Anger control in response to verbal provocation: Effects of stimulant medication for boys with ADHD

Although stimulant medication reduces hyperactive children's aggression in naturalistic settings, stimulant effects on anger control have not been demonstrated. We therefore assessed the role of methylphenidate in enhancing response to verbal provocation from familiar peers and from role-playing adults. Twenty-four boys with attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD), aged 6–12, received small-group cognitivebehavioral intervention in anger management skills. During posttraining assessments, the children were randomly assigned to placebo versus. 6 mg/kg of methylphenidate. In the peer provocations, methylphenidate enhanced self-control, decreased physical retaliation, and marginally increased the display of coping strategies. Medication and prompting were minimally beneficial in the delayed, adult-administered generalization assessments. Among the issues discussed are (a) differences between peer and adult provocation and (b) the roles of medication dosage and multimodality intervention for promoting socially competent behavior in children with ADHD.We gratefully acknowledge the Fernald Child Study Center of the University of California, Los Angeles, which provided major support for this research. In addition, we acknowledge the dedication of the small-group trainers, too numerous to mention individually, who led the intervention procedures for the children, and the experimenters who performed the individual provocation assessments. The careful behavior observations of Linda Douglas, Rebecca Eiser, Deborah Gibson, Mike Glenn, Melissa Michaelson, Jon Rafuse, Fauzia Simjee, Leslie Sherman, and Madelin Tundidor were central to the study. Finally, our colleagues Barbara Henker and Carol K. Whalen were instrumental in facilitating all aspects of this investigation.     

Observations of aggressive children during peer provocation and with a best friend

Observational methods were used to examine aggressive children's peer relations in 2 contexts: when being teased by a peer and when interacting with a best friend. Because aggressive children may have more difficulty than nonaggressive children in both peer contexts, the authors also examined whether relations between behaviors across contexts varied as a function of aggression. Results indicated that aggression was related to children's behavior when provoked. Children's behavior when provoked was associated with fewer positive and more negative interactions with their best friend, particularly for aggressive children. Results are discussed with respect to social norms in middle childhood and informing interventions for aggressive children.     

Affective predictors of preschoolers' aggression and peer acceptance: direct and indirect effects

Observational assessments were made of 51 preschoolers' (mean age = 53.25 months) peer aggression and emotional displays outside of (baseline) and during aggressive interactions, and their emotion knowledge and peer acceptance were also assessed. Results indicated that the connections between children's affective dispositions and their aggression and peer acceptance varied as a function of both the emotion context (baseline vs. aggression related) and the particular emotion involved (happiness vs. anger). Emotion knowledge and affective dispositions overlapped little with each other, and both made independent contributions to peer acceptance and aggression. Mediation analyses revealed, however, that the significant connections between children's emotional dispositions and knowledge and their peer acceptance were mostly mediated by aggression.     

Effects of background anger,provocation, and methylphenidate on emotional arousal and aggressive responding in attention-deficit hyperactivity disordered boys with and without concurrent aggressiveness

We investigated the effects of background anger, provocation, and methylphenidate on emotional, physiological, and behavioral responding in children with attentiondeficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with and without concurrent aggression. Our study revealed that ADHD boys showed more emotional and physiological distress when exposed to an interaction in which an administrator chastised each boy's favorite counselor, compared to a friendly interaction between the two adults. The background anger manipulation did not affect the aggressive behavior of the boys against an opponent in an aggressive game. High-aggressive (HA) ADHD boys were more likely to respond to provocation with aggression than low-aggressive (LA) ADHD boys, but only LA boys showed increased physiological reactivity with increasing provocation. Methylphenidate resulted in increased heart rates under all conditions and did not interact with any of the other findings.This project was conducted while the first author had the support of National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant AA 06267.The authors wish to thank the staff members of the 1987 Summer Day Treatment Program who assisted in conducting this project. The authors also express their appreciation to Karen Guthrie for coordinating the medication assessment and to Hart Blanton for computer programming.     

Types of Aggression,Responsiveness to Provocation,and Callous-unemotional Traits in Detained Adolescents

The present study investigated differences in the behavioral and psychophysiological responses to provocation and in the level of callous-unemotional traits in boys exhibiting different patterns of aggression. Eighty-five boys (ages 13-18) in a juvenile detention center played a competitive computer task against a hypothetical peer who provided low and high levels of provocation. Youth high on both self-reported reactive and proactive aggression showed different behavioral responses to provocation than youth high on only reactive aggression. Specifically, the combined group showed high levels of aggressive responses without any provocation, whereas the group high on reactive aggression showed an increase in aggressive responding to low provocation. Further, results revealed a trend for the combined group to show lower levels of skin conductance reactivity to low provocation if they were also high on callous-unemotional traits.     

