Levels Of Physical Aggression Research Articles

Daycare Center Attendance Buffers the Effects of Maternal Authoritarian Parenting Style on Physical Aggression in Children.

A maternal authoritarian style has been related to the development of physical aggression during childhood and later future social problems; however, not too many studies have detected other than individual or family factors that may buffer this maternal effect. This work examines whether daycare center attendance may moderate the relationships between a mother authoritarian style and physical aggression. The study sample was 72 (40 girls) kindergarten children from Spain. Parents were asked to complete two questionnaires focused on individual family characteristics and parenting styles. At age 5, children physical aggression was assessed by direct observation at playtime; aggression scores at 6 was obtained by a peer-rated questionnaire. A least squared multiple regression was performed after controlling for children’s level of physical aggression at 5, child sex and siblings. A positive contribution of maternal authoritarian style on physical aggression was detected. Daycare center attendance appears to attenuate the effect of the mother’s authoritarian style on physical aggression, only in boys.

Marijuana use trajectories among drug-using youth presenting to an urban emergency department: Violence and social influences

AimsThis paper examined longitudinal marijuana use trajectories among drug-using youth presenting to the ED to inform intervention development. MethodsGiven interest in substance use and violence, this study oversampled those presenting with assault injuries. Assault-injured youth (ages 14–24) endorsing past 6-month drug use (n=349), and a sex and age proportionally-sampled comparison group (n=250) endorsing drug use, completed a baseline assessment and follow-ups at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Latent class trajectory analyses examined days of marijuana use over 2 years. Multinomial regression analyses examined baseline, 12-month and 24-month factors associated with substance use trajectory groups. ResultsTrajectory analyses identified 5 groups: Low (Low; 28.2%; n=169); Intermittent (INT; 16.2%; n=97); Moderate Decline (MD; 12.0%; n=72); High decline (HD, 13.2%; n=79) and Chronic (C; 30.4%; n=182). At baseline, as compared to the Low group, the other trajectory groups were more likely to be male and have greater levels of physical aggression. At 12- and 24-months, negative and positive peer influences, incarceration and community violence were additional characteristics associated with the greater marijuana use trajectories (as compared to the Low group). ConclusionsInterventions for drug-using youth presenting to the urban ED should address peer influences, physical aggression and community violence exposure, given the association between these characteristics and greater marijuana use trajectories.

Psychological features of girls whose mothers survived a vital stress before pregnancy in the Republic of Dagestan

Relevance. According to the results of several recent studies, a high risk of a terrorist threat causes extremely negative emotions with increased anxiety, thus disrupting intersystem regulation and triggering somatic disorders. Intention. To assess psychological status of girls whose mothers survived high terrorist threat. Methods. Psychodiagnosis results from 548 girls aged 11–14 years old from the Republic of Dagestan were analyzed. Mothers of 270 of them were exposed to the threat of terrorism and terrorist occupation in 1999, and 278 girls were the offspring of mothers not exposed to the vital stress. The analysis showed that mild or masked depression occurred more frequently in the offspring of mothers with life-threatening exposure compared to girls whose mothers have not experienced the vital stress. Results and Discussion. Girls whose mothers with life-threatening experience in preconception period demonstrated a high level of neuroticism combined with introvertness and falsity, they tended to low self-esteem, which is consistent with high aggressiveness and predisposes to disruption of interpersonal contacts and social adaptation in general. They tended to coldness, formal contacts, as a rule, showed little interest in the life of the school community and behaved destructively in conflicts. As compared to girls whose mothers had not suffered vital stress, levels of physical aggression, negativism, suspiciousness, and verbal aggression were high. Fear, unjustified resentment, weak emotional control, low level of responsibility and moodiness, increased impulsivity, anxiety, distractibility and lack of concentration were also typical. The most important personality characteristics of these girls were as follows: low level of emotional stability, frustration and high level of anxiety. Conclusion. The obtained results show detrimental effects of the vital stress in mothers on the mental status of their offspring in the long term.

