Adult Aggression (adult + aggression)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Intensity of Aggression in Childhood as a Predictor of Different Forms of Adult Aggression: A Two-Country (Finland and the United States) Analysis

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 1 2009
Katja Kokko
This study examined the prediction of different forms of adult aggression in 2 countries from child and adolescent aggression. It was based on 2 longitudinal projects: the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS; N=196 boys and 173 girls) conducted in Finland and the Columbia County Longitudinal Study (CCLS; N=436 boys and 420 girls) conducted in the United States. The same peer-nominated items for aggression were used in both studies at age 8; comparable measures of aggression were also available in adolescence (age 14 in the JYLS/19 in the CCLS) and adulthood (ages 36/30 and 42/48). Results showed that in both countries and in both genders, aggression in school age was linked significantly to physical aggression and lack of self-control of anger in adulthood but not to verbal aggression. This differential predictability of aggression over 40 years suggests that individual differences in physical aggression are more determined by lasting individual differences (including emotional reactivity) than are individual differences in verbal aggression. [source]


Sex-Specific Aggression and Antipredator Behaviour in Young Brown Trout

ETHOLOGY, Issue 7 2001
Jörgen I. Johnsson
Sex differences in adult behaviour are often interpreted as consequences of sexual selection and/or different reproductive roles in males and females. Sex-specific juvenile behaviour, however, has received less attention. Adult brown trout males are more aggressive than females during spawning and juvenile aggression may be genetically correlated with adult aggression in fish. We therefore tested the prediction that immature brown trout males are more aggressive and bolder than immature females. Because previous work has suggested that precocious maturation increases dominance in salmonids, we included precocious males in the study to test the prediction that early sexual maturation increase male aggression and boldness. Aggression and dominance relations were estimated in dyadic contests, whereas boldness was measured as a response to simulated predation risk using a model heron. Independent of maturity state, males initiated more than twice as many agonistic interactions as females in intersexual contests. However, males were not significantly more likely to win these contests than females. The response to a first predator attack did not differ between sex categories, but males reacted less to a second predator attack than females. Sexual maturity did not affect the antipredator response in males. Since there is no evidence from field studies that stream-living immature male and female salmonids differ in growth rate, it appears unlikely that the sex differences demonstrated are behavioural consequences of sex-specific investment in growth. It seems more likely that sex-specific behaviour arises as a correlated response to sexually selected gene actions promoting differential behaviour in adult males and females during reproduction. Alternatively, sex differences may develop gradually during juvenile life, because a gradual developmental program should be less costly than a sudden behavioural change at the onset of sexual maturity. [source]


Retrospective accounts of recurrent parental physical abuse as a predictor of adult laboratory-induced aggression

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2004
Brian K. Moe
Abstract Child abuse has been frequently associated with adult aggression in its many forms. The Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm (PSAP) is a popular laboratory-based procedure derived from the retaliatory responses of participants engaged in a monetary-reinforced computer game. PSAP responses have been found to discriminate between participants with and without violent, antisocial, substance abuse, and even contact-sport athletic histories. The present study provided an initial test of the sensitivity of the PSAP and the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS) in discriminating between college students (n=28) with and without reported histories of recurrent physical abuse as defined by incidents of being pushed, shoved, struck, punched, or threatened with physical violence by a parent more than once every six weeks over 15 years of upbringing. PSAP responses were substantially higher (d=2.1) among participants reporting histories of recurrent parental physical abuse, with 46% (as opposed to 0% for controls) of these individuals generating PSAP responses in excess of 400 (average found for violent parolees). Group differences on the OAS were also considerable (>1 SD). Larger factorial designs examining relationships between a range of developmental variables (e.g., domestic abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, parental divorce, family climate, etc.) and adult PSAP responding may help advance present knowledge regarding the impact of childhood adversity on psychological development. Aggr. Behav. 30:217,228, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Glucocorticoids and the Development of Agonistic Behaviour during Puberty in Male Golden Hamsters

JOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 12 2005
J. C. Wommack
Abstract During puberty, the agonistic behaviour of male golden hamsters undergoes a transition from play fighting to adult aggression. Repeated exposure to social stress early in puberty accelerates this transition. The present study investigated the possible role of glucocorticoids on the maturation of agonistic behaviour. First, we compared serum cortisol levels following a 20-min restraint stress during early puberty, mid-puberty or adulthood. Across puberty, animals exhibited a two-fold increase in post-restraint cortisol levels. We also compared corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) immunoreactive fibres projecting to the median eminence between animals in early puberty and adulthood. The CRH fibre density was two-fold greater in adults compared to juveniles. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of stress hormones on the maturation of agonistic behaviour. Male hamsters were injected daily with dexamethasone, a corticosteroid receptor type II agonist (0, 10 or 40 µg/100 g), early in puberty from postnatal day 31 (P-31) to P-36. When paired with a smaller and younger intruder on P-37, attack frequency did not differ between groups. However, dexamethasone-treated animals showed a dose-dependent decrease in the percentage of play-fighting attacks and an increase in the percentage of adult attacks. In summary, puberty can be described as a period of increasing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in male golden hamsters. Moreover, increasing glucocorticoid levels influence the maturation of agonistic behaviour. These data shed new light on the neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate the maturation of social behaviours during puberty. [source]


Intensity of Aggression in Childhood as a Predictor of Different Forms of Adult Aggression: A Two-Country (Finland and the United States) Analysis

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 1 2009
Katja Kokko
This study examined the prediction of different forms of adult aggression in 2 countries from child and adolescent aggression. It was based on 2 longitudinal projects: the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS; N=196 boys and 173 girls) conducted in Finland and the Columbia County Longitudinal Study (CCLS; N=436 boys and 420 girls) conducted in the United States. The same peer-nominated items for aggression were used in both studies at age 8; comparable measures of aggression were also available in adolescence (age 14 in the JYLS/19 in the CCLS) and adulthood (ages 36/30 and 42/48). Results showed that in both countries and in both genders, aggression in school age was linked significantly to physical aggression and lack of self-control of anger in adulthood but not to verbal aggression. This differential predictability of aggression over 40 years suggests that individual differences in physical aggression are more determined by lasting individual differences (including emotional reactivity) than are individual differences in verbal aggression. [source]