Emotional Aggression Research Articles

Personality and aggression: A contribution of the General Aggression Model

Abstract The aim of the study was to identify the direct and indirect existing relationship among personality traits on aggression of high school and undergraduate students from the city of João Pessoa, Brazil, using the General Aggression Model as the theoretical framework. The sample consisted of 218 students, of which 107 were high school students and 111 undergraduate students. The instruments used for data collection were as follows: Aggression Questionnaire, the Big Five Inventory and a Socio-Demographic Questionnaire. The main results showed direct effects of neuroticism (+), extraversion (+) and agreeableness (-) in physical aggression. On the other hand, indirect effects of neuroticism (+), opening (+) and agreeableness (-) in physical aggression, mediated by aggressive emotions have been found. These findings are discussed based on previous research and the General Aggression Model along with suggestions of research which have been conducted in an attempt to further knowledge in this area.

The Social Behavior Scale for Preschool Children: Factorial Structure and Concurrent Validity

The aims of the present study were to examine the factor validity of a new social behavior assessment - the Social Behavior Scale (SBS) - using exploratory (sample 1, n = 169) and confirmatory (sample 2, n = 127) factor analysis, and to test factor invariance across gender in a sample of Italian preschoolers. The concurrent validity of the SBS was examined with measures of peer nominations and observed interactions (sample 3, n = 277). Findings confirmed the three-factor structure of the SBS: Emotional Competence, Social Engagement and Aggressiveness. Multigroup analysis provided evidence of factor invariance across gender. Concerning concurrent validity, results confirmed a great association between teacher-rating SBS and the other concurrent measures.

Female murderers: Examination of the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and anger expression

Adverse childhood period and abuse experiences may lead to some problems later in life. One of these problems is aggressive behavior, which is thought to be a reflection of the child’s increasing anger (Page, 2004; Olive, 2007). Based on the fact that negative childhood experiences can lead to aggressive emotions, investigating the relationship between traumatic childhood experiences and female convicts’ aggression expression styles was considered important.Sample of the research consists of 77 females who are homicide convicts selected from correctional institutes in three different cities. Data gathered from the participants were examined by using the Turkish versions of The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and The State-Trait Anger Scale.A positive and meaningful relationship between childhood trauma experiences and trait anger levels of participants was observed. In addition, there was a significant relationship between childhood trauma experiences and domestic violence as well as perceived problematic relationship with family members during childhood. Trait anger and internal anger were also found to be significantly related to perceived problematic relationship with family members during childhood. Results of the analyses were discussed in detail.

Sexual behaviour in preschool children in the context of intra-parental violence and sexual coercion.

Very little is understood about the developmental antecedents of sexual behaviour prior to adolescence. Our aim was to examine the impact of different forms of intimate partner violence on early childhood sexual development. We used data from an ongoing prospective longitudinal cohort study of Canadian families. Intimate partner violence of various kinds was measured using a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale. Measures of child sexual development were based on the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory. Both measures relied on parental report. Sexual coercion between parental figures, but not physical violence or emotional aggression, was significantly associated with intrusive sexual behaviours shown by 3- to 5-year-old children. It may seem unlikely that 3- to 5- year-old children can understand that their parents are in a sexually coercive relationship, but our findings suggest that they are sufficiently aware of such behaviours when they occur that they may start to model their own behaviour on them. Clinicians and social workers may need to be more aware of this possibility. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The impact of SASA!, a community mobilisation intervention, on women's experiences of intimate partner violence: secondary findings from a cluster randomised trial in Kampala, Uganda

BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health and human rights concern, though there is limited evidence on how to prevent it. This secondary analysis of data from the...

Associations of Intellectual Ability with Emotional Intelligence, Academic Achievement and Aggression of Adolescents

Purpose: The current study examined the relationship of intellectual ability with emotional intelligence, academic achievement, and aggression of adolescents.Methods: Correlational design was utilized to study the relationship between these variables. Adolescent students (N=500, 50% boys & 50% girls, with the mean age of 15.01 years & SD of 1.11) were approached from different private schools and colleges of Karachi. To measure their intellectual ability, emotional intelligence, and aggression, Draw-A-Person Intellectual Ability Test for children, adolescents, and adults (DAP: IQ), Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), and Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form (AQ-12) were administered. Their academic achievement was assessed through their percentage of most recent examination. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was utilized to analyse the results.Results: Intellectual ability was significantly positively related with emotional intelligence and its domains i.e. Self-Emotional Appraisal, Others’ Emotional Appraisal, Use of Emotions, and Regulation of Emotions (p

