Self-reported Aggression Research Articles

Η επίδραση του τύπου φυλακής στην επιθετικότητα και την ψυχική υγεία των κρατουμένων στις ελληνικές φυλακές

Prisons differ in the degree of autonomy they provide to inmates. The objective of this study is to measure the impact of the prison environment, as reflected in the prison types, on prisoners’ self-reported aggression and mental health. This question becomes even more relevant since the recent bill opposing the set-up of a Type-C maximum security prison in Greece. The hypothesis is that the greater the degree of "security" (i.e., closed and judicial prisons being of a higher level of security compared with rural), the more likely the prisoners will be to exhibit aggression or poorer mental health. To test this hypothesis, a Multivariate Analysis of Covariance was used with prisoners’ age and imprisonment years as covariates. Prison type had a statistically significant effect on hostility and verbal aggression (with the highest levels recorded in the judicial prisons) and on depression (with lower levels in the rural prisons). In contrast, the effect of prison type on anger-physical aggression and anxiety was not significant. The results underline the importance of the prison environment and the needfor further strengthening of the rural prisons that will help minimize the physical and psychological risks for the inmates.

Transactional Associations between Children’s Socioemotional Difficulties and Parental Aggression toward the Child over a Ten-Year Period in a Lower-Income Population

This study examined the transactional effects of parental physical and verbal aggression and children’s externalizing (EP) and internalizing problems (IP) from early school age to adolescence in lower-income community sample using a multi-informant perspective. Mother-child dyads (n = 175) from urban low socioeconomic backgrounds that are part of the Concordia Longitudinal Research Project, a prospective intergenerational study, participated. Children’s EP and IP were assessed by mothers and teachers at ages 6–8, 9–11, and 13–17-years-old (Child Behavior Checklist). Mothers also self-reported physical and verbal aggression toward their child (Conflict Tactics Scales Parent-Child). Results from cross-lagged analyses with mothers’ reports of EP and IP revealed a transactional process with EP and physical aggression, and a child-driven effect with IP and verbal aggression. EP at 6–8-years-old were associated with increased physical aggression at 9–11 years of age, that in turn were associated with increased EP in adolescence. IP at 6–8 years old were associated with increased verbal aggression at 9–11 years. Some effects were identified when using teachers’ reports of socioemotional difficulties, including a transactional process from verbal aggression at 6–8 years old, to increased EP at 9–11 years, to increased physical aggression at 13–17 years. Overall, parent-driven and child-driven effects were present, but results differed across informants and behaviour problem types. These results have important implications for research and intervention that are discussed in light of the developmental psychopathology and transactional models of development.

Are marital relationships a barrier to health care utilization in Southern Appalachia?: A dyadic examination of the link between marital quality and individual health care usage.

There are substantial health disparities in Appalachia partially due to the poor access and utilization of health care. Social support, especially in Appalachia, is consistently linked to the utilization of available health care. The present study aims to identify how on aspect of social support, relationship functioning, are associated with health care utilization for couples in Southern Appalachian. Individual and couple data (N = 147, individuals; n = 76, couples) were collected from participants interested in a brief couple interventions. Individuals and Dyadic Path analyses were conducted in Mplus using methods to account for the dependence in the data. Relational aggression was the only marital factor linked to health care utilization in multivariate analyses while constructive communication was only linked to health care utilization in bivariate correlations, r = .24, p < .05. Dyadic results indicate that men's health care utilization may benefit from partner's relational aggression while women's utilization may be negatively influenced by her own self-reported relational aggression. An individual's social context must be considered in order to completely understand barriers to health care utilization. Further, the inclusion of couple/dyadic level interventions should be considered in order to improve health care utilization in the Appalachian region and similarly rural regions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Is Male Adolescents' Sexual Aggressiveness Better Explained by Prior Pornography Use or Callousness? A Brief Report.

