Levels Of Reactive Aggression Research Articles

Neural Correlates of Reactive Aggression in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Despite not being part of the core diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotion dysregulation is a highly prevalent and clinically important component of (adult) ADHD. Emotionally dysregulated behaviors such as reactive aggression have a significant impact on the functional outcome in ADHD. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying reactive aggression in ADHD. In this study, we aimed to identify the neural correlates of reactive aggression as a measure of emotionally dysregulated behavior in adults with persistent ADHD during implicit emotion regulation processes. We analyzed associations of magnetic resonance imaging-based whole-brain activity during a dynamic facial expression task with levels of reactive aggression in 78 adults with and 78 adults without ADHD, and also investigated relationships of reactive aggression with symptoms and impairments. While participants with ADHD had higher reactive aggression scores than controls, the neural activation patterns of both groups to processing of emotional faces were similar. However, investigating the brain activities associated with reactive aggression in individuals with and without ADHD showed an interaction of diagnosis and reactive aggression scores. We found high levels of activity in the right insula, the hippocampus, and middle and superior frontal areas to be particularly associated with high reactive aggression scores within the ADHD group. Furthermore, the limbic activity was associated with more hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms. These results suggest a partly differential mechanism associated with reactive aggression in ADHD as compared to controls. Emotional hyper-reactivity in the salience network as well as more effortful top–down regulation from the self-regulation network might contribute to emotionally dysregulated behavior as measured by reactive aggression.

The influence of relationship closeness and desire for forgiveness on interpersonal forgiveness

This study aimed to investigate the moderating effect of the desire for forgiveness on the association between relationship closeness and interpersonal forgiveness using event-related potentials (ERPs). We recruited forty student participants (20 males and 20 females) to complete the modified Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP), which was used to induce the offensive experience and record the victim's level of reactive aggression toward the offenders. Results indicated that for the internal intention of forgiveness behavior, when the desire for forgiveness was not expressed, participants were more forgiving of close offenders than strangers; when the desire for forgiveness was expressed, the internal intention of forgiveness behavior for strangers was similar to that for close offenders. Regarding the external performance of forgiveness behavior, whether the offender expressed the desire for forgiveness or not, participants exhibited more external performance of forgiveness behaviors toward the close offenders than the strangers. Furthermore, the decision-related negativity (DRN)—a negative component associated with aggressiveness—was larger when participants were considering the punishment of strangers when no desire for forgiveness was expressed. There was no significant difference when the desire for forgiveness was expressed. Moreover, the feedback-related negativity (FRN)—a negative component reflecting the evaluation of the valence of an outcome—was larger when participants lost a trial against strangers when no desire for forgiveness was expressed. No such difference was observed in both opponents when the desire for forgiveness was expressed. These findings confirmed that the desire for forgiveness moderated the association between relationship closeness and interpersonal forgiveness.

Modulation of Amygdala Response by Cognitive Conflict in Adolescents with Conduct Problems and Varying Levels of CU Traits

Adolescents with conduct problems and low callous-unemotional traits are characterised by high levels of reactive aggression. Prior studies suggest that they can have exaggerated neural and behavioural responses to negative emotional stimuli, accompanied by compromised affect regulation and atypical engagement of prefrontal areas during cognitive control. This pattern may in part explain their symptoms. Clarifying how neurocognitive responses to negative emotional stimuli can be modulated in this group has potential translational relevance. We present fMRI data from a cognitive conflict task in which the requirement to visually scan emotional (vs. calm) faces was held constant across low and high levels of cognitive conflict. Participants were 17 adolescent males with conduct problems and low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/LCU); 17 adolescents with conduct problems and high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU, who typically show blunted reactivity to fear), and 18 typically developing controls (age range 10–16). Control participants showed typical attenuation of amygdala response to fear relative to calm faces under high (relative to low) conflict, replicating previous findings in a healthy adult sample. In contrast, children with CP/LCU showed a reduced (left amygdala) or reversed (right amygdala) attenuation effect under high cognitive conflict conditions. Children with CP/HCU did not differ from controls. Findings suggest atypical modulation of amygdala response as a function of task demands, and raise the possibility that those with CP/LCU are unable to implement typical regulation of amygdala response when cognitive task demands are high.