Language development mediates the relationship between gender and relational aggression: A study of Iranian preschool children

ObjectiveResearch has highlighted the role of gender in the expression of aggression. While boys display higher levels of physical aggression, girls appear to display higher levels of relational aggression. It is proposed that the expression of relational aggression may be associated, at least in part, with a child's development of language skills. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of expressive and receptive language in the expression of relational aggression.MethodA sample of 106 four to six‐year‐old Iranian children completed a test of language ability while their teachers completed a rating scale measuring the children's expression of relational aggression.ResultsResults supported the hypothesis that language skills play an important role in the development of relational aggression. Teachers reported that girls displayed significantly more relational aggression that boys. Girls were also found to have higher receptive and expressive language than boys. Finally, a mediation analysis found that language skills mediated the relationship between gender and relational aggression.ConclusionsThe results suggest that gender differences in the expression of relational aggression may be related to gender differences in the development of language as opposed to gender per se.

PREDICTING THE EMERGENCE OF PRECLINICAL MENTAL DISORDERS TO COMBATANTS

Nozologically formed borderline mental disorder (BMD) in combatants have a lower prevalence of mental disorders unlike a painful level. Blurred diagnostic criteria do not allow to attribute to the category of BMD the short-term outage of disturbance of mental adaptation - transient affective and behavioral reactions (TABR). In order to develop the expectancy model of TABR formation an analysis of personality characteristics of 649 combatants of the Interior Ministry have been carried out. Intermittent TABR in anamnesis revealed in 311 persons, such states and other violations of mental adaptation was not recorded in 338. Four years later, after the trip to zones with special service conditions, according to the I. Kotenev's method and Bass-Dark's test combatants revealed signs of maladjustment and high levels of physical aggression. Based on the data the TABR model has been designed using logistic regression and method of forced variables input. It was found that the risk of TABR formation increases with a decrease in the indicator "the invasion of the symptoms" scale and by increasing the parameters in the scale of "hyperactivity symptoms," "distress and maladjustment," "signs of post traumatic stress disorder" "physical aggression" and "verbal aggression". This shows that TABR more often appear in combatants with increased excitability in everyday life and a high level of physical aggression, while the symptoms of re-experiencing the traumatic event are not the triggering factor of TABR formation. This technique was proposed to use in medical and psychological support of personnel to prevent formation of TABR in combatants.

Is emotional dysregulation a risk indicator for auto-aggression behaviors in adolescents with oppositional defiant disorder?

BackgroundThe Child Behavior Checklist Dysregulation Profile (CBCL-DP), (high scores in Anxious/Depressed, Attention Problems, and Aggressive Behavior subscales), has been related to poor emotional and behavioral self-regulation in children and adolescents. Our aim is to evaluate if it may be associated with auto-aggression in youth with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).MethodIn 72 consecutively referred youths with ODD, emotional dysregulation was assessed with the CBCL-DP, auto-aggression and physical aggression against other persons with the Modified Overt Aggression Scale. ResultsRegression analysis showed that greater higher CBCL-DP scores were associated to higher levels of auto-aggression, even when controlling for the levels of physical aggression against others and CBCL Total score. LimitationsThe small sample size, the cross-sectional design, and the lack of a control group limit the generalization of our findings. ConclusionsReferred ODD youths with higher scores of CBCL-DP are more likely to present auto-aggression, besides aggression against others. The CBCL could improve the screening and detection of these high-risk patients.

The relationship between physical aggression, foreign policy and moral choices: Phenotypic and genetic findings.

Previous work has demonstrated that both leaders and other individuals vary in dispositional levels of physical aggression, which are genetically influenced. Yet the importance of individual differences in aggression for attitudes toward foreign policy or context-laden moral choices, such as sacrificing the lives of some for the greater good of many, has yet to be fully explored. Given the global importance of such decisions, we undertook this exploration in a sample of 586 Australians, including 250 complete twin pairs. We found that individuals who scored higher on Buss-Perry's physical aggression scale were more likely to support aggressive foreign policy interventions and displayed a more utilitarian moral calculus than those who scored lower on this scale. Furthermore, we found that the majority of variance in physical aggression lay in genetic factors for men, whereas the majority of the variance was in environmental factors for women. The source of covariation between aggression and political choices also differed between the sexes. A combination of genetic and environmental factors accounted for most of the cross-trait correlations among males, whereas common and unique environmental factors accounted for most of the cross-trait correlations among females. We consider the implications of our results for understanding how trait measures of aggression are associated with foreign policy and moral choices, providing evidence for why and how individuals differ in responding to complex social dilemmas. Aggr. Behav. 43:37-46, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

International note: Maternal warmth, behavioral control, and psychological control: Relations to adjustment of Ghanaian early adolescents

