Social-cognitive influences on change in aggression over time.

This study examined whether social cognitions that have been assumed to influence aggression actually forecast change in aggressive habits over time. Participants were 189 3rd- through 7th-grade boys and girls; data on social cognitions and social behaviors were collected in the fall and spring of the school year. Aggression-encouraging cognitions assessed in the fall indeed promoted aggression over the school year, but such developments hinged critically on child sex and on initial (fall) levels of aggression and victimization. Results illustrate the principle that cognitions affect behavioral development mainly when the child's transactions with the social environment support the use of the cognitions as guides for behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Social–Cognitive influences on change in aggression over time": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by S. K. Egan et al (Developmental Psychology, 1998 [Sep], Vol 34[5], 996–1006). On pages 1004–1005, the last sentence of the article should read as follows: "Given that we speculated that the effects of aversive treatment hinge crucially on factors such as timing and whether successful counterattacks occur, such observations, especially if supplemented with measures of social cognitions, might greatly enrich our understanding of how cognition and behavior jointly contribute to social development." The first line of text in the right-hand column on page 1005 should be deleted. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1998-10846-016.) This study examined whether social cognitions that have been assumed to influence aggression actually forecast change in aggressive habits over time. Participants were 189 3rd- through 7th-grade boys and girls; data on social cognitions and social behaviors were collected in the fall and spring of the school year. Aggression-encouraging cognitions assessed in the fall indeed promoted aggression over the school year, but such developments hinged critically on child sex and on initial (fall) levels of aggression and victimization. Results illustrate the principle that cognitions affect behavioral development mainly when the child's transactions with the social environment support the use of the cognitions as guides for behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Desensitization to media violence: Links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior.

This study examined the links between desensitization to violent media stimuli and habitual media violence exposure as a predictor and aggressive cognitions and behavior as outcome variables. Two weeks after completing measures of habitual media violence exposure, trait aggression, trait arousability, and normative beliefs about aggression, undergraduates (N = 303) saw a violent film clip and a sad or a funny comparison clip. Skin conductance level (SCL) was measured continuously, and ratings of anxious and pleasant arousal were obtained after each clip. Following the clips, participants completed a lexical decision task to measure accessibility of aggressive cognitions and a competitive reaction time task to measure aggressive behavior. Habitual media violence exposure correlated negatively with SCL during violent clips and positively with pleasant arousal, response times for aggressive words, and trait aggression, but it was unrelated to anxious arousal and aggressive responding during the reaction time task. In path analyses controlling for trait aggression, normative beliefs, and trait arousability, habitual media violence exposure predicted faster accessibility of aggressive cognitions, partly mediated by higher pleasant arousal. Unprovoked aggression during the reaction time task was predicted by lower anxious arousal. Neither habitual media violence usage nor anxious or pleasant arousal predicted provoked aggression during the laboratory task, and SCL was unrelated to aggressive cognitions and behavior. No relations were found between habitual media violence viewing and arousal in response to the sad and funny film clips, and arousal in response to the sad and funny clips did not predict aggressive cognitions or aggressive behavior on the laboratory task. This suggests that the observed desensitization effects are specific to violent content. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

An exploratory study of child-centered play therapy with aggressive children.

Children exhibiting aggressive problem behaviors typically reach a peak of aggressive acts at an early age, providing evidence that early intervention for aggression is needed. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is 1 intervention that offers the child an environment in which aggression can be expressed and empathically responded to by a play therapist. Forty-one elementary school age children were assigned to a CCPT condition or a wait-list control group condition. Children who participated in 14 sessions of CCPT showed a moderate decrease in aggressive behaviors over children in the control group, according to effect sizes as reported by parents (N = 32). Teachers reported that both groups significantly improved over time (N = 41). Post hoc analysis revealed that children assigned to CCPT decreased aggressive behaviors statistically significantly and children assigned to control group demonstrated no statistically significant difference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Before children: Preparenthood cognitions of distressed and husband-to-wife aggressive couples.

