Reactive Aggression Scores Research Articles

Are all types of empathy associated with lower aggression in athletes? A cross-sectional study on Iranian athletes

BackgroundThis study aimed to evaluate the association between cognitive and affective empathy and aggression in a sample of Iranian athletes.MethodsWe designed a cross-sectional study. The participants were selected by multistage random sampling among six colleges in Tehran, Iran’s capital. We used the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI) to evaluate empathy, and Reactive Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, and the Buss–Perry aggression questionnaire to evaluate aggression.ResultsIn total, 492 athletes with a mean age of 27.42 years (SD = 7.72) participated in the study, of which 298 (60.6%) were male, and 194 (39.4%) were female. IRI’s fantasy and personal distress subscales scores were positively associated with proactive and reactive aggression scores (p < 0.05). The score of the perspective-taking subscale of IRI was negatively associated with proactive and reactive aggression scores (p < 0.05). The score of the empathic concern subscale of IRI had a negative association with the proactive aggression score (p < 0.001). The score of the perspective-taking subscale of IRI had negative associations with all Buss–Perry aggression questionnaire subscales’ scores (p < 0.05). The score of the personal distress subscale of IRI had positive associations with all Buss–Perry aggression questionnaire subscales’ scores (p < 0.05), except with the verbal aggression subscale score. The score of the fantasy subscale of IRI was positively associated with the score of the hostility subscale of the Buss–Perry questionnaire (p = 0.001).ConclusionPerspective-taking is negatively associated with all kinds of aggression in athletes. Future studies can be conducted to determine the possible role of perspective-taking in preventive aggression, which can be a target for interventions. On the other hand, the score of the personal distress subscale of IRI is positively associated with all types of aggression scores, indicating that not all types of empathy inhibit aggression in athletes.

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 Effect of Emotion Regulation Skills Psychoeducation Program on Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Reactive-Proactive Aggressions of Adolescents

This study was carried out to examine the effect of emotion regulation skills psycho-education program on emotion regulation difficulties and reactive-proactive aggression of adolescents. The research group of this study, which was formed by using a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest, experimental and control groups, consisted of 22 high school students, 11 of whom were in experimental group and 11 students were in control group. The study was completed as 9 people in the experimental group and 11 people in the control group. Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Reactive-Proactive Aggression Scale and “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researchers were used as data collection tools. Nine-week psycho-education program prepared by the researcher was applied to the experimental group once a week. No action was taken in the control group. According to the results, it was observed that after the intervention, the difficulty of emotion regulation and reactive aggression scores of the individuals in the experimental group differed significantly from the control group. In addition, it was determined that the effect of the training program continued after two months according to the results of the follow-up test.

Alcohol Use Disorder and Cannabis Use Disorder Symptomatology in Adolescents and Aggression: Associations With Recruitment of Neural Regions Implicated in Retaliation

BackgroundAlcohol and cannabis are commonly used by adolescents in the United States. Both alcohol use disorder (AUD) and cannabis use disorder (CUD) have been associated with an increased risk of aggression. One form of aggression seen during retaliation is reactive aggression to social provocation. This study investigated the association between AUD and CUD symptom severity and recruitment of neural regions implicated in retaliation. MethodsIn this study, 102 youths aged 13–18 years (67 male; 84 in residential care) completed self-report measures of aggression-related constructs and participated in a retaliation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the association between relative severity of AUD/CUD and atypical recruitment of regions implicated in retaliation. ResultsAUD Identification Test scores were positively associated with irritability and reactive aggression scores. CUD Identification Test scores were positively associated with callous-unemotional traits and both proactive and reactive aggression scores. In functional magnetic resonance imaging analyses, only AUD Identification Test (not CUD Identification Test) scores were associated with an exaggerated recruitment of regions implicated in retaliation (dorsomedial frontal, anterior insula cortices, caudate, and, to a lesser extent, periaqueductal gray). ConclusionsThese data suggest that relative severity of AUD is associated with a disinhibited, exaggerated retaliation response that relates to an increased risk for reactive aggression. Similar findings were not related to severity of CUD.

Early childhood head injury attenuates declines in impulsivity and aggression across adolescent development in twins.