In Search of Teen Dating Violence Typologies

PurposeThe goal of the present research was to identify distinct latent classes of adolescents that commit teen dating violence (TDV) and assess differences on demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal correlates. MethodsBoys and girls (N = 1,149; Mage = 14.3; Grades 6–12) with a history of violence exposure completed surveys assessing six indices of TDV in the preceding 3 months. Indices of TDV included controlling behaviors, psychological TDV, physical TDV, sexual TDV, fear/intimidation, and injury. In addition, adolescents provided demographic and dating history information and completed surveys assessing attitudes condoning violence, relationship skills and knowledge, and reactive/proactive aggression. ResultsLatent class analysis indicated a three-class solution wherein the largest class of students was nonviolent on all indices (“nonaggressors”) and the smallest class of students demonstrated high probability of nearly all indices of TDV (“multiform aggressors”). In addition, a third class of “emotional aggressors” existed for which there was a high probability of controlling and psychological TDV but low likelihood of any other form of TDV. Multiform aggressors were differentiated from emotional and nonaggressors on the use of self-defense in dating relationships, attitudes condoning violence, and proactive aggression. Emotional aggressors were distinguished from nonaggressors on nearly all measured covariates. ConclusionsEvidence indicates that different subgroups of adolescents engaging in TDV exist. In particular, a small group of youth engaging in multiple forms of TDV can be distinguished from a larger group of youth that commit acts of TDV restricted to emotional aggression (i.e., controlling and psychological) and most youth that do not engage in TDV.

Mediating Effects of Self-Concept Clarity and Moderating Effects of Social Support in the relationship between Parents' Emotional Abuse and Aggression

Mediating Effects of Self-Concept Clarity and Moderating Effects of Social Support in the relationship between Parents' Emotional Abuse and Aggression

Physical and Emotional Sibling Violence: A Necessary Role for Social Work.

With physical and emotional sibling violence being one of the most common forms of violence against children (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 2006), the implications of this type of violence should be understood as a significant part of family violence across the life span. Social work, with its person-in-environment focus, should consider and address all types of violence affecting children and adults, including physical and emotional violence between siblings. The social work role in this area includes not only understanding the prevalence, consequences, and correlates of this form of family violence, but also understanding the lack of policy and interventions to address it, so that the profession can take a lead in solving this social problem. Despite sibling assault being one of the most common forms of childhood victimization (Finkelhor, Ormrod, Turner, & Hamby, 2005), the prevalence of physical and emotional sibling violence in the population has been minimally considered. Hoffman, Kiecolt, and Edwards (2005) found that more than 60 percent of college students had experienced physical sibling violence, whereas Simonelli, Mullis, Elliot, and Pierce (2002) found that 89 percent of male and 98 percent of female respondents reported experiencing emotional aggression from a sibling.

Relations between theory of mind, mental state language and social adjustment in primary school children

The present study investigated the concurrent relations between theory of mind (ToM), mental state language (MSL) and social adjustment (assessed in terms of emotional instability, prosocial behaviour and aggressiveness) in a sample of 150 children between 8 and 11 years of age. The results showed no correlation between the performance on false belief tasks and the frequency of MSL in a narrative task. False belief understanding was unrelated with all measures of social adjustment, whereas the children’s use of MSL was negatively correlated with emotional instability and aggressiveness, above and beyond the influence of receptive language ability. These findings suggest that having a ToM ability is different from spontaneously using it during non-interactive narrative tasks, and that the two ToM measures are differently related to social competence in primary school children.

Perceived emotional intelligence and aggression among adults: The moderating role of gender

ObjectiveThis research aimed to explore the moderating role of gender in the relationship between Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI) and aggression among adults.MethodThe Trait Meta‐Mood Scale and the Aggressive Provocation Questionnaire were administered to 338 participants from a Spanish community including both genders, ranging from 19 to 53 years old.ResultsGender differences in PEI and aggression dimensions, with higher levels of Attention and frustration in women, and higher levels of Repair and direct aggression in men were found. Correlations between PEI and aggression dimensions showed that among female participants Attention was positively related to feelings of aggression and with direct aggression, while Repair was negatively related to these dimensions. Clarity was positively related to assertive behaviour among women, and Repair correlated positively with assertive behaviour among men. Interaction analyses revealed that gender moderated the relationship between PEI dimensions and aggression, controlling for the effect of age.Low levels of Repair were related to lower levels of assertiveness in men and with higher scores of feelings of anger in women.ConclusionsWe suggest explanations for these differences between the genders, and discuss the importance of incorporating gender differences in theoretical and empirical studies investigating PEI among adults.