Positive and negative cognitions about parenthood were assessed in a sample of recently married childless spouses who were in nondistressed, distressed, and husband-to-wife (H-to-W) aggressive marriages (328 husbands and 331 wives). As predicted, maritally distressed spouses held more negative cognitions about parenthood than did nondistressed spouses. Results indicated that spouses in H-to-W aggressive marriages expected parenthood to be a more unpredictable and difficult job than spouses in marriages not involving H-to-W aggression. Wives also reported more fears that having a child would result in a loss of freedom than did husbands. No distress, H-to-W aggression level, or gender differences were obtained for positive preparenthood cognitions. Finally, wives' but not husbands' positive and negative preparenthood cognitions at 6 months of marriage were able to predict parenthood status at 30 months of marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cognitive-ecological approach to preventing aggression in urban settings: Initial outcomes for high-risk children.

A multiyear, multicontext aggression prevention intervention was provided during the early or late elementary school years in an inner-city and an urban poor community. Sixteen schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) no-treatment control, (b) general enhancement classroom program, (c) general enhancement plus small-group peer-skills training, or (d) general enhancement plus small-group peer-skills training plus family intervention. This article reports on results for the high-risk subsample of 1,500 children. Results from hierarchical linear modeling indicate that comprehensive interventions, if provided in early grades, can be effective for children in schools in settings with resources adequate to support learning and development, but some unintended effects can occur in schools in the most distressed communities when delivered too late in development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression: A test of a mediational model.

Although correlations between interparental conflict and child maladjustment are well-established, the processes connecting these 2 phenomena are less understood. The present study tested whether an aggressogenic cognitive style mediates the relationship between interparental conflict and child aggression. A multiethnic sample of 115 families with a child between the ages of 7 and 13 years participated. Questionnaires were used to assess parents' and children's perceptions of interparental conflict, children's social problem-solving strategies and beliefs about aggression, and parent and teacher reports of child aggression. Support was found for the mediating effect of aggressogenic cognitions on children's school aggression but not on children's aggression at home. Implications for understanding the associations among interparental conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression in different environmental contexts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: II. Intervention.

A 12-session intervention program, based on a model of social–cognitive development, was designed to remediate cognitive factors identified as correlates of aggression (R. G. Slaby and N. G. Guerra; see record 1989-01839-001). 120 male and female adolescents incarcerated for aggression offenses participated in either the cognitive mediation training program, an attention control group, or a no-treatment group. Compared with Ss in both control groups, Ss in the treatment group showed increased skills in solving social problems, decreased endorsement of beliefs supporting aggression, and decreased aggressive, impulsive, and inflexible behaviors, as rated by staff. Posttest aggression was directly related to change in cognitive factors. No group differences were detected for number of parole violators up to 24 months after release. The ways in which changes in cognitive skills and beliefs may mediate changes in aggressive behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dyadic nature of social information processing in boys' reactive and proactive aggression.

The correlation between boys' social cognitions and their aggressive behavior toward peers was examined as being actor driven, partner driven, or dyadic relationship driven. Eleven groups of 6 familiar boys each (N?=?165 dyads) met for 5 consecutive days to participate in play sessions and social-cognitive interviews. With a variance partitioning procedure, boys' social-cognitive processes were found to vary reliably across their dyadic relationships. Furthermore, mixed models regression analyses indicated that hostile attributional biases toward a particular peer were related to directly observed reactive aggression toward that peer even after controlling for actor and partner effects, suggesting that these phenomena are dyadic or relationship oriented. On the other hand, the relation between outcome expectancies for aggression and the display of proactive aggression appeared to be more actor driven and partner driven that dyadic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Information-Processing Skills Training to Promote Social Competence and Prevent Aggressive Behavior in the Third Grades.

This article describes a school-based study designed to promote social competence and reduce aggressive behavior by strengthening children's skills in processing social information and regulating emotions. Three successive cohorts of 3rd graders (N = 548) from 2 schools participated. In 2000-2001, children received a routine health curriculum; in 2001-2002, students received the Making Choices: Social Problem Solving Skills for Children (MC) program; and in 2002-2003, children received MC supplemented with teacher and parent activities. Compared with children in the routine condition, children in both MC conditions were rated lower on posttest social and overt aggression and higher on social competence. Moreover, they scored significantly higher on an information-processing skills posttest. The findings suggest that prevention programs can strengthen social- emotional skills and produce changes in aggressive behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting and preventing supervisory workplace aggression.