Eliciting and measuring children's anger in the context of their peer interactions: ethical considerations and practical guidelines

Ecologically valid procedures for eliciting and measuring children's anger are needed to enhance researchers' theories of children's emotional competence and to guide intervention efforts aimed at reactive aggression. The purpose of this article is to describe a laboratory-based game-playing procedure that has been used successfully to elicit and measure children's anger across observational, physiological, and self-report channels. Steps taken to ensure that participants are treated ethically and fairly are discussed. The article highlights recently published data that emphasize the importance of provoking and assessing children's anger across multiple channels using laboratory-based procedures. Finally, it presents preliminary data that suggests that the safeguards taken to protect children were successful in making both children and their parents feel well treated and comfortable.     

Do hostile attribution biases in children and parents predict relationally aggressive behavior?

Relatively little is understood about the role of hostile attributions in children's use of relational aggression with peers, or about the impact of family processes on children's attributions about ambiguous provocations. This cross-sectional study investigated associations among hostile attributions made by children, mothers, and fathers, and children's use of relational aggression with peers. The sample included 91 children in Grades 3-5 (43 girls), and their mothers (n = 90) and teachers (n = 88). Fathers also participated for a subsample of children (n = 53). Results showed that relational aggression is associated with a hostile attribution bias in children and parents, although findings varied as a function of gender of parent and child, provocation type, and informant of aggression. Overall, mothers' attributions were more closely related to daughters' attributions and aggressive behavior than to sons'. Implications of these findings for social information processing models and family-focused prevention of relational aggression are discussed.     

Attributional biases in aggressive children and their mothers

To investigate if mothers and their aggressive children share the tendency to infer hostile motives from others' behavior in ambiguous social situations, 100 pairs of mothers and their clinic-referred or comparison children (50 boys and 50 girls) were asked to interpret hypothetical situations involving both overtly and relationally provocative scenarios. Results replicated previous findings of studies on social information processing of aggressive children and extended the findings to mothers of aggressive children. Findings were generally consistent with the hypothesis that mothers of aggressive children tend to view others' ambiguous actions as hostile, increasing the probability of responding with aggression and, in effect, modeling a hostile attributional bias for their children. Examinations of mothers' and their children's attributional and behavioral intentions suggested that mothers' and daughters' attributions and behavioral intentions were significantly correlated, whereas mothers' and sons' were not. Gender effects with regard to provocation type are also discussed.     

Children’s Sympathy for Peers Who Are the Targets of Peer Aggression

Although a goal of many aggression intervention programs is to increase children's concern (often termed sympathy or empathy) for their peers as a means of ultimately reducing aggressive behavior, there are no measures specifically of children's concern for peers who are the targets of peer aggression. A participatory action research (PAR) model was used to create a culturally-sensitive measure of urban African American children's sympathy for peers who are the targets of physical aggression, relational or social aggression, verbal aggression, and property damage. In Study 1, 40 children (M (age)?=?9.71?years; 47.5 % female) were interviewed about the types of incidents that lead them to feel sympathy for a peer. Based upon these findings, the 15-item Peer Sympathy Scale (PSS) was developed. In Study 2, the PSS was administered to 517 children (M (age)?=?9.82?years; 47.4 % female) to examine the psychometric properties of the measure and to explore the association between children's sympathy for their peers and their social behavior. Greater sympathy was associated with less overt and relational aggression according to both peer and teacher reports as well as with less oppositional-defiant behavior according to teacher reports. The clinical utility of the PSS as an outcome assessment tool for social skills intervention programs is discussed.     

The Moderating Role of Verbal Aggression on the Relationship Between Parental Feedback and Peer Status Among Children with ADHD

We examined associations between children's sociometric status and (a) observed parental feedback as well as (b) child aggression. Participants were 94 children ages 6-10 (64 male; 44 with ADHD) and their parents. Children's peer status, parental feedback to their children, and child aggression were all assessed during lab-based playgroups of four children and their parents. Parent criticism in front of the child's peers was associated with the child receiving more negative ("disliked") and fewer positive ("liked") nominations, but only for children who displayed aggression; this interaction applied almost exclusively to children with ADHD. Parent praise in front of peers was associated with fewer negative nominations when children displayed low levels of aggression, but more at higher levels. Additional analyses revealed that relationships did not exist in the full sample between privately-given parental feedback and children's peer status. Processes by which peers use overheard adult feedback to inform their assessments of children are discussed.     