Heterogeneity of Relational Backgrounds is Associated With Variation in Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behavior.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a self-destructive behavior of common prevalence in adolescence and young adulthood. Engagement in NSSI has been consistently linked in the literature with perceptions of one's parent-child relationships as negative or invalidating. However, the potential for multiple combinations of such relational characteristics to be associated with varying cognitive and behavioral manifestations of NSSI remains uninvestigated. In the current study, a person-centered approach to studying perceived parent-child relationship quality and NSSI was adopted; functions and behavioral severity of NSSI were then compared across the different relational profiles created. A latent profile analysis in a sample of 264 self-injuring university students (205 females; m(age) = 19.37 years, sd = 1.50) revealed four distinct profiles, two characterized by negative parent-child perceptions and two by positive parent-child perceptions. The perceived relational dimensions of these profiles were unique compared to a parallel group of 264 non-self-injurers (207 females; m(age) = 19.27 years, sd = 1.33). Participants reporting negative parent-child relationships endorsed more severe NSSI, and engaged in NSSI to regulate aggressive emotions. In contrast, individuals reporting positive parent-child relationships engaged in less extreme manifestations of NSSI overall, suggesting lower psychological deficits. Findings suggest that, although not all self-injurers perceive their relationships with parents negatively, variation in the perception of relational quality is implicated in behavioral and cognitive variation in NSSI engagement.

Social isolation-induced increase in NMDA receptors in the hippocampus exacerbates emotional dysregulation in mice.

Epidemiological studies have shown that early life adverse events have long-term effects on the susceptibility to subsequent stress exposure in adolescence, but the precise mechanism is unclear. In the present study, mice on postnatal day 21-28 were randomly assigned to either a group or isolated cages for 8 weeks. The socially isolated (SI) mice exhibited a higher level of spontaneous locomotor activity, a longer duration of immobility in the forced swimming test (FST), significantly less prepulse inhibition (PPI) and an increase in aggressive (but not attack) behavior. However, acute stress markedly exacerbated the attack counts of the SI mice but did not affect the group housing (GH) mice. SI mice exhibited higher synaptosomal NR2A and NR2B levels in the hippocampus as compared to the GH mice. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings of CA1 neurons in hippocampal slices showed that the SI mice exhibited a higher input-output relationship of NMDAR-EPSCs as compared to the GH mice. Application of the NR2B -specific antagonist ifenprodil produced a greater attenuating effect on NMDAR-EPSCs in slices from the SI mice. NMDAR EPSCs recorded from the SI mice had a slower deactivation kinetic. MK-801, CPP and ifenprodil, the NMDA antagonists, reversed acute stress-induced exaggeration of aggressive and depressive behaviors. Furthermore, acute stress-induced exacerbation of attack behavior in the SI mice was abolished after the knockdown of NR2B expression. These results suggest that social isolation-induced increased expression of NMDA receptors in the hippocampus involves stress exacerbation of aggressive behaviors. Amelioration of aggressive behaviors by NMDA antagonists may open a new avenue for the treatment of psychopathologies that involve outbursts of emotional aggression in neglected children.

Noxious family environments in relation to adult and childhood caries

The authors tested hypotheses that more noxious family environments are associated with poorer adult and child oral health. A community sample of married or cohabiting couples (N = 135) and their elementary school-aged children participated. Dental hygienists determined the number of decayed, missing and filled surfaces via oral examination. Subjective oral health impacts were measured by means of questionnaires completed by the parents and children. The parents completed questionnaires about interparental and parent-to-child physical aggression (for example, pushing) and emotional aggression (for example, derision), as well as harsh discipline. Observers rated the couples' hostile behavior in laboratory interactions. The extent of women's and men's caries experience was associated positively with their partners' levels of overall noxious behavior toward them. The extent of children's caries experience was associated positively with the level of their mothers' emotional aggression toward their partners. Noxious family environments may be implicated in compromised oral health. Future research that replicates and extends these findings can provide the foundation to translate them into preventive interventions. Noxious family environments may help explain the limitations of routine oral health preventive strategies. Interprofessional strategies that also address the family environment ultimately may prove to be more effective than are single modality approaches.

Sugar levels relate to aggression in couples without supporting the glucose model of self-control.

Sugar levels relate to aggression in couples without supporting the glucose model of self-control.