The authors examined factors that lead to and prevent aggression toward supervisors at work using two samples: doctoral students and correctional service guards. The results supported that perceived interpersonal injustice mediates the relationship between perceptions of supervisory control over work performance and psychological aggression directed at supervisors, and further that psychological aggression toward supervisors is positively associated with physical acts of aggression directed at supervisors, supporting the notion of an escalation of aggressive workplace behaviors. Moreover, employees' perceptions of organizational sanctions (i.e., negative consequences for disobeying organizational policies) against aggression appear to play an important role in the prevention of workplace aggression by moderating the relationship between injustice and aggression targeting supervisors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Initial behavior outcomes for the PeaceBuilders universal school-based violence prevention program.

PeaceBuilders is a universal, elementary-school-based violence prevention program that attempts to alter the climate of a school by teaching students and staff simple rules and activities aimed at improving child social competence and reducing aggressive behavior. Eight matched schools (N > 4,000 students in Grades K-5) were randomly assigned to either immediate postbaseline intervention (PBI) or to a delayed intervention 1 year later (PBD). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze results from assessments in the fall and spring of 2 consecutive school years. In Year 1, significant gains in teacher-reported social competence for students in Grades K-2, in child self-reported peace-building behavior in Grades K-5, and reductions in aggressive behavior in Grades 3-5 were found for PBI but not PBD schools. Differential effects in Year 1 were also observed for aggression and prosocial behavior. Most effects were maintained in Year 2 for PBI schools, including increases in child prosocial behavior in Grades K-2. Implications for early universal school-based prevention and challenges related to evaluating large-scale prevention trials are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It takes two to fight: A test of relational factors and a method for assessing aggressive dyads.

Observations of aggressive interactions in boys' laboratory play groups were used to evaluate the relative importance of relational and individual factors in accounting for aggressive acts. A classroom peer-rating method for identifying mutually aggressive dyads was validated in 11 5-session play groups, composed of 2 mutually aggressive boys and 4 randomly selected male classmates from 11 predominately African American 3rd-grade classrooms. When the social relations model was used, relationship effects accounted for equally as much of the variance in total aggression and proactive aggression as either actor or target effects. Mutually aggressive dyads displayed twice as much total aggression as randomly selected dyads. Members of mutually aggressive dyads attributed greater hostile intentions toward each other than did randomly selected dyads, which may serve to explain their greater aggression toward each other. The importance of studying relational factors, including social histories and social–cognitive processes, is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical aggression and expressive vocabulary in 19-month-old twins.

In the prevention of physical aggression, possible etiological links with language development are rarely taken into account. Indeed, little is known about when language and aggressive behavior become linked during development and which mechanisms are responsible for this association. This study investigated the association between physical aggression and language in late infancy with a genetic design that involved 562 19-month-old twins. A modest but significant correlation (r=-.20) was found between physical aggression and expressive vocabulary. Substantial heritability was found for physical aggression. Quantitative genetic modeling suggests that the correlation between expressive vocabulary and physical aggression cannot be explained by shared etiologies. However, phenotype-to-phenotype models indicate that the covariation can be entirely accounted for by a significant phenotypic path from expressive vocabulary to physical aggression. The implications of these results for early prevention of chronic physical aggression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of cognitive€motional mediators and individual differences in the effects of media violence on aggression.

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that observation of media violence elicits thoughts and emotional responses related to aggression. In Experiment 1, highly violent videotapes elicited more aggressive cognitions than did a less violent tape. This effect was moderated by the trait of stimulus screening. In Experiment 2, aggressive cognitions increased with the level of violence in the videotape, and physical assaultiveness influenced this effect. Hostility and systolic blood pressure were higher in response to the most violent video than in response to the other two. Hostility was influenced by emotional susceptibility and dissipation–rumination, and systolic blood pressure was influenced by emotional susceptibility and assaultiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

It's the thought that counts: The role of hostile cognition in shaping aggressive responses to social exclusion.

