Nonaggressive Group Research Articles

Using Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations to Assess Cognitive Activity in Aggressive and Nonaggressive Adolescents

Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) is a “think aloud” method for examining a person's thought content as it unfolds in the situation. We used the ATSS to investigate the cognitive activity of aggressive and nonaggressive male and female adolescents as they listened to an audiotaped depiction of an ambiguous but provocative interaction with another student. Eighty-one adolescents participated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment. The two factors were gender and aggressive vs. nonaggressive background. Students in the aggressive group had a history of aggressive behavior in the past year that was severe enough to warrant their arrest or suspension from school. Students in the nonaggressive group had no such history. As a secondary measure of anger and aggressiveness, we administered the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2). As predicted, males, compared to females, expressed more aggressive intent on the ATSS. Likewise, aggressive, compared to nonaggressive, adolescents expressed more anger and aggressive intent on the ATSS, as well as more intense feelings of anger, less control over their anger, and a greater tendency to externalize angry feelings on the STAXI-2. As expected, scores on the ATSS were related to scores on the STAXI-2. We concluded that the ATSS is a useful method for assessing cognitive activity that may mediate aggressive behavior in adolescents.

Lack of seasonal rhythms in central serotonergic function in boys with ADHD.

This study examined seasonal variations in central 5-HT function in a relatively large sample of prepubertal boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In addition, seasonal differences in central 5-HT function among aggressive and non-aggressive children in the sample were explored. Ninety-three boys with ADHD were divided into aggressive (n=54) and nonaggressive (n=39) groups based on parental responses to interviews and ratings of behavior. Central 5-HT function was assessed by measuring the prolactin response to a single 1 mg/kg oral dose of d,l-fenfluramine. The prolactin values were derived from different children over the course of eight years, but were collapsed across years and analyzed in terms of day of the year. Cosinor analysis revealed no annual, bi-annual, 3-monthly, 2-monthly, monthly, or bi-monthly rhythms in the prolactin response in the entire sample of boys with ADHD. Moreover, there was no evidence of seasonal differences in the prolactin response between the aggressive and non-aggressive subgroups. These results indicate that seasonality-related variance is not a threat to the validity of the neurochemical procedure and does not account for the inconsistencies in the studies of central 5-HT and aggression in children with ADHD.

Deviant of diverse peer groups? The peer affiliations of aggressive elementary students.

This study examined peer affiliations of aggressive children in a sample of 948 students (496 girls, 452 boys) from 59 elementary classrooms (4th-6th grades). Groups were identified as zero aggressive, nonaggressive, aggressive, and mixed. The deviant peer group hypothesis was partially supported. Two thirds of aggressive boys and one half of aggressive girls were members of nonaggressive or mixed peer groups. Unpopular aggressive boys were most likely to be members of nonaggressive groups, whereas popular aggressive boys were most likely to be in aggressive and mixed groups. Aggressive and nonaggressive associates tended to be similar on key social characteristics (i.e., popularity, athleticism, leadership).

Reducing Boys' Aggression: Learning to Fulfill Basic Needs Constructively

This intervention attempted to reduce the aggressive behavior of aggressive boys by making them aware of methods they use to fulfill basic needs and helping them develop more constructive methods to do so. The intervention addressed the boys' cognitive tendencies, social skills, and relevant beliefs. Boys in the treatment group participated in role playing, videotaping, and structured discussion. Aggressive and nonaggressive groups differed on a preintervention measure of prosocial value orientation. Aggressive boys in the control and treatment groups differed on a postintervention measure of hostile attribution bias and, in one of the two participating schools, on counts of in-house suspensions.

Sexually aggressive and nonaggressive men: Sexual arousal and judgments in response to acquaintance rape and consensual analogues.

