactive aggression and violence victimization. The current study underscores the importance of evaluating multiple facets of family violence and risk when evaluating aggressive behavior and victimization.

Emotional understanding, aggression, and social functioning among preschoolers.

Evidence suggests that emotional understanding (EU) assists in the regulation of aggression, which in turn, predicts better social functioning. Although the links among EU, aggression, and social functioning have been preliminarily explored, significant gaps remain in our comprehension of the factors that could qualify these links (e.g., impact of developmental stage, type of aggression, type of social functioning, and different dimensions of EU). Here we conduct a multidimensional assessment of EU, aggression, and social functioning within a sample of aggressive preschoolers (n = 24) and a matched comparison group (n = 26; N = 50, 26 girls; Mage = 53.83 months, SDage = 3.73). We assessed EU using a behavioral assessment and social functioning via teacher-report. We conducted all analyses through the use of two measures of children's aggression-first, we compared children identified as aggressive by preschool teachers to those in the nonaggressive comparison group. Second, we used teacher-reported continuous measures of children's physical and relational aggression. Relative to the comparison group, the aggressive group demonstrated lower expressive EU, higher receptive EU, lower peer acceptance, and lower prosocial behavior. Analyses of continuous measures revealed a more complicated pattern of associations among aggression, EU, and social functioning. Higher physical aggression predicted greater peer victimization among females, and expressive EU was only associated with higher peer acceptance among the aggressive group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood assaultive trauma and physical aggression: Links with cortical thickness in prefrontal and occipital cortices

Although the link between childhood maltreatment and violence perpetration in adulthood (i.e., the “cycle of violence”) is well-documented, the neural mechanisms driving these processes remain relatively unknown. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether cortical thickness in adulthood varies as a function of childhood assaultive trauma exposure and whether such neurobiological markers of early trauma relate to the perpetration of aggression across the lifespan. In a sample of 138 ethnically-diverse men and women, whole-brain analysis of the cortical mantle revealed that individuals with exposure to assaultive trauma before age 13 had less cortical thickness in two clusters that survived multiple comparison correction: a region that peaked in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and a region peaking in the right pericalcarine cortex. Diminished cortical thickness in the left OFC cluster was, in turn, associated with greater physical aggression, and mediation analysis revealed that reductions in cortical thickness in this left prefrontal region partially accounted for the association between exposure to childhood assaultive trauma and lifetime perpetration of aggression in adulthood. Findings extend previous investigations into the morphological correlates of early assaultive trauma by implicating reductions in cortical thickness as a potential mechanism linking early violence exposure to violence perpetration that extends into adulthood.

A Longitudinal Study of Gun Violence Attitudes: Role of Childhood Aggression and Exposure to Violence, and Early Adolescent Bullying Perpetration and Victimization

ABSTRACTThis prospective study examined the effects of early childhood physical aggression and violence exposure on bullying victimization/perpetration and attitudes toward guns and violence in early adolescence (EA) in a high-risk sample. Participants included 216 mother–child dyads from an ongoing longitudinal study using multi-method assessments (e.g., classroom observations; laboratory assessment; parent, teacher, and child self-reports). Results supported a developmental pathway from early adversity (i.e., prenatal substance use) to aggression at kindergarten age to bullying perpetration and gun violence attitudes (aggressive responses to shame) in EA. Higher peer victimization was also associated with aggressive responses to shame in EA. Results are discussed in light of the complexity of the motives for aggression and the need for prevention and early intervention.

The Explanatory Mechanism of Child Impulsivity in the Bidirectional Associations between Parental Psychological Control and Child Physical Aggression

Parental psychological control is a stressor that may provoke children’s aggression. However, whether there are bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and children’s physical aggression remains unclear, as does the mechanism underlying these associations. Using an autoregressive cross-lagged model, the present study tested (a) the extent to which parental psychological control predicts physical aggression and vice versa, and (b) whether child impulsivity explains this bidirectional association. Data were collected across three time points (fall semester of 4th grade, spring semester of 4th grade, and fall semester of 5th grade). A sample of 689 children (385 boys, 304 girls) completed questionnaires regarding parental psychological control, impulsivity and physical aggression. Gender, age and socioeconomic status were controlled in the analyses. As hypothesized, the findings showed that there was a direct longitudinal connection from parental psychological control to child physical aggression, and the inverse relation was also significant. Moreover, the results demonstrated an indirect link from parental psychological control to physical aggression via child impulsivity, but the inverse effect was not significant. Our findings suggest that there is a reciprocal relationship between parental psychological control and children’s physical aggression, and that the parent-driven component of this bidirectional process is mediated by child impulsivity. The results have potential applied value for prevention and intervention.

Persistent material hardship and childhood physical aggression

Abstract Some developmental models of childhood aggression deny any influence of socioeconomic status (SES), while others stress a more central role. We argue that greater attention to persistent material hardship (i.e., inability to provide for basic needs) may enhance the centrality of SES in developmental approaches. We analyze a longitudinal sample of children in the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, and examine whether persistent material hardship shapes patterns of childhood aggression. We find that while the majority of children are insulated, some experience multiple, enduring hardships. More importantly, experiencing a single, persistent hardship during the period of childhood increases the likelihood of aggression by 4.8% among males and 6.4% among females, a magnitude that is comparable to the influence of impulsivity. Findings warrant greater attention to the consequences of material hardship in theoretical models and life course research that goes beyond the traditionally-examined indicators of SES.