Community Violence Exposure and Youth Aggression: The Moderating Role of Working Memory.

Community violence exposure (CVE) is associated with aggression among youth, particularly those who reside in low-income, urban neighborhoods. However, not all youth who experience CVE exhibit aggression. Working memory (WM) difficulties may interfere with attributions or retrieval of nonaggressive responses, suggesting that individual differences in WM may contribute to proactive and/or reactive aggression among youth who experience CVE. Participants were 104 low-income, urban youth (M = 9.92 ± 1.22years old; 50.5% male; 95% African American). Youth reported on frequency of direct victimization and witnessing of violence in the community and completed two WM tasks. Teachers reported on youth proactive and reactive aggression. WM moderated the relation between direct victimization and proactive and reactive aggression, and between witnessing violence and reactive aggression. Among youth reporting less frequent victimization and witnessing, lower WM was associated with higher levels of proactive and reactive aggression. Among youth reporting more frequent direct victimization, lower WM was associated with higher levels of proactive aggression. Proactive and reactive aggression levels were similar among youth reporting more frequent witnessing regardless of WM levels. WM represents a potential target for early identification and intervention efforts to reduce reactive and proactive aggression among low-income, urban youth who are at elevated risk for CVE.

Association between depression and hostile attribution bias in hostile and non-hostile individuals: An ERP study

BackgroundHostility and aggression have been found to be highly prevalent among depressed patients and are associated with higher comorbidity and illness severity levels. Although negative interpretation biases are a fundamental element of cognitive models of depression, few studies have examined the specific biases in information processing, mainly the hostile attribution bias, found in hostile individuals who present depressive symptoms. MethodUsing pre-collected data from a sample of 72 (male=41,6%, female=58,3%) undergraduate and community-based hostile (n = 26) and non-hostile (n = 46) adult participants, the authors aimed to examine the association between depression and the hostile attribution bias by determining whether depression level scores were uniquely related to electrophysiological measures of the hostile attribution bias. ResultsThe hostile group showed higher measured levels of depression and reactive aggression compared to the non-hostile group. Also, depression scores were significant predictors of the N400 effect in the non-hostile task condition, while reactive aggression was not, whereas in the hostile condition, the overall model was significant, with depression and reactive aggression levels both showing strong trends towards significance. LimitationsA small sample size limited the scope of our conclusions. Also, sample selection prevented us from examining specific group differences regarding the hostile attribution bias in depressed and non-depressed groups. ConclusionClinical and research implications include the necessity to apply cognitive restructuring techniques to counter biased interpretation processes in settings where depression and aggression intersect, and the need to consider alternatives to self-evaluative methodologies.

Validation of a monetary Taylor Aggression Paradigm: Associations with trait aggression and role of provocation sequence

The Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) is widely used to measure reactive aggression in laboratory settings. While modified versions (mTAPs) with various stimulus characteristics (shocks, noise, pressure, heat) have already been established, a modified version with monetary stimuli has only been introduced very recently. In this experiment, 209 young healthy participants (104 males, 105 females) completed a mock Competitive Reaction Time Task (CRTT) with a fictional opponent with preprogrammed 40 win and 60 lose trials. In lose trials, participants were provoked by subtracting a low (0–20 euro cents), medium (30–60 cents) or high (70–90 cents) amount of money from their fictitious account. Provocation stimuli were either presented randomly or in a fixed sequence (experimental conditions). In contrast to a random sequence, the fixed sequence was generated by repeating trials from the same provocation category in series of three. Linear mixed models (LMMs) considering aggression trajectories revealed significant effects of provocation (low, medium, high) and trait aggression (K-FAF) on reactive aggression. Men showed significantly higher reactive aggression levels than women. In regard to provocation sequence, we found no significant difference in reactive aggression between the random vs. fixed stimulus sequences. The findings provide new evidence supporting the view that the monetary mTAP is able to induce as well as capture reactive aggression in the laboratory. Additionally, we found no advantage of a fixed sequence as the level of reactive aggression in a given trial appeared to be mainly predicted by the preceding provocation trial.