Head injury during development has been associated with behavioral changes such as impulsivity and antisocial behavior. This study investigates the extent to which behavioral changes associated with childhood head injury are sustained through adolescence and emerging adulthood. Survey data was collected at 5 waves spanning 12 years (ages 9-20) from the University of Southern California Risk Factors for Antisocial Behavior twin study. Impulsivity was measured by errors of commission in a Go/NoGo behavioral task, and aggression was measured through youth self-report using the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. Head injury was assessed retrospectively using caregiver questionnaires at twin ages 14-15 years and self-reported at ages 19-20 years. Participants with a head injury in early childhood showed significant delay in the normative developmental decline of impulsivity relative to the noninjured by mid-adolescence (ages 14-15.) Moreover, earlier age at injury was related to a slower decrease in impulsivity and greater increase in reactive aggression scores. Finally, among discordant monozygotic twin pairs, the twin with a head injury experienced significantly less decline in impulsivity by ages 19-20 than the noninjured co-twin. These findings indicate early childhood head injury may play a significant role in blunting the decline in impulsivity across development, exposing an additional risk factor for antisocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Reducing reactive aggression in schoolchildren through child, parent, and conjoint parent-child group interventions: An efficacy study of longitudinal outcomes.

This study was the first to evaluate the effectiveness of three different group interventions to reduce children's reactive aggression based on the social information processing (SIP) model. In the first stage of screening, 3,734 children of Grades 4-6 completed the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) to assess their reactive and proactive aggression. Respondents with a total score of z≥1 on the RPQ were shortlisted for the second stage of screening by qualitative interview. Interviews with 475 children were conducted to select those who showed reactive aggression featuring a hostile attributional bias. Finally, 126 children (97 males and 29 females) aged 8 to 14 (M=9.71, SD=1.23) were selected and randomly assigned to one of the three groups: a child group, a parent group, and a parent-child group. A significant Time×Intervention effect was found for general and reactive aggression. The parent-child group and child group showed a significant drop in general aggression and reactive aggression from posttest to 6-month follow-up, after controlling for baseline scores, sex, and age. However, the parent group showed no treatment effect: reactive aggression scores were significantly higher than those in the child group at 6-month follow-up. This study has provided strong evidence that children with reactive aggression need direct and specific treatment to reconstruct the steps of the SIP involving the selection and interpretation of cues. The intervention could help to prevent severe violent crimes at the later stage of a reactive aggressor.

Commentary: Conduct disorder and perceiving harm to others - a reflection on Michalska etal. (2016).

The study by Michalska etal. () reported in this issue of JCPP focused on how children with conduct disorder (CD) process harm to other people. Many children with CD lack empathy for their victims and this behavioural profile has encouraged the investigation of potential underpinnings of atypical empathy in this group. Michalska etal. () administered an fMRI task depicting harm to other people to a large sample of children with CD and typically developing peers. The authors found that CD symptom severity and degree of callousness were negatively associated with right posterior insula response to other people experiencing harm. Furthermore, CD and callousness ratings were negatively associated with anterior insula, anterior midcingulate cortex and posterior superior temporal sulcus response to intentional harm. Reactive aggression scores, in contrast, were associated with increased positive insula reactivity when processing harm to others. Finally, the authors reported a sex difference in the engagement of brain areas associated with computations of intentionality when children processed intentional harm. In females (but not males) with CD, higher CD symptomatology was associated with lower activity in pSTS and middle frontal gyrus (MFG). This study is novel in focusing on a preadolescent sample of children and testing for sex differences in the neural underpinnings of conduct disorder (CD) symptomatology. We look forward to further work in this area and are certain that the important study by Michalska etal. () will motivate a host of new investigations that help us uncover the neural underpinnings of CD.

Brain response to viewing others being harmed in children with conduct disorder symptoms.

Deficient empathic processing is thought to foster conduct disorder (CD). It is important to determine the extent to which neural response associated with perceiving harm to others predicts CD symptoms and callous disregard for others. A total of 107 9- to 11-year-old children (52 female) were recruited from pediatric and mental health clinics, representing a wide range of CD symptoms. Children were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing brief video clips of persons being harmed intentionally or accidentally. Perceiving harm evoked increased hemodynamic response in the anterior insula (aINS), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, periaqueductal gray (PAG), caudate, and inferior parietal lobe (IPL) across all participants. Intentionally caused, relative to unintentional harm was associated with greater activity in the aINS, amygdala, and temporal pole. There was an inverse association of number of CD symptoms with right posterior insula in both the Harm>No Harm and the Intentional>Unintentional Harm contrasts. Furthermore, an inverse association between callousness and posterior insula activation was found in the Harm>No Harm contrast, with the opposite pattern for reactive aggression scores. An interaction revealed a stronger association in girls between CD symptoms and the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) in the Intentional Harm versus Unintentional Harm contrast. Children with greater CD and callousness exhibit dampened hemodynamic response to viewing others being harmed in the insula, a region which plays a key role in empathy and emotional awareness. Sex differences in the neural correlates of CD were observed.