Self-identified sexually aggressive (SA) and nonaggressive (NA) college men listened to audiotape analogues of consensual sexual intercourse and acquaintance rape. Phallometric and decision-latency methodology was used to examine sexual arousal and decisions to stop sexual advances in each scenario. Both groups showed increases in penile response to the consensual scenario. Consistent with the inhibition model of sexual aggression, the SA group showed greater sexual arousal and failed to inhibit responding when force was introduced in the rape, whereas the NA group exhibited less arousal and greater inhibition to force. The SA group allowed the rape to continue significantly longer than the NA group. These effects were greatly magnified in SA men who endorsed high calloused sexual beliefs, implying that a cognitive set that justifies sexual aggression and lacks victim empathy may disinhibit sexual arousal and potentiate coercive decision making.

Attribution of intent and role-taking: cognitive factors as mediators of aggression with people who have mental retardation.

An assessment task was devised to explore the attributional style and role-taking ability of 22 aggressive and 22 nonaggressive adults with moderate to mild mental retardation. Aggressive participants showed a hostile bias in their interpretation of others' intentions towards themselves within ambiguous interpersonal situations, although no difference was found across groups within clearly provocative situations. Furthermore, the role-taking ability of the aggressive participants was superior to the nonaggressive group, undermining the focus on global problems of interpersonal understanding as a causal factor of aggression for people with mental retardation.

Differences in Alcohol Expectancy Between Aggressive and Nonaggressive Social Drinkers

Previous reports have shown that drinkers with aggressive personalities not only hold the strongest beliefs that alcohol facilitates aggressive behavior, but they also display the greatest increases in laboratory aggression after receiving alcohol. Given that several studies have demonstrated that a portion of the behavioral and subjective effects of alcohol are due to psychological expectancy, this study explored whether aggressive drinkers have elevated intoxication expectancies from laboratory beverages with unknown alcohol content. The rates of aggressive responses emitted in a money subtraction aggression model under baseline conditions were used to select an aggressive group and a nonaggressive group, each with five male and five female participants. Subjects then ingested and rated each of three placebo (1 ml alcohol) beverages administered hourly during a subsequent laboratory visit, and rated a series of three 0.35 g/kg of alcohol beverages the following day. Whereas nonaggressive subjects clearly discriminated the relative alcohol content of alcohol and placebo drinks, aggressive subjects gave progressively elevated shot equivalent ratings to placebo drinks, similar to their ratings of alcohol doses. However, despite similar self-reported drinking histories, aggressive subjects reported anticipating only half the intoxication from the alcohol doses (and in fact achieved a lower peak breath alcohol concentration) than was expected by nonaggressive subjects.

Differences in Alcohol Expectancy Between Aggressive and Nonaggressive Social Drinkers

Previous reports have shown that drinkers with aggressive personalities not only hold the strongest beliefs that alcohol facilitates aggressive behavior, but they also display the greatest increases in laboratory aggression after receiving alcohol. Given that several studies have demonstrated that a portion of the behavioral and subjective effects of alcohol are due to psychological expectancy, this study explored whether aggressive drinkers have elevated intoxication expectancies from laboratory beverages with unknown alcohol content. The rates of aggressive responses emitted in a money subtraction aggression model under baseline conditions were used to select an aggressive group and a nonaggressive group, each with five male and five female participants. Subjects then ingested and rated each of three placebo (1 ml alcohol) beverages administered hourly during a subsequent laboratory visit, and rated a series of three 0.35 g/kg of alcohol beverages the following day. Whereas nonaggressive subjects clearly discriminated the relative alcohol content of alcohol and placebo drinks, aggressive subjects gave progressively elevated shot equivalent ratings to placebo drinks, similar to their ratings of alcohol doses. However, despite similar self-reported drinking histories, aggressive subjects reported anticipating only half the intoxication from the alcohol doses (and in fact achieved a lower peak breath alcohol concentration) than was expected by nonaggressive subjects.

Aggressive behaviour in schizophrenia: the role of psychopathology.