Associations Between Proactive and Reactive Aggression and Risky Sexual Behavior Among Emerging Adults

ABSTRACTThis study examined associations between proactive and reactive aggression and types of risky sexual behavior. Additionally, gender was examined as a moderator of these associations. The sample included emerging adults (N = 232; male = 132) ranging from 18 to 25 years of age. Of the overall sample, 155 individuals (53.5% male) reported engaging in sexual intercourse. Proactive, but not reactive, aggression was uniquely associated with 4 types of risky sexual behavior (i.e., ever engaging in sexual intercourse, number of lifetime sexual partners, number of partners within past 3 months, and frequency of contraception use). Further, associations with number of sexual partners were strongest when levels of reactive aggression were low. With regard to gender differences, proactive aggression was associated with lower likelihood of contraception use in males. Gender also moderated the association between reactive aggression and number of lifetime sexual partners. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Assessing Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Detained Adolescents Outside of a Research Context.

The Reactive Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) is a self-report tool for assessing reactive aggression (RA) and proactive aggression (PA). This study contributes to the literature by testing the psychometric properties of the RPQ across detained boys from various ethnicities whilst using data that were gathered during clinical assessments. The factorial, convergent, and criterion validity, and the internal consistency of the RPQ scores received strong support in the total sample and across four ethnicity groups. Also, three groups of boys were identified, with the group including boys with high levels of both RA and PA including the most severe boys in terms of anger, delinquency, alcohol/drug use, and psychopathic traits, and having the highest prevalence rate of conduct disorder and substance use disorder. Together, these findings suggest that the RPQ may hold promise for assessing RA and PA in detained boys, even when confidentiality and anonymity of the information is not guaranteed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10578-015-0553-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Aggression can be contagious: Longitudinal associations between proactive aggression and reactive aggression among young twins.

The present study examined sibling influence over reactive and proactive aggression in a sample of 452 same-sex twins (113 male dyads, 113 female dyads). Between and within siblings influence processes were examined as a function of relative levels of parental coercion and hostility to test the hypothesis that aggression contagion between twins occurs only among dyads who experience parental coerciveness. Teacher reports of reactive and proactive aggression were collected for each twin in kindergarten (M = 6.04 years; SD = 0.27) and in first grade (M = 7.08 years; SD = 0.27). Families were divided into relatively low, average, and relatively high parental coercion-hostility groups on the basis of maternal reports collected when the children were 5 years old. In families with relatively high levels of parental coercion-hostility, there was evidence of between-sibling influence, such that one twin's reactive aggression at age 6 predicted increases in the other twin's reactive aggression from ages 6 to 7, and one twin's proactive aggression at age 6 predicted increases in the other twin's proactive aggression from ages 6 to 7. There was also evidence of within-sibling influence such that a child's level of reactive aggression at age 6 predicted increases in the same child's proactive aggression at age 7, regardless of parental coercion-hostility. The findings provide new information about the etiology of reactive and proactive aggression and individual differences in their developmental interplay.

Being hot-tempered: Autonomic, emotional, and behavioral distinctions between childhood reactive and proactive aggression

Reactive aggression (RA) is an angry response to perceived provocation. Proactive aggression (PA) is a pre-meditated act used to achieve some goal. This study test hypotheses that (1) individuals high in RA and PA will differ in resting levels of autonomic arousal and (2) RA will be related to emotional and behavioral problems, while PA only to behavioral problems. Parents of 68 children (age 6–13) reported on child symptoms, reactive/proactive aggression, and behavior problems. Resting heart rate (HR), skin conductance (SC), and HR variability (HRV) were measured in 42 of the children. RA was significantly related to decreased HRV and a trend for decreased SC, while PA was significantly related to increased SC and HRV. RA was significantly related to increased internalizing behaviors and attention deficits, while PA was significantly related to increased hyperactivity/impulsivity and delinquent behavior problems. Findings support a distinction between child reactive (hot-tempered) and proactive (cold-tempered) aggression in autonomic, emotional (i.e., internalizing problems), and behavioral (i.e., attention deficits, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and delinquent behavior) functioning, and are discussed in relation to theories of antisocial behavior.