P300 to emotionally relevant stimuli as an indicator of aggression levels

Severe acts of aggression have been associated with prefrontal dysfunction. Less severe aggression may be associated with more subtle abnormalities. P300 event‐related potentials were recorded from 32 healthy volunteers during a novel modified oddball task. The task required participants to respond only to rare, food words (targets), which occurred randomly among neutral words. Aggressive words appeared randomly with the same frequency as the target words. A median split divided subjects into high‐ and low‐aggression groups based on their scores on the Buss–Durkee Hostility Inventory. The groups did not differ in their responses to the target words. Participants with higher aggression scores had lowered responses to the aggressive words at the frontal relative to the other electrode sites. Cognitive processing of aggressive stimuli was less efficient at frontal sites in individuals who reported higher levels of aggression. This result extends work showing frontal P300 decrements in more severe aggressive groups, using simple oddball tasks. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–8, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Aggressive behavior among girls and boys during middle childhood: predictors and sequelae of trajectory group membership

Using longitudinal data spanning early elementary through middle school, aggression behavior trajectory groups were identified for boys and girls. Early elementary school predictors of trajectory group membership were examined as well as whether trajectory group predicted physical aggression, covert delinquency, and substance use in 9th grade. Semiparametric group modeling identified aggression behavior trajectory groups. We identified four aggression trajectory groups for both genders described as “not involved,” “low,” “moderate,” and “high.” Attention problems, family conflict, and low school commitment and attachment were predictors of membership in higher aggression groups for both boys and girls. Low family involvement and low parental education predicted membership in higher aggression groups for boys; while depression, low‐income status, and having a single parent predicted higher aggression group membership for girls. For both boys and girls, few risk predictors distinguished between the moderate and high aggression trajectories except that low school commitment and having a teen mother were significant predictors of being in the high group for girls, and low parental education and income were significant predictors of being in the high group for boys. Membership in the higher aggression trajectory groups predicted involvement in violent behaviors, covert delinquency, and substance use in 9th grade. Findings suggest that children who display an early trajectory of high levels of aggressive behavior are more likely to continue involvement in later problem behaviors. Second‐grade predictors suggest commonality of risk across genders and provide evidence of modifiable targets for preventive interventions. Aggr. Behav. 32:1–15. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Powerlessness and the Use of Indirect Aggression in Friendships

Aggression in girls, especially indirect aggression perpetrated by girls toward other girls, has received increasing attention in the popular press. Various explanations have been offered to explain why girls might use indirect methods more so than boys, including both biological and social explanations. We tested a social contextual explanation; that is, that powerlessness is associated with the use of indirect aggression strategies. Power was conceptualized as both an individual difference variable and as an interpersonal variable. In two studies, we found that for both men and women, lack of power in same gender friendships (defined as anxiety about one’s status in friendships) was associated with greater use of indirect aggression strategies. Further, individual differences in deferent personality characteristics and lack of relational control in a friendship were unrelated to the use of indirect aggression. Study 1 was based, in part, on the second author’s undergraduate Honors Thesis, which was supported by a grant from Smith College’s Tomlinson Fund. Study 2 was supported by a grant from Smith College to the first author.     

提示线索、目标信息对大学生攻击可能性判断的影响

该研究探讨了在受挫情境中,不同的提示线索和目标信息对大学生攻击可能性判断的影响,结果发现:1)线索提示对大学生攻击可能性判断存在显著性影响,而目标信息的主效应、目标信息与提示线索的交互作用并不显著。2)与图片线索相比较,命题线索更容易激活攻击性认知,进而影响大学生对攻击可能性的判断。     

An exploratory study on self‐evaluated aggression and androgens in women

Healthy, premenopausal women completed the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Venous blood samples were taken at the mid‐cycle phase of the menstrual cycle to determine plasma androgen levels. Total and free testosterone, 5α‐dihydrotestosterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone were assessed. Path analyses were aimed at finding out which of the five circulating hormones might best predict a latent aggression construct derived from the four subscales of the Aggression Questionnaire. A significant correlation was found between free testosterone and physical and verbal aggression subscales. In addition, the results demonstrate for the first time in women a significant link between 5α‐dihydrotestosterone and anger. Thus, both testosterone and 5α‐dihydrotestosterone may affect, by separate pathways, the basal regulation of aggression‐proneness in women. Aggr. Behav. 28:273–280, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The development of social aggression and physical aggression: A narrative analysis of interpersonal conflicts

Using conflict narratives reported by children and adolescents, this study investigated the development and social functions of social aggression in comparison to physical aggression. A total of 510 participants in two cohorts of a longitudinal study were involved (116 girls and 104 boys from Grade 4 and155 girls and 135 boys from Grade 7). Patterns of social aggression and physical aggression were identified based on interview reports in the first year of the study. Results showed that a triadic structure of social relationship was often reported in conflicts where social aggression was employed, whereas a dyadic structure was reported in conflicts involving physical aggression. Girls tended to use social aggression against girls, whereas boys tended to use physical aggression against boys. Children and adolescents who were central in peer social networks were more likely to employ social aggression than those who were peripheral in the networks. Social aggression was not reliably linked to concurrent or future problematic adjustment. Physical aggression, however, was not related to network centrality but was linked to concurrent and future maladjustment (e.g., low academic competence and school dropout). Aggr. Behav. 28:341–355, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

An investigation of the correlations between aggression,impulsiveness, social problem‐solving,and alcohol use

Impulsivity has been shown to predict aggression and heavy drinking in males, and poor social problem‐solving has been identified as a potential mediating variable in this relationship. We set out to investigate the inter‐relationships among impulsiveness, social problem‐solving, aggression, and alcohol use in a non‐offender sample of British males (N=70). Of our proposed relationships, only two were significant: higher impulsivity was related to poorer social problem‐solving, and poorer social problem‐solving was related to greater aggression. Combining impulsivity and social problem‐solving indicated that poor social problem‐solving, not impulsivity, was what exerted the influence over aggression in this sample. Impulsivity perhaps presents an obstacle to learning in the early developmental years, and the legacy of poor problem‐solving is what later contributes to aggression. Aggr. Behav. 28:439–445, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.