The aim of this study was to determine the psychopathological correlates of aggressive behaviour in schizophrenia. Thirty-one aggressive patients in rehabilitation wards meeting DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia were compared with 31 matched non-aggressive patients in relation to their psychopathology using the Clinical Global Index (CGI), Positive and Negative Symptoms scale (PANSS) and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. The aggressive group had significantly higher CGI, positive symptom, negative symptom, general psychopathology and total PANSS scores than the non-aggressive group. The two groups could be distinguished by three sets of symptoms: symptoms with verbal or/and physical aggression as part of their definition; symptoms suggesting frontal lobe impairment; and excitement. The two groups did not differ in their level of depressive symptomatology. The aggressive group were overall more ill than the non-aggressive group, and the former could be distinguished from the latter by certain aspects of their psychopathology.

Couple communication patterns of maritally aggressive and nonaggressive male alcoholics.

This study was conducted to examine the associations between communication problems and marital violence in couples with a male alcoholic, and to determine whether the communication correlates of marital violence found in nonalcoholic community samples also characterize male alcoholics' relationships. Ninety newly abstinent treatment-seeking male alcoholics and their wives completed a 10-minute problem discussion while both partners were sober. Their communication behaviors were coded with the Marital Interaction Coding system. Couples were separated into maritally aggressive (n = 60 couples) and nonaggressive (n = 30 couples) groups on the basis of any husband-to-wife physical aggression in the previous 12 months. The base-rate percentage of aversive-defensive communication was significantly higher for couples with a physically aggressive husband than for couples with a nonaggressive husband. The base-rate percentage of facilitative-enhancing communication did not differ significantly between groups. In sequential analyses, physically aggressive husbands, but not their wives, displayed more negative reciprocity than their nonaggressive counterparts. Alcoholic husbands in general displayed lower rates of facilitative-enhancing communication than did their wives. Husband-to-wife marital aggression was associated with problematic communication among couples with an alcoholic husband during a sober interaction in a laboratory setting, extending prior nonalcoholic community sample research to male alcoholics' relationships. The maritally aggressive alcoholics were high in negative responses contingent upon their wives' prior negative behavior, and were unlikely to terminate aversive interchanges. Communication problems may be important in understanding and treating co-occurring alcoholism and marital violence.

Aggressive behaviour and platelet 3H-paroxetine binding in schizophrenia

Forty schizophrenic patients were included in a study of the relationship between serotonin function as measured by 3H-paroxetine binding to platelet membranes and aggressive behaviour. Patients classified as either aggressive or non-aggressive were paired by age, sex and duration of illness. 3H-Paroxetine binding variations were avoided by taking samples for each pair between 09:00 and 11:00 h, within 4 days of each other, and by assaying pairs of samples together. The mean K d for the aggressive group was 0.193 ± 0.126 nM and the mean K d for the non-aggressive group was 0.176+0.164 nM. The mean B max for the aggressive group was 1451 ±386 fmol/mg protein while the mean for the non-aggressive group was 1549 ± 375 fmol/mg protein. There was no significant difference between the groups for either parameter, K d or B max. There were no significant correlations between psychopathology ratings including positive and negative symptoms, depression, suicidal thoughts, impulse control, as well as both past and present history of aggression, hostility and irritability traits, psychopathic deviance and either B max and K d. This study finds no relationship between aggressive behaviour and peripheral serotonin function as measured by 3H-paroxetine binding to platelet membranes.

Aggressive behaviour and extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptics in schizophrenia.

The objective of this study was to determine whether extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptics are associated with aggressive behaviour in schizophrenia. Thirty-one physically aggressive patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia were compared with 31 matched non-aggressive patients in relation to their extrapyramidal side effects, including drug-induced parkinsonian (DIP) symptoms, akathisia and tardive dyskinesia. The aggressive group had significantly more severe DIP side effects than the non-aggressive group, but the association disappeared when level of psychopathology was controlled for. The aggressive group had more severe akathisia than the non-aggressive group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The two groups did not suffer in the severity of tardive dyskinesia. There was no significant, independent effect of extrapyramidal symptoms on aggressive behaviour in our sample of schizophrenic patients.