Prior research has confirmed a casual path between social rejection and aggression, but there has been no clear explanation of why social rejection causes aggression. A series of experiments tested the hypothesis that social exclusion increases the inclination to perceive neutral information as hostile, which has implications for aggression. Compared to accepted and control participants, socially excluded participants were more likely to rate aggressive and ambiguous words as similar (Experiment 1a), to complete word fragments with aggressive words (Experiment 1b), and to rate the ambiguous actions of another person as hostile (Experiments 2-4). This hostile cognitive bias among excluded people was related to their aggressive treatment of others who were not involved in the exclusion experience (Experiments 2 and 3) and others with whom participants had no previous contact (Experiment 4). These findings provide a first step in resolving the mystery of why social exclusion produces aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors associated with marital aggression in male alcoholics.

Male alcoholics who were physically aggressive toward their wives in the year before alcoholism treatment (n?=?71) were compared with nonaggressive counterparts (n?=?36). Two key patterns were associated with marital aggression: (a) binge drinking linked with coercive marital conflicts and (b) markers of a severe early onset alcoholism syndrome. Maritally aggressive men were younger and exhibited more binge drinking, higher prevalence of arrest, more verbal aggression, greater alcohol problem severity, earlier alcohol problem onset, more alcoholism among male biological relatives, less maternal alcohol use, less confidence in their ability to manage interpersonal conflict without drinking, and stronger beliefs that alcohol causes marital problems. Marital adjustment levels were not associated with marital aggression, and very few differences were found between moderate and severe violence groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social status of aggressive students across contexts: The role of classroom status hierarchy, academic achievement, and grade.

This study tested the effects of 5 classroom contextual features on the social status (perceived popularity and social preference) that peers accord to aggressive students in late elementary school, including classroom peer status hierarchy (whether within-classroom differences in popularity are large or small), classroom academic level, and grade level as the main predictors of interest as well as classroom aggression and ethnic composition as controls. Multilevel analyses were conducted on an ethnically diverse sample of 968 fourth- and fifth-graders from 46 classrooms in 9 schools. Associations between aggression and status varied greatly from one classroom to another. Aggressive students were more popular and better liked in classrooms with higher levels of peer status hierarchy. Aggressive students had higher social status in Grade 5 than in Grade 4 and lower social preference in classrooms of higher academic level. Classroom aggression and ethnic composition did not moderate aggression–status associations. Limitations and practical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social dominance in preschool classrooms.

The authors examined preschoolers' aggressive and cooperative behaviors and their associations with social dominance. First and as predicted, directly observed aggressive interactions decreased across the school year, and same-sex aggression occurred more frequently than cross-sex aggression. Next, the authors examined the relation between aggression and reconciliation, cooperation, and social display variables. Teacher ratings of children's aggression related to observed aggression but not to observed "wins" of aggressive bouts. Instead, wins were related to cooperation and display variables. Finally, they examined the relative power of wins and cooperation in predicting 2 measures of social dominance. After age was controlled, wins alone predicted teacher-rated social dominance. Results are discussed in terms of different forms of competition and how school ethos affects these forms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intellectual functioning and aggression.

In a 22-year study, data were collected on aggressiveness and intellectual functioning in more than 600 subjects, their parents, and their children. Both aggression and intellectual functioning are reasonably stable in a subject's lifetime and perpetuate themselves across generations and within marriage pairs. Aggression in childhood was shown to interfere with the development of intellectual functioning and to be predictive of poorer intellectual achievement as an adult. Early IQ was related to early subject aggression but did not predict changes in aggression after age 8. Differences between early IQ and intellectual achievement in middle adulthood were predictable from early aggressive behavior. A dual-process model was offered to explain the relation between intellectual functioning and aggressive behavior. We hypothesized that low intelligence makes the learning of aggressive responses more likely at an early age, and this aggressive behavior makes continued intellectual development more difficult. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)