Contextual determinants of mothers' interventions in young children's peer interactions

In this study, the role of context in mothers' interventions in their preschool children's peer relationship problems was investigated. Event theme (aggression, peer rebuff, or initiating play), the child's role in the event (actor or target), the child's age and sex, and the mother's emotional reaction were examined as predictors of the extent to which mothers (N = 71) said they would discuss peer relationships, encourage peer interaction, and use power assertion in response to a series of videotaped vignettes depicting common peer relationship problems. Mothers suggested using more discussion in aggressive situations and more encouragement in initiating play situations. Mothers said they would use more power assertion when the child was the actor (i.e., provocateur), rather than the target, in an aggressive situation. Findings are discussed in terms of (a) the importance of considering context in understanding how mothers intervene in their children's peer relationships and (b) the need to examine moderators of cross-contextual consistency in mothers' interventions.     

Children’s Attitudes toward Aggression: Associations with Depression,Aggression, and Perceived Maternal/Peer Responses to Anger

Little is known about factors that influence children’s attitudes toward aggression, despite evidence that these attitudes are influential in promoting violent behaviors. The purpose of the present research was to examine the relation of self, peer, and parent social factors to school-age children’s maladaptive attitudes toward aggression. Specifically, symptoms of depression, peer overt aggression behaviors, and perceptions of maternal and peer responses to anger were evaluated as important factors associated with the use of aggression. These factors were examined separately for boys and girls, as research has consistently documented gender differences in the form and use of aggression. Hierarchical regression models were computed separately for boys and girls in grades three through five (N?=?167), with child-reported depression, peer-nominated overt aggression, and child-reported maternal and best friend responses to anger examined as predictors of maladaptive attitudes toward aggression. For girls, depressive symptoms positively predicted maladaptive attitudes toward aggression. For boys, the extent of peer-reported overt aggression (positively) and child-reported supportive maternal responses to the child’s anger (negatively) predicted maladaptive attitudes toward aggression. The value of examining social factors that relate to attitudes toward aggression is discussed as well as consideration of gender differences in these relations. In addition, discussion includes how these results highlight important targets for interventions that may be especially relevant for school-age girls and boys.     

The Role of Witnessing Violence,Peer Provocation,Family Support,and Parenting Practices in the Aggressive Behavior of Rural Adolescents

This study examined the influence of witnessing violence, peer provocation, family support, and parenting practices (monitoring and discipline) on aggression. Participants were 1,196 ninth graders at nine schools in poor, predominantly agricultural, rural communities who completed measures of these variables. Witnessing violence, peer provocation, low levels of family support, and poor parenting practices were each related to higher frequencies of aggression. Witnessing violence and peer provocation partially mediated relations between parenting and aggression, such that students who reported high levels of appropriate parenting reported lower levels of witnessing violence and peer provocation. These were, in turn, related to lower levels of aggression. The relation between family support and aggression was also mediated by peer provocation, though the Degrees of mediation was not as strong as for parenting. Both parenting and family support moderated the relation between witnessing violence and aggression such that this relation was stronger among adolescents who reported low family support or high levels of poor parenting. Neither parenting nor family support moderated the relation between peer provocation and aggression. Overall, parenting practices had a stronger influence on aggression than did family support. Results were generally consistent across gender. These findings have important implications for intervention efforts.     

亲社会与攻击性儿童在两类假设情境中的社会信息加工特点

采用问卷调查法,分别测查、比较了亲社会儿童、攻击性儿童与一般儿童的社会信息加工(SIP)特点,目的是探讨三类儿童在SIP上是否存在差异。结果表明,在假设分享情境中,攻击性与一般儿童SIP的整体差异不显著,但在对不分享策略的他人情绪预期和关系预期2个变量上差异显著。亲社会与一般儿童、与攻击性儿童SIP的整体差异显著;在假设挑衅情境中,攻击性与一般儿童在对不同策略的自我效能感、选择频率、策略评价等7个变量上差异显著。亲社会与一般儿童在对不同策略的自我效能感、选择频率、策略评价等9个变量上差异显著;亲社会儿童与一般儿童SIP的整体不存在显著差异。     