Continuous performance test in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Methylphenidate does response and relations with observed behaviors

Used frequently in the assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), continuous performance tests (CPTs) still lack sufficient empirical support for such use. Recently developed inattention, impulsivity, and dyscontrol scores incorporate both error speed and error type. Our study of 23 boys with ADHD and 15 comparison boys (6-12 years old), replicated findings that the inattention and dyscontrol indices, but not the impulsivity index, discriminate the ADHD and non-ADHD groups. The impulsivity index, however, discriminated aggressive from nonaggressive groups among the youngsters with ADHD. The dose response patterns of the CPT error scores to stimulant medication were similar to those for naturalistically observed aggression and noncompliance. As for external validity, the CPT scores were weakly related to dimensional measures of observed aggression, but unrelated to observed noncompliance. Although between-group differences were clear in the group data, the CPT revealed adequate specific...

Aggressive Boys' Hostile Perceptual and Response Biases: The Role of Attention and Impulsivity

The present study addressed whether (1) aggressive boys show hostile biases or general deficits in social perception, (2) aggressive boys' social perceptual difficulties also characterize isolate and isolate-aggressive children, (3) aggressive, isolate, and isolate-aggressive boys' social perceptual difficulties are attributable to inattention and impulsivity, and (4) aggressive and nonaggressive boys differ in the links between social perception and proposed behavioral responses. Aggressive boys demonstrated hostile biases, but not general deficits, in intention-cue detection relative to average-status boys. Isolate-aggressive boys resembled aggressive boys in social perception, whereas isolate boys showed mild deficits relative to average-status boys. Although isolates' general deficits were predominantly accounted for by inattention and impulsivity, aggressives' and isolate-aggressives' hostile biases remained after these problems were statistically controlled. The aggressive groups proposed aggressive responses much more frequently than the nonaggressive groups following intentions perceived as nonhostile. Measures corresponding to several stages of Dodge's social information processing model discriminated the aggressive from nonaggressive groups, thus providing support for this model.

Aggression among psychiatric inpatients in Greece.

We studied, during 5 consecutive days, the prevalence, types and demographic, historical and clinical correlates of overt aggression in a population of 136 acute and chronic inpatients with mainly a diagnosis of psychotic disorder. Almost one fourth of them exhibited some sort of aggressive behavior. Verbal aggression was by far the most frequent type followed-in decreasing order-by physical aggression, aggression against property and self-aggression. Past threats of violence and attacks on others as well as concurrent motor excitement, agitation, low tolerance of frustration, difficulty in delaying gratification, depressive feelings, anger, hostility, affective lability and antisocial behavior differed significantly across the aggressive and the nonaggressive groups. The best short-term clinical predictors of aggression were different for each type, anger being their sole common predictor, and accounted for various proportions of the corresponding variances ranging from only 13.3% for self-aggression to 39.2% for verbal aggression.

Correlation between proliferating index and prognostic factors in papillary cystic tumors of the pancreas

Fifteen cases of papillary cystic tumor of the pancreas (PCTP) were studied (14 female patients, one male patient; mean age: 23.5 years). Most tumors developed in the head of the pancreas as a well circumscribed large mass. The tumor had a mean diameter of 6.7 cm(range; 2 to 15 cm). Histopathologically abundant delicate papillary fragments, monomorphic tumor cells and degenerative changes of the solid area of the tumor were characteristic. All but two cases had completely circumscribed capsules. Two cases had duodenal invasion; one of all cases had cul de sac metastasis. Compared with 12 non-aggressive tumors, the aggressive cases had larger tumor size (more than 9 cm) with a thicker capsule (more than 2 mm). In studies to investigate the prognostic index using nucleolar organizing region (NOR), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and flow cytometry as well as nuclear grade and mitotic index, we could not find the useful parameter to detect the malignant potential of PCTP. In the flow cytometric analysis of cellular DNA contents, two invasive cases and the only one case of the male patient among the non-aggressive group were aneuploid. In conclusion, although it is hard to predict the prognosis by microscopic findings only, those with a thick capsule and aneuploidy tend to be related to malignant potential.

