Subtypes of Aggression and Their Relevance to Child Psychiatry

Vitiello, Benedetto; Stoff, David M.

doi:10.1097/00004583-199703000-00008

Cited by 351 publications

(221 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Learning how to cope with anger and teaching children not to see others' intentions as hostile and threatening (Dodge 1991;Hubbard et al 2002;Kempes et al 2005;McAdams 2002) hopefully deals with the mechanisms underlying the reactive aggressive behavior. On the other hand, proactive aggression is learned behavior that can be changed through the use of operant techniques (Vitiello and Stoff 1997). Thus, from a diagnostic point of view, the combination of both elements (form and function) is essential in understanding behavioral problems.…”

Section: Diagnostic Usefulnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Directions in Measuring Reactive and Proactive Aggression: Validation of a Teacher Questionnaire

Polman

Castro

Thomaes

et al. 2008

J Abnorm Child Psychol

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The well-known distinction between reactive and proactive aggression is theoretically important but empirically controversial. Recently, aggression researchers have argued that we should separate the form and function of aggression to make a clearer distinction between reactive and proactive aggression. This article describes the validation of a new teacher-report Instrument for Reactive and Proactive Aggression (IRPA) that assesses the form separate from the function of aggression. We demonstrated good discriminant, convergent, and construct validity of the IRPA in a sample of 427 children aged 10 to 13. Reactive and proactive functions of aggression were independent constructs (r=0.03) which indicates excellent discriminant validity. Convergent validity was satisfactory; scores from the IRPA were moderately to highly related to scores from the widely used Teacher Rating Instrument, TRI (Dodge and Coie in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53:1146-1158. Additionally, reactive and proactive aggression showed unique correlations with most a priori hypothesized theoretically relevant variables, which indicates construct validity. (150 words)

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Section: Diagnostic Usefulnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Directions in Measuring Reactive and Proactive Aggression: Validation of a Teacher Questionnaire

Polman

Castro

Thomaes

et al. 2008

J Abnorm Child Psychol

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“…In consideration of apparently qualitative subtypes of aggression, a sensible construct was made in hypothesizing a dichotomy between an impulsivereactive-hostile-affective subtype (defensive aggression) and a controlled-proactive-instrumental-predatory subtype (offensive aggression) (Vitiello and Stoff, 1997). Although most neurobiological studies of aggression and violence unfortunately do not differentiate between defensive and offensive aggression, this distinction may be relevant in understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of aggressive behaviors, even more so they are influenced by anatomically and functionally distinct neural circuits (Lesch and Merschdorf, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature and Nurture Predispose to Violent Behavior: Serotonergic Genes and Adverse Childhood Environment

Reif

Rösler

Freitag

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

226

156

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Aggressive behavior is influenced by variation in genes of the serotonergic circuitry and early-life experience alike. The present study aimed at investigating the contribution of polymorphisms shown to moderate transcription of two genes involved in serotonergic neurotransmission (serotonin transporter, 5HTT, and monoamine oxidase A, MAOA) to the development of violence and to test for gene-environment interactions relating to adverse childhood environment. A cohort of 184 adult male volunteers referred for forensic assessment participated in the study. Each individual was assigned to either a violent or a nonviolent group. Logistic regression was performed and the best-fitting model, with a predictive power of 74%, revealed independent effects of adverse childhood environment and MAOA genotype. High environmental adversity during childhood was associated significantly with violent behavior. Forty-five percent of violent, but only 30% of nonviolent individuals carried the low-activity, short MAOA allele. Most interestingly, an interaction effect between childhood environment and 5HTT genotype on violent behavior was found in that high adversity during childhood impacted only the later-life violence if the short promoter alleles were present. These findings indicate complex interactions between genetic variation of the serotonergic circuitry and environmental factors arguing against simplistic, mono-causal explanations of violent behavior.

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“…Within the animal literature, at least seven subtypes of aggression have been identified and the behavior among humans is dimensional as well (Vitiello and Stoff, 1997). Important distinctions among aggressive subtypes include: level of planning, appreciation for consequences, and affective intensity associated with the aggressive acts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing aggressive behavior with the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale among adolescents with conduct disorder

Mathias

Stanford

Marsh

et al. 2007

Psychiatry Research

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This study extends the use of the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale for subtyping aggressive behavior among adolescents with Conduct Disorder. Of the Conduct Disorder symptoms, aggression has the strongest prognostic and treatment implications. While aggression is a complex construct, convergent evidence supports a dichotomy of impulsive and premeditated aggressive subtypes that are qualitatively different from one another in terms of phenomenology and neurobiology. Previous attempts at measuring subtypes of aggression in children and adults are not clearly generalizable to adolescents. Sixty-six adolescents completed a questionnaire for characterizing aggression (Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale), along with standard measures of personality and general functioning. Principal components analysis demonstrated two stable factors of aggression with good internal consistency and construct validity. Compared to the premeditated aggression factor, the impulsive aggression factor was associated with a broader range of personality, thought, emotional, and social problems. As in the adult and child literature, characterization of aggressive behavior into two subtypes appears to be relevant to understanding individual differences among adolescents with Conduct Disorder.

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Subtypes of Aggression and Their Relevance to Child Psychiatry

Cited by 351 publications

References 43 publications

New Directions in Measuring Reactive and Proactive Aggression: Validation of a Teacher Questionnaire

New Directions in Measuring Reactive and Proactive Aggression: Validation of a Teacher Questionnaire

Nature and Nurture Predispose to Violent Behavior: Serotonergic Genes and Adverse Childhood Environment

Characterizing aggressive behavior with the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale among adolescents with conduct disorder

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