To address growing concerns about the role of pornography use in adolescents' sexual socialization, we explored the role of callousness, relative to pornography use, in male adolescents' self-reported sexual aggressiveness. Two competing conceptualizations of this role were tested using data from a larger longitudinal research project on sexualized media use and adolescent well-being. Considering that callousness was assessed at only two waves (T2 and T4), 381 male Croatian adolescents (Mage = 15.88, SD = 0.49) who participated in both waves were included in the study. Generalized mixed effects regression modeling indicated that callousness, but not pornography use, significantly predicted sexual aggressiveness 11 months later. Callousness also moderated the association between pornography use and sexual aggressiveness, so that among participants who scored high in callousness, more frequent pornography use was related to lower odds of reporting sexual aggressiveness. High callousness is a risk factor for male adolescents' sexual aggression and should be addressed in prevention programs.

Aggression in Response to Threatening Individuals’ Religious versus National Identity in a Live Instant Messaging Paradigm

ABSTRACT Some scholars claim that identifying with religious groups leads to a greater inclination toward violence than identifying with secular groups and we test this proposition in a unique experimental threat paradigm. We examine the possibility that threats toward individuals’ religious identities will result in greater aggression relative to threats toward individuals’ national identity. Additionally, we extend research on the direct association between religious fundamentalism and aggression by examining whether fundamentalism interacts with the experience of a threatened religious identity to exacerbate aggression. Among 120 self-identified religious Canadians, we examined aggression as a response to threats toward participants’ religious or national identity. Participants engaged in a live instant messaging conversation with a confederate, in which the confederate denigrated participants’ religious identity in the religious identity threat condition, denigrated participants’ Canadian national identity in the national identity threat condition, or did not denigrate either identity in the control condition. Following, participants’ self-reported aggression was measured. Participants in the national identity threat condition reported higher levels of aggression relative to those in the religious identity threat condition or the control condition. Additionally, the effect of religious fundamentalism on aggression was moderated by threat such that the positive association between religious fundamentalism and aggression was eliminated when national identity was threatened.

Does Question Format Matter in Assessing the Prevalence of Sexual Aggression? A Methodological Study

ABSTRACT As research on sexual aggression has been growing, methodological issues in assessing prevalence rates have received increased attention. Building on work by Abbey and colleagues about effects of question format, participants in this study (1,253; 621 female; 632 male) were randomly assigned to one of two versions of the Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale (SAV-S). In Version 1, the coercive tactic (use/threat of physical force, exploitation of the inability to resist, verbal pressure) was presented first, and sexual acts (sexual touch, attempted and completed sexual intercourse, other sexual acts) were presented as subsequent questions. In Version 2, sexual acts were presented first, and coercive tactics as subsequent questions. No version effects emerged for overall perpetration rates reported by men and women. The overall victimization rate across all items was significantly higher in the tactic-first than in the sexual-act-first conditions for women, but not for men. Classifying participants by their most severe experience of sexual victimization showed that fewer women were in the nonvictim category and more men were in the nonconsensual sexual contact category when the coercive tactic was presented first. Sexual experience background did not moderate the findings. The implications for the measurement of self-reported sexual aggression victimization and perpetration are discussed.

Self-Persuasion: An Experimental Evaluation of a Sexual Aggression Preventive Intervention for U.S. College Men.

Grounded in the self-persuasion paradigm (an indirect persuasion approach, which places people in situations that motivate them to change their behavior), this study evaluated a brief, online intervention to reduce sexual aggression perpetration and increase prosocial bystander behaviors among heterosexual male college students (N = 241) in the United States. Students were randomly assigned to three conditions: (a) a self-persuasion intervention, (b) a social norms control condition, and (c) a control condition focusing on sense of belongingness. The self-persuasion intervention integrated three social psychological theoretical perspectives on attitudinal and behavioral change-cognitive dissonance (e.g., creating a personalized video message for incoming male college freshmen to explain the importance of consent in sexual contact), self-affirmation (e.g., reflecting on one's core values and how they are congruent with sexual consent), and personal relevance (e.g., writing about personally relevant reasons to always seek consent when having sexual contact). Participants in the self-persuasion condition reported greater prosocial bystander behaviors (e.g., intervening in situations to prevent sexual aggression) 6 months after the intervention as compared with those in the other two conditions; however, there were no significant difference in the rate of self-reported sexual aggression perpetration across conditions. The positive effect of the self-persuasion intervention on prosocial bystander behaviors was mediated by reduced self-perceived likelihood to commit sexual aggression and moderated by in-group solidarity with other college students. That is, the intervention had the most positive effect on prosocial bystander behaviors among participants with a lower sense of in-group solidarity. These findings are discussed in light of the promise of self-persuasion for future sexual aggression prevention work.