“Latent” infection with Toxoplasma gondii: Association with trait aggression and impulsivity in healthy adults

BackgroundLatent chronic infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), a common neurotropic pathogen, has been previously linked with suicidal self-directed violence (SSDV). We sought to determine if latent infection with T. gondii is associated with trait aggression and impulsivity, intermediate phenotypes for suicidal behavior, in psychiatrically healthy adults. MethodsTraits of aggression and impulsivity were analyzed in relationship to IgG antibody seropositivity for T. gondii and two other latent neurotropic infections, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) and cytomegalovirus (CMV). One thousand community-residing adults residing in the Munich metropolitan area with no Axis I or II conditions by SCID for DSM-IV (510 men, 490 women, mean age 53.6 ± 15.8, range 20–74). Plasma samples were tested for IgG antibodies to T. gondii, HSV-1 and CMV by ELISA. Self-reported ratings of trait aggression scores (Questionnaire for Measuring Factors of Aggression [FAF]) and trait impulsivity (Sensation-Seeking Scale-V [SSS-V]) were analyzed using linear multivariate methods. ResultsT. gondii IgG seropositivity was significantly associated with higher trait reactive aggression scores among women (p < .01), but not among men. T. gondii-positivity was also associated with higher impulsive sensation-seeking (SSS-V Disinhibition) among younger men (p < .01) aged 20–59 years old (median age = 60). All associations with HSV-1 and CMV were not significant. ConclusionsAggression and impulsivity, personality traits considered as endophenotypes for SSDV, are associated with latent T. gondii infection in a gender and age-specific manner, and could be further investigated as prognostic and treatment targets in T. gondii-positive individuals at risk for SSDV.

Variants of Callous-Unemotional Conduct Problems in a Community Sample of Adolescents

Callous-unemotional traits are believed to be a childhood precursor to psychopathy, and among youth with conduct problems they designate those showing a particularly severe, stable, and aggressive pattern of antisocial behavior. Youth with callous-unemotional traits are a heterogeneous population and, analogous to adults with psychopathy, research suggests that lower anxious primary and high-anxious secondary variants exist. Using a community sample of 2,306 Greek-Cypriot adolescents (M age=16years; 49.7% female), the first aim of the study was to examine whether variants of callous-unemotional traits could be identified using latent profile analysis of scores on measures of callous-unemotional traits, conduct problems, and anxiety. Additional aims of the study were to compare the identified clusters on external measures theorized to distinguish them (i.e., self-esteem, narcissism, impulsivity, sensation seeking and proactive/reactive aggression) and social factors relevant to adolescent development. Results indicated that, in addition to low risk (i.e., low scores on callous-unemotional traits, conduct problems, and anxiety) and anxious (i.e., high scores on anxiety, low scores on callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems) subgroups, two groups of youth scoring high on callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems were identified. High-anxious secondary callous-unemotional variants were distinguished by lower self-esteem in combination with greater narcissism, aggression, and markedly higher conduct problems, whereas lower anxious primary variants showed higher self-esteem. Secondary callous-unemotional variants also reported greater susceptibility to peer pressure and popularity striving than primary variants. Both variants exhibited poorer outcomes relative to low risk and anxious youth, although anxious youth reported lower self-esteem and higher impulsivity and reactive aggression scores in comparison with low risk youth. Findings integrate two lines of inquiry focused on subtyping children and adults with psychopathic traits and antisocial behaviors. They also support the utility of subtyping callous-unemotional traits based on conduct problems and anxiety levels and provide information on common and distinct risk factors associated with primary and secondary callous-unemotional variants in a community sample of adolescent boys and girls.