This investigation addressed the relation between maternal warmth, behavioral control, psychological control, and psychological adjustment in a sample of 119 Ghanaian adolescents (42% boys) living in an urban area (mean age = 14.19). Adolescents in the sample reported clinically elevated levels of depression and anxiety. Significant associations were found between warmth, behavioral control, and psychological control and adolescents' anxiety, physical aggression, relational aggression, positive friendship quality, and conflict with friends. Warmth moderated the effect of behavioral control on anxiety, physical aggression, and relational aggression such that higher levels of warmth in combination with higher levels of behavioral control were related to more positive adjustment. Higher levels of warmth in conjunction with higher psychological control were related to higher levels of anxiety. Boys who reported lower levels of warmth in combination with higher behavioral control reported higher levels of physical aggression. For boys reporting higher levels of warmth, higher behavioral control was associated with lower physical aggression.

Aggression as risk factor of delinquent behaviour (gender aspect)

In many studies it is noted that common traits of aggressive adolescents are frustration, dissatisfaction with social environment; emotional coarseness, hostility against people around. Substance abuse leads to restructuring the motifs and gender roles. Heightened aggression of offenders as compared with common people is noted.ObjectiveTo study characteristics of aggression of male and female offenders with substance dependence.Materials and methodsOne hundred and fifty-five male and 110 female adolescents abusing psychoactive substances and serving their sentence were examined. “Hand-test” and Buss-Durkee questionnaire were used in this study.ResultsDuring comparison of number of offences committed by male and female adolescents, it was revealed that male adolescents commit significantly more crimes against life and female adolescents more crimes against property. Conducted analysis showed high level of aggressive and hostile reactions in this sample, indices of female adolescents (13.7 ± 2.95 and 27.6 ± 5.5) are significantly higher (P < 0.05), than in male adolescents (8.6 ± 2.8 and 23.6 ± 5.3). Significant correlations between level of aggression in female adolescents and beginning of substance use were revealed (r = 0.46, P < 0.05). In male adolescents, long-term substance use correlated with increase in level of physical aggression and tendency to manipulative behaviour (r = 0.37, P < 0.05). In male adolescents, high potential of adjustability, use of communication for self-assertion and achievement of goals, low level of attachment were revealed. Female adolescents are more aggressive in contacts, build relationships according to type of control-submission.DiscussionConducted study allowed revealing gender traits of juvenile offenders influencing the structure of aggressive behaviour, allowing the broadening the understanding of mechanisms of aggressive behaviour.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Bullying, Physical Aggression, Gender-Atypicality, and Sexual Orientation in Samoan Males

Bullying is characterized by the repeated attempts of a group or individual to gain social advantage by the use of relational, verbal, or physical aggression against a target, especially when there is a perceived or actual power imbalance (Espelage & Swearer, 2003). One consistent finding is that gay (i.e., androphilic) males report higher rates of victimization due to bullying in adolescence than their heterosexual (i.e., gynephilic) counterparts. Western data indicate that gender-atypical behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, is a key predictor of victimization due to bullying. Androphilic males generally display childhood gender-atypicality, including reduced levels of physical aggression, which may cause bullies to perceive them as "easy" targets. In order to test the associations between sexual orientation, childhood gender-atypicality, and recalled victimization due to bullying, a sample of Samoan gynephilic men (n=100) were compared to a group of Samoan transgender androphilic males (n=103), known as fa'afafine. Although the fa'afafine reported far more childhood gender-atypicality, the two groups did not differ significantly on measures of physical aggression or their reported rates of victimization due to bullying. Additionally, greater physical aggression, not gender-atypicality, was the only significant predictor of being bullied in both men and fa'afafine. These results suggest that there is nothing inherent in sexual orientation or childhood gender-atypicality that would potentiate victimization from bullying. Instead, the cultural context in which a bully functions influences the extent to which these are "acceptable" reasons to target certain individuals.

Prospective Links Between Friendship and Early Physical Aggression: Preliminary Evidence Supporting the Role of Friendship Quality Through a Dyadic Intervention

Positive friendships have been related to decreasing levels of children's physical aggression over time. While this evidence calls for interventions aimed at helping children build good-quality friendships, tests of causality through experimental manipulations are still needed. The goal of this study was to examine whether an intervention aimed to increase dyadic friendship quality could decrease children's physical aggression at the peer-group level over a school year. A total of 34 aggressive children and each child's best friend were randomly assigned to two groups: an experimental condition where the members in each dyad participated together in 12 weekly intervention sessions and a no-intervention control condition. Multiple sources were used to evaluate changes in friendship quality and children's physical aggression. Results showed an indirect effect of the intervention on decreasing levels of physical aggression through the improvement of one specific feature of friendship quality: conflict resolution. These results point to the usefulness of including this relational aspect in intervention programs targeting aggressive children.