Childhood Maltreatment Is Associated With Aggression Among Male Juvenile Delinquents in China: The Mediating Effects of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Self-Control

Background: Aggression is an important risk factor for delinquency and crime in adolescents. Previous studies have indicated that childhood maltreatment plays an important role in the development of aggression. However, whether the effect could be mediated by other factors is still unknown. Evidence suggests that callous-unemotional (CU) traits and self-control may be candidate mediators in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression.Methods: A total of 585 male juvenile delinquents from China were recruited for the present study. We measured self-reported childhood maltreatment, CU traits, self-control, and aggression with the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU), the Self-Control Scale (SCS), and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), respectively. Furthermore, we constructed multiple mediation models to investigate the mediating effects of CU traits and self-control on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression. Childhood maltreatment and aggression were entered into the model as the independent and dependent variables, respectively, and CU traits and self-control were treated as the mediating variables. In addition, the moderating role of self-control in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression was tested by constructing a moderation model.Results: Correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations among childhood maltreatment, CU traits, and aggression (all r values > 0.31, P values < 0.01), and self-control was negatively correlated with these three factors (all r values < −0.32, P values < 0.01). Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression was completely and sequentially mediated by the factors of CU traits and self-control (indirect effect = 0.31, P < 0.001). In addition, the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression could also be completely mediated by CU traits (indirect effect = 0.24, P < 0.001) and self-control (indirect effect = 0.26, P < 0.001) separately.Conclusion: Our results indicate that, in a sample of male juvenile delinquents in China, the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent aggression was found to be mediated by CU traits and self-control, which may shed light on the development of aggression among male juvenile delinquents.

Sleep quality is associated with aggression in forensic psychiatric patients, independent of general psychopathology

ABSTRACT Several studies found associations between poor sleep quality and aggression in general and (forensic) psychiatric populations. Both poor sleep and aggression have been related previously to general psychopathology, but studies rarely have addressed this possible confounding factor appropriately. The current study aimed to replicate the association between sleep quality and aggression in a forensic psychiatric sample, including adjustment for psychopathology. We used cross-sectional data from an observational study in forensic psychiatric inpatients (n = 166). Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with higher self-reported aggression, independent of general psychopathology. Poor sleep quality accounted for a substantial part of the variance in aggression. This was observed for self-reported physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility, all showing relations with poor sleep quality that were not better accounted for by general psychopathology. Poor sleep quality was related to higher clinician-rated hostility as well, however, this association was weak and the explained variance low. These results confirm and substantiate previously found associations between sleep quality and aggression in forensic psychiatric patients. They highlight the importance of targeting sleep problems as part of the treatment of psychiatric patients with disruptive behavior and encourage further research aimed at unraveling the relation between sleep and aggression.

Is threat in the way they move? Influences of static and gait information on threat judgments of unknown people

Recognising intraspecies threat is essential for survival. However, this needs to be balanced against the undue avoidance of unknown others who may be useful to us. Research has shown that judgments of ‘aggression’ and ‘threat’ posed by an unknown person can accurately reflect that person’s general aggressive tendencies. To date, there has not been a within-sample comparison of the informativeness of static and walking stimuli for threat judgments. In this study, 193 participants rated the threat posed by 23 target people presented as both simplified gait presentations (point-light walkers) and still images. We analysed how threat judgments made by participants were predicted by the target’s self-reported aggression (accuracy), the sex of the targets and the medium of target presentation (point-light vs. still image). Our results showed that participants’ threat judgments accurately predicted targets’ aggression. Male targets received higher threat ratings than female targets and point-light displays were rated as more threatening than still images. There were no effects of target sex and presentation medium on accuracy of threat perception and no sex by medium interactions on judgments themselves. Overall, this study provides further evidence of the accuracy of threat judgments at detecting trait aggression. However, further research is needed to explain what features of the target people are enabling the accurate judgments of aggression.