Hormonal and metabolic responses during psychosocial stimulation in aggressive and nonaggressive rats.

The physiological effects of a psychosocial threat (the mere presence of a potentially antagonist individual in the home cage) were studied in aggressive and nonaggressive rats. Aggressive animals spent a significantly longer time with the investigation of the opponent compared with the nonaggressive group. An increase in plasma epinephrine and corticosterone was noticed both in aggressive and nonaggressive animals. Ir beta-endorphin increased significantly only in nonfighters. Glycemia was slightly larger in nonaggressives, while lactaemia increased in both groups. The possibility is discussed that differences in psychosocial stress response may be involved in the regulation of behavior in a real encounter.

TESTOSTERONE AND AGGRESSION

The evolutionary context of a possible link between testosterone and human aggressiveness is outlined. Age and sex differences in the two variables parallel one another, but are confounded by other influences. Studies comparing aggressive and non-aggressive groups (e.g., violent prisoners) show higher testosterone levels in the former. Correlations between the two variables in selected and unselected saniples are positive; they are relatively high (0.38 overall) where behavioral assessments of aggressiveness have been used, and low where trait measures were involved. There is limited evidence for a strong association between testosterone and aggressiveness during adolescence. Other studies indicate that testosterone levels are responsive to influences from the social environment, particularly those related to status and anger. Influences between testosterone and aggression may therefore operate in both directions. There is limited evidence that aggressiveness changes when testosterone levels are manipulated. Three different theoretical models which seek to explain these findings are outlined, and their imlplications for treatment and rehabilitation of violent offenders are discussed.

Lack of self-monitoring competency in aggressive schizophrenics

Scores in 2 self-report personality questionnaires for 13 aggressive and 13 non-aggressive schizophrenic patients (AS and NAS) were compared to 13 healthy controls (HC), matched for age, and with similar educational background. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ, with 20 extra impulsiveness items yielding 114 items, 5 scales) and the Karolinska Scales of Personality (135 items, 15 subscales) were given. Premorbidly, the AS group had psychopathic as well as aggressive traits. The AS group perceived themselves as very similar to the HC group, in contrast to the NAS patients who seemed to be more aware of their problems. The most note-worthy finding was that the extremely aggressive and dangerous AS patients did not differ from the non-aggressive groups in terms of ratings of aggressiveness. The findings were interpreted as a lack of self-monitoring competency of the AS group, possibly related to other signs of frontal lobe dysfunction.

Aggressive clinical pattern of angina at restenosis following coronary angioplasty in unstable angina

The frequency, clinical pattern, and timing of recurrent angina following successful single-lesion percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was assessed in a consecutive group of 104 patients with stable angina and in 85 with unstable angina. In addition, the relationship between lesion morphology and angiographic features and the pattern of recurrent angina was determined. Restenosis, defined as recurrence of symptoms with >50% stenosis at the site of PTCA, occurred in 25 (24%) of the stable group and in 23 (27%) of the unstable group ( p = NS). The pattern of angina at repeat presentation was aggressive in nature in 8% of the stable group and in 48% of the unstable group ( p = 0.002). The time interval between the recurrence of symptoms and repeat coronary angiogram or PTCA was longer in the nonaggressive group than in the aggressive group, 16 ± 12.1 and 5 ± 6.8 weeks, respectively ( p < 0.003). The key factors predicting the recurrent angina pattern identified by multiple logistic regression analysis were the angina status pre-PTCA ( p = 0.001) and the presence of double-vessel disease ( p = 0.01). An aggressive pattern of angina at the time of restenosis is frequent in patients with unstable angina at the time of PTCA, and close post-PTCA surveillance is necessary in these patients.