Super Mario brothers and sisters: Associations between coplaying video games and sibling conflict and affection

Video games can be played in many different contexts. This study examined associations between coplaying video games between siblings and levels of affection and conflict in the relationship. Participants were 508 adolescents (M age = 16.31 years of age, SD = 1.08) who completed questionnaires on video game use and sibling relationships. Participants were recruited from a large Northwestern city and a moderate city in the Mountain West of the United States. Video games played between siblings were coded by an independent sample to assess levels of physical aggression and prosocial behavior in each game. Playing video games with a sibling was associated with higher levels of sibling affection for both boys and girls, but higher levels of conflict for boys only. Playing a violent video game with a brother was associated with lower levels of conflict in the sibling relationship, whereas playing a prosocial video game was not related to any sibling outcome. The value of video games in sibling relationships will be discussed, with a focus on the type of game and the sex of the adolescent.

Soccer players awarded one or more red cards exhibit lower 2D:4D ratios.

Anatomical, cognitive and behavioral sex differences are widely recognized in many species. It has been proposed that some of these differences might result from the organizing effects of prenatal sex steroids. In humans, males usually exhibit higher levels of physical aggression and prowess. In this study, we analyze the relationship between second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratios-a proxy for prenatal androgen levels-and foul play and sporting performance in a sample of junior soccer players from a professional Uruguayan soccer club. Our results show that the most aggressive players (i.e., those awarded one or more red cards) have a more masculine finger pattern (lower 2D:4D ratio), while no relationship could be found between sporting performance and 2D:4D ratios. The results are discussed in the context of previous findings. Aggr. Behav. 42:417-426, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anxiety and aggression in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders attending mainstream schools

This study investigated the link between anxiety and aggression in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) using self-report measures of anxiety and anger and teacher ratings of behaviour. Participants were 104 high school students aged 12–18: 52 students with ASDs, without intellectual disability, and their typically developing peers matched for age and gender. Students with ASDs who attend mainstream high schools reported higher levels of anxiety and reactive anger than their peers, were reported by their teachers to engage in more aggressive behaviours, and were at higher risk of being suspended from school. The results further suggested that social anxiety is a significant moderator of the relationship between autism and physical aggression. For ASD students, but not for the control students, there was a strong, positive relationship: higher levels of anxiety were associated with higher levels of physical aggression. However, ASD students with high anger control did not display physical aggression. Our results have implications for screening students for anxiety, the provision of interventions for managing anxiety and the development of anger management skills, and for the appropriateness of suspension as a mandatory response to incidents of physical aggression in schools.

Evidence That the Gene–Environment Interactions Underlying Youth Conduct Problems Vary Across Development

AbstractGene–environment interactions (G × E) are thought to constitute a core mechanism through which genes influence youth conduct problems. Although biometric G × E studies have yielded provocative leads, two interrelated issues have yet to be meaningfully considered. First, most work has been focused on the diathesis‐stress model of G × E, in which genetic risk is amplified following exposure to an environmental pathogen. Although this form of G × E appears to be important, other possible instantiations of G × E exist. For example, in bioecological G × E, deleterious environments amplify environmental influences on the outcome. Second, conduct problems change dramatically from childhood to adolescence in that high levels of physical aggression give way to high levels of nonaggressive delinquency. As such, researchers must consider development to understand G × E. I consider both of these issues in relation to one another to encourage additional research on the development of G × E.

Victimization due to bullying and physical aggression in Samoan men and women

In recent years, bullying has come into focus as a critically important social issue that demands empirical understanding to inform best practice regarding both intervention and prevention. In Western cultures, low physical aggression in boys, but high physical aggression in girls, predicts elevated victimization due to bullying, and we predicted that the same would be true cross-culturally. The present study sought to understand the role that physical aggression plays in victimization in Samoa, provide a prevalence estimate of the rate of bullying in the island nation, as well as validate the Forms of Bullying Scale (FBS; Shaw, Dooley, Cross, Zubrick, & Waters, 2013) in a cross-cultural context. In a sample of adult Samoan men and women (n=214), men reported elevated rates of verbal, physical, and overall rates of victimization due to bullying in childhood compared to women, but no sex differences emerged in levels of physical aggression. Additionally, the FBS showed appreciable reliability, as well as a latent factor structure consistent with the findings of the scale's authors. Prevalence of victimization due to bullying in Samoa is comparable to that reported by other authors conducting cross-cultural research on this topic.