Evaluative Attitudes May Explain the Link Between Injunctive Norms and Sexual Aggression.

The current study examined the extent to which evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression (i.e., positive or negative evaluative judgments about sexually aggressive behavior) mediate the association between injunctive norms (i.e., extent to which peers approve or disapprove of sexually aggressive behavior) and self-reported sexual aggression against women. Participants were 200 male undergraduate students. Approximately one in four males reported engaging in at least one sexually aggressive act since the age of 16. Participants with a history of sexual aggression also reported the highest likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. We tested two separate mediation models to examine the extent to which evaluative attitudes account for the link between injunctive norms and sexual aggression: one model with self-reported history of sexual aggression as the outcome and the other with likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior as the outcome. Results showed that more positive evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression accounted for the association between injunctive norms and self-reported history of sexual aggression. Similarly, evaluative attitudes accounted for the link between injunctive norms and self-reported likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. Overall, these findings are consistent with theoretical and empirical explanations of sexual offending and general criminal behavior; however, this is the first study to explore the relationship between injunctive norms and evaluative attitudes in the context of explaining sexually aggressive behavior. If more rigorous research establishes a causal relationship between injunctive norms, evaluative attitudes, and sexually aggressive behavior, this would suggest that targeting these factors in prevention programs may reduce sexual aggression by male undergraduate students.

Self-reported mindfulness, cyclist anger and aggression

Anger is a common behaviour exhibited by road users when one’s goals are perceived to have been blocked by another. Recent research has demonstrated that, generally, cyclists tend to deal with anger in constructive ways. However, when anger does manifest, it can result in behaviours that increase their crash risk. Amongst motor vehicle drivers, mindfulness levels have been associated with less anger and appear to mediate anger and associated aggression. The current study sought to understand whether mindfulness has similar associations with anger and aggression in a sample of cyclists. A total of 583 cyclists (males = 68 %) completed an online questionnaire that sought information on their levels of mindfulness, current mindfulness practices and tendencies for anger and aggression while cycling. The relationships between these were then examined using structural equation modelling. The results showed that cyclists with higher mindfulness levels tended to report less anger across a range of situations (e.g., interactions with pedestrians, cyclists, motor vehicle drivers and police). Both direct and indirect (through anger) relationships were found between mindfulness and aggression, again showing that more mindful cyclists tended to engage in less frequent aggression. These findings align with recent research investigating this relationship amongst motor vehicle drivers and suggest that mindfulness may be a promising strategy to reduce or avoid anger and aggression in cyclists.

Prospective Associations between Popularity, Victimization, and Aggression in Early Adolescence

Recent research has highlighted an understudied phenomenon in the peer victimization literature thus far: the overlap between high status (i.e., popularity) and victimization. However, the research on this phenomenon has primarily been cross-sectional. The current investigation uses a longitudinal design to address two questions related to high-status victims. First, the present study examined prospective associations between popularity and two forms of indirect victimization (reputational victimization and exclusion). Second, this study examined elevated aggression as a consequence of high-status youth’s victimization (using self- and peer- reports of victimization). Participants were 370 adolescents (Mage = 14.44, range = 14.00–16.00; 56.5% girls) who were followed for 1 year. Both high and low levels of popularity were prospectively associated with reputational victimization. Moreover, popularity moderated the association between self-reported indirect victimization (but not peer-reported indirect victimization) and aggression. The results help build toward a more comprehensive understanding of both victimization and aggression in adolescence. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for a cycle of aggression in youth and the lowered effectiveness of bullying interventions in adolescence.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Its Relationship to Previous Convictions, Aggression, and Psychological Functioning in Dutch Detainees