童年晚期亲社会行为与儿童的心理社会适应

对2097名六年级儿童(平均年龄12.27岁, 男生1093名)的亲社会行为以及多种心理社会适应指标进行测量, 主要运用个体定向的方法考察童年晚期亲社会行为与儿童心理社会适应之间的关系。结果发现:(1)亲社会行为与孤独感、攻击等不良适应呈中等程度负相关, 与同伴接纳、社交自我概念等积极适应呈中等程度正相关;(2)童年晚期儿童的心理社会适应表现为内化问题、外化问题、同伴拒绝与正常发展4种模式;(3)个体亲社会行为水平越高, 越可能属于正常发展组, 越不可能属于不良适应组;在各种不良适应组中, 个体亲社会行为水平越高, 更可能属于内化问题组, 而非外化问题和同伴拒绝组;(4)高亲社会组的儿童有6.8%存在内化问题;低亲社会组的儿童有50.2%适应良好;与普通儿童相比, 低亲社会组的儿童表现出更多的适应不良。     

Aggression and self-esteem: a diary study of children's reactivity to negative interpersonal events

The study employs a daily diary design to assess self-esteem reactivity and its association with children's aggressive behavior. We test the hypothesis that the self-esteem of aggressive children will be more reactive to negative interpersonal events than the self-esteem of nonaggressive children. Results provide partial support for the aggression/reactivity hypothesis. Aggressive children's self-esteem was more reactive to negative peer events but less reactive to negative adult events than the self-esteem of less aggressive children. These findings are discussed in relation to the experimental literature relating self-esteem instability and ego-threat to aggression and in relation to the extensive body of research on childhood aggression. Intervention implications are also considered.     

Gender influences on preschool children's social problem-solving strategies

The authors investigated gender influences on the nature and competency of preschool children's social problem-solving strategies. Preschool-age children (N = 179; 91 boys, 88 girls) responded to hypothetical social situations designed to assess their social problem-solving skills in the areas of provocation, peer group entry, and sharing or taking turns. Results indicated that, overall, girls' responses were more competent (i.e., reflective of successful functioning with peers) than those of boys, and girls' strategies were less likely to involve retaliation or verbal or physical aggression. The competency of the children's responses also varied with the gender of the target child. Findings are discussed in terms of the influence of gender-related social experiences on the types of strategies and behaviors that may be viewed as competent for boys and girls of preschool age.     

Do Friends’ Characteristics Moderate the Prospective Links between Peer Victimization and Reactive and Proactive Aggression?

This study examined (a) the predictive link between peer victimization and children’s reactive and proactive aggression, and (b) the potential moderating effect of reciprocal friends’ reactive and proactive aggression in this context. The study also examined whether these potential moderating effects of friends’ characteristics were stronger with respect to more recent friends compared to previous friends. Based on a convenience sample of 658 twin children (326 boys and 332 girls) assessed in kindergarten and first grade, the results showed that peer victimization uniquely predicted an increase in children’s teacher-rated reactive aggression, but not teacher-rated proactive aggression. The relation of peer victimization to increased reactive aggression was, however, moderated by recent ˉ not previous ˉ reciprocal friends’ similarly aggressive characteristics. These findings, however, tended to be mostly true for boys, but not for girls. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications for victimized children’s risk of displaying reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors. This research was made possible by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fonds Concerté pour l’Aide à la Recherche, the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec.     

Children's responding to live interadult conflict: The role of form of anger expression

Children's responses to interadult arguments were examined as a function of three forms of disputes: covert, verbal, and physical. Four- to seven-year-olds' overt-behavioral responses to liveenactments of arguments between a male and a female were videotaped and coded for behavioral distress and anger/aggression, and children were then interviewed. Although children exhibited overt-behavioral distress in response to all forms of disputes, physical arguments evoked the highest levels of distress. Some gender differences in responding were observed. In comparison to boys, girls exhibited more overt distress during the arguments, and wanted to stop physical arguments more frequently. The results extend findings based on the videotape methodology of the presentation of interadult arguments indicating that form of anger expression impacts children's emotional responding to interadult conflict. We wish to thank the families for contributing their time and effort to this study.     

Relationship specificity of aggressogenic thought-behavior processes

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship specificity of aggressogenic thought-behavior processes and to investigate the role of self-esteem in translating or inhibiting aggressogenic thought into aggression toward personally liked and disliked targets. Participants (186 Finnish boys and girls; 11-12 years old at Time 1) completed measures twice over a 1-year interval. We assessed children's attributions of hostility, relational goals, expectations of anger, and self-efficacy at Time 1 as well as aggression, at both time points, toward their previously identified liked and disliked peers. Our results mostly supported our hypothesis that cognitions guide behavior mainly within the relationship context. Moreover, high self-esteem potentiated cognition-behavior links toward children's own liked peer but inhibited the actualization of aggressogenic thought toward children's disliked peer. These findings highlight the importance of taking a Person × Situation approach when studying cognition-behavior processes.