Risk moderates the outcome of relationship education: A randomized controlled trial.

To test whether the effects of relationship education programs generalize across couples regardless of their baseline levels of risk for relationship distress, or whether intervention effects vary systematically as a function of risk. The former result would support primary prevention models; the latter result would support a shift toward secondary prevention strategies. Engaged and newlywed couples (N = 130) were randomized into 1 of 3 relationship education programs. Individual and relational risk factors assessed at baseline were tested as moderators of 3-year changes in relationship satisfaction, overall and in each of the 3 treatment conditions. Treatment effects varied as a function of risk, and more so with variables capturing relational risk factors than individual risk factors. High-risk couples (e.g., couples with lower levels of baseline commitment and satisfaction) tended to decline less rapidly in satisfaction than low-risk couples following treatment. Couples with acute concerns at baseline, including higher levels of physical aggression and alcohol use, benefitted less from intervention than couples without these concerns. Comparisons across treatment conditions indicate that couples with relatively high baseline satisfaction and commitment scores declined faster in satisfaction when assigned to an intensive skill-based intervention, as compared with a low-intensity intervention. Outcomes of skill-based relationship education differ depending on premarital risk factors. Efficient identification of couples at risk for adverse relationship outcomes is needed to refine future prevention efforts, and deploying prevention resources specifically to at-risk populations may be the most effective strategy for strengthening couples and families.

Physical and Psychological Aggression Toward a Child Among Homeless, Doubled-Up, and Other Low-Income Families

ABSTRACTThis study examines the extent of adverse parenting behaviors among low-income families with children and determines whether housing instability, measured by homelessness and doubling up with relatives or friends due to economic hardship, increases the likelihood of physical and psychological aggression toward a child, after considering the contribution of other relevant characteristics. Using data from 3 waves of the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, this study followed 2,332 low-income children in 20 large U.S. cities. Multivariate analyses involved logistic regression with generalized estimating equations. Adverse parenting behaviors were common among all low-income families regardless of whether they experienced housing instability. Nonetheless, mothers with a homeless or doubled-up episode reported higher rates of physically and psychologically aggressive behaviors toward a child compared with mothers in the housed group. Having a homeless episode was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of reporting a high level of physical aggression toward a child. Children's behavioral issues, maternal depression, and parental stress also contributed to adverse parenting behaviors. Findings suggest that housing instability can be a marker of adverse parenting behaviors and service professionals need to respond to parenting needs as well as housing needs for families in unstable housing. Areas of future research are discussed.

Can You Be Hit by Your Partner and Be Intensely in Love?

This study examines, in a multilevel context, the influence of intensity of love at an individual level on couples' mean reports of psychological and physical aggression in a sample of 2,988 adult couples of both sexes from the Region of Madrid. The percentages of intimate partner aggression considering the highest report of aggression in the couple were around 60% of psychological aggression and 15% of physical aggression. Multilevel models confirm that individuals who were less intensely in love reported a higher level of psychological aggression. Concerning physical aggression, men who declared they were less intensely in love reported a higher level of physical aggression by their partners, but this pattern was not found in the women. Therefore, psychological aggression plays a more relevant role in the intensity of love than physical aggression.

Physical aggression, compromised social support, and 10-year marital outcomes: Testing a relational spillover model.

The purpose of the present study was to test a relational spillover model of physical aggression whereby physical aggression affects marital outcomes due to its effects on how spouses ask for and provide support to one another. Newlywed couples (n = 172) reported levels of physical aggression over the past year and engaged in interactions designed to elicit social support; marital adjustment, and stability were assessed periodically over the first 10 years of marriage. Multilevel modeling revealed that negative support behavior mediated the relationship between physical aggression and 10-year marital adjustment levels whereas positive support behavior mediated the relationship between physical aggression and divorce status. These findings emphasize the need to look beyond conflict when explaining how aggression affects relationships and when working with couples with a history of physical aggression who are seeking to improve their relationships.