ABSTRACT Objective: Higher prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been reported for detained individuals. TBI may result in erroneously interpreting situations in everyday life, impair problem-solving abilities through dialogue, or negotiation, which may increase aggressive behavior. Knowledge of TBI and its consequences in Dutch penitentiaries is lacking, as virtually no screening, supervision, or treatment is currently provided. Method: The current manuscript assesses differences in self-reported aggression, impulsivity, indication for mild intellectual disability, history of childhood trauma, and emotion regulation in detainees (n = 283) and non-incarcerated controls (NIC; n = 51), with and without a history of TBI. Result: A total of 45.2% of detainees reported a TBI, compared to 29.4% in the NIC group. ANCOVA results revealed no interaction between group and TBI history, indicating that TBI history did not affect behavior in detainees and NIC differently. The main effects revealed higher levels of aggression in detainees compared to NICs, and in participants with TBI compared to those without. Separate ANCOVA’s per group reveal that TBI history in detainees was associated with more aggression – also when correcting for violence as the cause of TBI. A logistic regression revealed that detainees with TBI have a higher chance (odds ratio = 3.3) of having at least one prior conviction. Conclusions: TBI history was related to aggressive behavior in Dutch inmates, future studies should assess if TBI history is predictive of in-prison infractions and recidivism rates, and if screening and providing neuro-rehabilitative measures or improved supervision may improve TBI related deficits.

A new love–hate scale for sports fans

PurposeThis study, an empirical research, aims to construct and validate a new love-hate scale for sports fans and tested its antecedents and consequences.Design/methodology/approachThe scale was designed and validated in three separate empirical survey studies in the context of Israeli professional basketball. In Phase 1, the authors verified the factorial validity of the proposed scale using exploratory factor analysis. In Phase 2, the authors conducted a confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling. In Phase 3, the authors tested the nomological network validity of the scale.FindingsThe findings show that fans' involvement, loyalty and fandom significantly predicted their love–hate, which in turn significantly predicted self-reported fan aggression, fans' acceptance of fan aggression, price premium and frequency of watching games.Research limitations/implicationsThe model was tested on a relatively small sample of fans within a single country. This lack of generalizability should be addressed in future studies by examining the model in other sports contexts and countries.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that understanding the properties of the love–hate measure may assist team sports clubs in identifying, preventing and controlling potential fan aggression.Originality/valueThe study provides three incremental contributions above and beyond existing research: it develops and validates a scale for measuring the phenomenon of sports fans' love and hate as mixed emotions; it makes it possible to capture the variations in the magnitude of fans' love–hate; and it relates fans' love–hate to important attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.

Internalizing problems and their impact on the relation between callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, and aggression.

Narcissism and callous-unemotional (CU) traits have demonstrated relations with youth aggression across studies. However, different forms of narcissism and internalizing problems may exacerbate the relation between CU traits and aggression. To that end, the current study examined the degree to which interactions among internalizing problems, CU traits, and dimensions of narcissism related to aggression in a sample of 219 adolescents (83.1% males), ages 16-19, enrolled in a military-style residential program. Consistent with previous research, psychopathy-linked narcissism significantly moderated the relation between CU traits and aggression. Addtionally, self-reported aggression was highest among adolescents who endorsed high levels of CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism, and internalizing problems. The same pattern of results was not evident for other forms of narcissism. These results suggest that internalizing problems further increase the probability of aggression among adolescents with psychopathic tendencies (i.e., CU traits, psychopathy-linked narcissism). Further implications are discussed.

Does self-report of aggression after first arrest predict future offending and do the forms and functions of aggression matter?

The current study tested whether a self-report measure of aggression (i.e., the Peer Conflict Scale; PCS) would predict later delinquency, after controlling for other risk factors, and tested whether the different forms and functions of aggression contributed independently to this prediction. Self-report of aggression was assessed at the time of first arrest, and both self-report of delinquency and official arrests were assessed at 5 different time points over a 30-month follow-up period in a sample of male adolescent offenders (N = 1,216; Mage = 15.12, SD = 1.29 years) arrested in 3 regions (i.e., western, southern, northeast) of the United States. Aggression predicted both later total and later violent self-reported delinquency (odds ratio [OR] = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.01, 1.02]), even after controlling for youths' self-reported lifetime history of delinquent acts and callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits) collected at initial arrest. Further, only self-reported aggression (but not lifetime delinquency and CU traits) contributed independently (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.00, 1.03]) to the prediction of arrests for violent offenses. Finally, the predictive utility of aggression was largely accounted for by physical and reactive aggression, with limited incremental prediction provided by relational and proactive aggression. These findings support the potential utility of self-reports of aggression, such as the PCS, when assessing risk for future violence. Findings also suggest that the utility of these self-reports of aggression cannot be solely accounted for by other risk factors often included in typical risk assessment tools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Modification of hostile attribution bias reduces self-reported reactive aggressive behavior in adolescents