Measuring Anger Expression in Young Patients With Tourette Syndrome

Young patients with Tourette Syndrome (TS) can exhibit poor emotional control and aggression. We explored anger in young patients with TS. Twenty-five patients diagnosed with TS and 41 healthy controls completed the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI). Parents and teachers completed the child behavior checklist and Conners’ Parent/Teacher Rating Scales-Revised. STAXI scores were not significantly different between patients with TS and controls. However, many proxy-rated measures linked to anger and externalizing problems were significantly higher in TS. As proxy-rated instruments revealed more oppositional and aggressive behaviors in young patients with TS, they are important in the multidimensional assessment of TS. These findings offer useful insights into the nature of anger symptoms in young patients with TS and provide a basis for more effective diagnosis and management.

Predictors of Relational Aggression and the Moderating Role of Religiousness

Predictors of relational aggression and the moderating role of religiousness on associations between relevant predictors and relational aggression were examined in a sample of 244 university students. Increased childhood relational aggression, increased adult relational victimization, lower agreeableness, and lower emotional stability significantly predicted increased adult relational aggression. Prayer moderated the relationship between agreeableness and adult relational aggression and the association between relational victimization and aggression, and religious service attendance moderated the relationship between emotional stability and relational aggression. Results are discussed in terms of the higher level latent personality constructs of self-regulation and communion, which suggest a potential protective function for religiousness in association with relational aggression.

Is it dangerous to fantasize revenge in imagery exercises? An experimental study

BackgroundImagery rescripting (ImRS), i.e. changing intrusive mental images in imagery, is increasingly recognized as a helpful therapy technique. In ImRS exercises, patients sometimes suggest taking violent revenge on perpetrators. However, it is unclear whether vengeful phantasies can be particularly helpful in giving back feelings of power and control, or whether they rather increase aggressive feelings, with potentially harmful effects. MethodsForty-six healthy participants watched 3 trauma movie segments depicting interpersonal violence. After each movie, one of 3 ImRS strategies (ImRS with violent revenge, ImRS without violence, safe place imagery) was applied. Dependent variables were subjective emotion ratings. ResultsAggressive and positive emotions changed most strongly with the safe place image, no differences between ImRS with and without violence were observed. Sad and anxious emotions were not differently influenced by different strategies. LimitationsOnly a healthy sample with no previous display of aggression has been investigated. Cross-over effects cannot be excluded due to the within-group design with repeated trauma movie segments. ConclusionsUsing violent pictures in ImRS does not seem to be particularly risky as it does not increase aggressive emotions in the participants; however it has no added value. For the purpose of emotion regulation after an analog trauma, the safe place imagery does best.

The ‘Holy Mother’ and the shadow: revisiting Jung's work on the quaternity

Through a series of clinical vignettes, this paper considers the impact of religious belief, specifically Roman Catholicism, on the psyche and development of mind; in particular, there will be a focus on the influences of the conflation of maternal beliefs with a Catholic belief system when the loss or absence of the father is a primary factor. Further, it will be shown in case examples that split off aspects of the personal shadow such as conflicted and aggressive emotions related to mother and father can conflate with the collective numinous and religious aspects of the 'dark side' of the God-representation and result in 'religious' persecutory symptoms. This has a debilitating effect on the emerging personality, leaving it prone to fears, anxieties and psychotic pockets of experience when there is a numinous persecutory shadow in the background that affects and limits the individual's development. The implications and findings drawn from the clinical vignettes are used to consider the impact of an interrelationship and conflation between aspects of the psyche and religious beliefs. Jung's work on the Trinity and the 'problem of the fourth' (Jung 1942/1948/1991) is also reconsidered in relation to the role of the feminine, the maternal and the 'reality of matter'. A diagram of the multiple levels of the quaternity is used to elaborate and expand on Jung's concept.

Recollections of harsh discipline in childhood and depressive feelings in adulthood: The roles of culture and gender

The present study examined the roles of culture and gender in the association between recollections of harsh discipline experienced during childhood and levels of depressive feelings in early adulthood. A sample of Jewish (n = 250) and Arab (n = 115) university students reported regarding exposure to corporal punishment and emotional aggression from each parent during childhood, and about current depressive feelings. Consistent with predictions, both culture and gender moderated the links between corporal punishment (used by either mother or father) and depression. Arab males, for whom exposure to corporal punishment might be more culturally normative, showed a different pattern than both Arab females and Jewish respondents. Moreover, culture moderated the association between emotional aggression from fathers (but not mothers) and depression. The discussion focuses on the importance of examining the effects of gender (of child and parent) in conjunction with culture, and on the complex role of cultural normativeness.