Tachykinin receptor 1 variants associated with aggression in suicidal behavior

Substance P is involved in the modulation of depression, anxiety, and suicidal-related behaviors. We studied gene variants of Tachykinin Receptor 1 (TACR1-rs3771810, rs3771825, rs726506, rs1477157) in 167 German suicide attempters (affective spectrum n = 107, schizophrenia spectrum n = 35, borderline personality disorder n = 25), 92 Caucasian individuals who committed suicide and 312 German healthy subjects. Single markers and haplotype analysis in relation to suicidal behaviors (suicide attempters/completers) did not reveal any significant association. The rarest rs3771825 T allele however showed a marginal association with higher Reactive Aggression scores on the Questionnaire for Measuring Factors of Aggression (FAF) (F = 9.86, df = 1; P = 0.0017). Haplotype analyses confirmed the finding. Violence or impulsivity of suicide attempt and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) scores were not associated with gene variants. In conclusion, our study suggests that TACR1 gene variants have no major influence on suicidal behavior but may modulate aggression features.

Implementing and Evaluating School-Based Primary Prevention Programs and the Importance of Differential Effects on Outcomes

In 2004, Second Step (Committee for Children, 2002), a violence prevention program, was implemented in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school district for 1,416 K through second grade students. Both process and outcome measures were used to evaluate program impact and examine issues related to the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practices. Process measures indicated a high level of implementation fidelity, while pre/post outcome testing on a 20% random sample of students demonstrated significant reductions in reactive aggression scores, t= 2.221, df= 238, p< 0.05, and evidence of declines in proactive aggression. Authors discuss challenges and opportunities related to implementing and evaluating evidence-based programming in Safe Schools/Health Students sites, particularly regarding strategies for the assessment of differential intervention effects to evaluate program outcomes.

Suppressed Attention to Rejection, Ridicule, and Failure Cues: A Unique Correlate of Reactive but Not Proactive Aggression in Youth

Tested the hypothesis that reactive aggression (RA) but not proactive aggression (PA) should be associated with heightened attention to rejection, ridicule, and failure cues. In addition to a reaction time measure of selective attention, participants also completed a vignette-based interview regarding their interpretation of ambiguous social situations, and children, parents, and teachers completed questionnaire measures of child aggression and related variables. Consistent with predictions, RA but not PA was related to biased attention for rejection, ridicule, and failure cues. However, contrary to expectation, heightened RA scores were associated with suppressed rather than enhanced attention to such cues. Despite the unexpected direction of this attentional bias, as predicted it was significantly related to the well-established tendency of aggressive children to interpret ambiguous social situations as threatening, which was also uniquely related to RA. Further, the correlation between suppressed attention and RA was fully mediated by interpretation bias.

Suppressed Attention to Rejection, Ridicule, and Failure Cues: A Unique Correlate of Reactive but Not Proactive Aggression in Youth

Tested the hypothesis that reactive aggression (RA) but not proactive aggression (PA) should be associated with heightened attention to rejection, ridicule, and failure cues. In addition to a reaction time measure of selective attention, participants also completed a vignette-based interview regarding their interpretation of ambiguous social situations, and children, parents, and teachers completed questionnaire measures of child aggression and related variables. Consistent with predictions, RA but not PA was related to biased attention for rejection, ridicule, and failure cues. However, contrary to expectation, heightened RA scores were associated with suppressed rather than enhanced attention to such cues. Despite the unexpected direction of this attentional bias, as predicted it was significantly related to the well-established tendency of aggressive children to interpret ambiguous social situations as threatening, which was also uniquely related to RA. Further, the correlation between suppressed attention and RA was fully mediated by interpretation bias.

Executive cognitive functioning predicts reactive aggression in boys at high risk for substance abuse: a prospective study.

This study assessed the ability of executive cognitive functioning (ECF) to predict reactive aggression in boys at high and low risk for substance abuse using a 2-year prospective design. ECF is defined as the self-regulation of goal-directed behavior. Reactive aggression involves impulsive hostile reactions committed with little forethought. ECF was measured using five neuropsychological tests in 198 10- to 12-year-old boys with (SA+) and without (SA-) a paternal history of substance abuse/dependence. Reactive aggression was measured, 2 years later, using a composite index of items derived from two self-report measures. It was hypothesized that ECF would predict reactive aggression, and that this relation would be stronger for the SA+ compared with the SA- boys. SA+ subjects demonstrated lower ECF scores and higher reactive aggression scores, compared with SA- controls. ECF predicted reactive aggression in the SA+ group (beta = 0.37, p = 0.001), but not in the SA- group (beta = 0.09, p = NS). This suggests that compromised ECF may be a risk factor for reactive aggression in SA+ youth. The hypothesis that the relation between ECF and reactive aggression is a manifestation of a mild dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex is discussed.