Aggressive individuals more readily interpret others’ motives and intentions in ambiguous situations as hostile. This hostile attribution bias has been argued to be causally involved in the development and maintenance of aggression, making it a target for interventions. In our current study, adolescents selected for high levels of aggression (N = 39) were assigned to either a test–retest control group or a five-session hostile attribution bias modification training, in which they were trained to make more benign interpretations of ambiguously provocative social situations. Before and after the training, we assessed hostile attribution bias and both reactive and proactive self-reported aggression in both groups. The training not only tended to produce the expected reduction in hostile attribution bias but also crucially led to decreased levels of reactive but not proactive aggression compared with the control group. Our results thus support the idea that hostile attribution bias can be targeted using training techniques and that such training-induced changes in bias may reduce aggression. However, future studies using an active control group and multiple outcome measures are needed to address the long-term effects of training.

Just banter? Friendship, teasing and experimental aggression in adolescent peer networks.

Aggressive behaviour serves many useful social functions, yet can also have damaging consequences. In line with evidence showing adolescent development in social cognitive abilities, we hypothesized that the use of aggression would become more sophisticated with age. We investigated adolescent aggression towards peers using an experimental, hypothetical aggression paradigm, the hot sauce paradigm, in a school-based social network setting. Participants (N=162 aged 11-17, 98 male) indicated which strength of imaginary hot sauce they would allocate to each of their classmates. A Social Network Questionnaire quantified participants' perceived dyadic social tie strength with each classmate, and the incidence of mutual or unilateral dyadic real-world aggression (e.g. teasing). Participants allocated weaker hot sauce to peers with whom they reported strong, positive social ties and an absence of self-reported unilateral real-world aggression. With increasing cross-sectional age, there was a decrease in the impact of social tie strength and an increase in the extent to which hot sauce allocation was predicted by self-reported mutual real-world aggression. This pattern of findings is consistent with young (vs. late) adolescent use of experimental, hypothetical Hot Sauce aggression to reflect real-world animosity, while late adolescents' behaviour is more subtle. These findings extend our understanding of the dyadic social context of adolescent aggressive behaviour using a novel experimental aggression paradigm.

Differential impact of mindfulness practices on aggression among law enforcement officers.

Home-based mindfulness practice is a common component of formal mindfulness training (MT) protocols. Obtaining objective data from home-based mindfulness practice is challenging. Interpreting associations between home-based mindfulness practice and clinically impactful outcomes is complicated given the variability in recommendations in length, frequency, and type of practice. In this exploratory study, adherence to home-based practices of Mindfulness-Based Resilience Training (MBRT) was studied in order to evaluate associations with clinical outcomes. Home practices from 24 (92% male, non-Hispanic white, aged M = 43.20 years) law enforcement officers (LEOs) from the urban Pacific Northwest enrolled in a feasibility and efficacy trial of MBRT were studied using an objective tracking device and self-report data. Outcomes included adherence to home-based mindfulness practices and self-reported aggression. Participants completed 59.12% of the frequency amount of practice assigned in the MBRT curriculum. Frequency of practice was associated with decreased aggression, adjusted R 2 = .41, F(3,23) = 6.14, p = .004. Duration of practice also predicted decreased aggression, adjusted R 2 = .33, F(3,23) = 4.76, p = .011. Home-based MBRT practices for LEOs, even at low rates of adherence, may reduce aggression. MTs may show beneficial effects for other populations presented with challenges to engage in regular MT practices.