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Frontiers in Public Health 2023Overt aggression is a common type of aggression observed among adolescents, which is apparent and outward confrontational acts manifested physically and verbally, such... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
INTRODUCTION
Overt aggression is a common type of aggression observed among adolescents, which is apparent and outward confrontational acts manifested physically and verbally, such as fighting and shouting. It has become a major public health concern, as it results in detrimental health impacts like injury, mental health, and social problems.
METHODS
An observational study was conducted among 16-year-old school students to determine their biopsychosocial predictors, using stratified proportionate population sampling. Pre-tested surveys were distributed to measure students' aggression, biological, psychological, and social factors.
RESULTS
A total of 463 students from four public secondary schools participated in the study, with a median aggression score was 23.00 (IQR=12.00). The significant predictors of aggression from multivariate analysis were Malay race, frequent dessert intakes, attitude towards aggression, low family income, and peer deviant affiliation ( [8, 244] = 15.980, < 0.001, adjusted = 0.290).
DISCUSSION
Adolescent aggression determinants are collectively impacted as a result of biological, psychological, and social predictors and need to be focused on in interventional strategies.
Topics: Humans; Adolescent; Aggression; Schools; Peer Group; Students; Attitude
PubMed: 37143974
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.992159 -
Journal of Personality Oct 2022Trait aggression is a prominent construct in the psychological literature, yet little work has sought to situate trait aggression among broader frameworks of...
OBJECTIVE
Trait aggression is a prominent construct in the psychological literature, yet little work has sought to situate trait aggression among broader frameworks of personality. Initial evidence suggests that trait aggression may be best couched within the nomological network of the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The current work sought to locate the most appropriate home for trait aggression among the FFM.
METHOD
We applied a preregistered regimen of psychometric network analyses to three datasets (combined N = 2927) that contained self-reports of trait aggression and the FFM traits.
RESULTS
Trait aggression was highly central in the factor-level networks, which contained associations consistent with the conceptualization of this construct as a lower-order component of low agreeableness. The facet-level networks revealed that the behavioral facets of trait aggression reflected low agreeableness, but that the anger and hostility facets reflected high neuroticism. The item-level network suggested that the intent to initiate aggressive encounters was the primary bridge that empirically linked trait aggression to agreeableness.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that trait aggression is primarily a lower-order facet of agreeableness, advance our understanding of trait aggression, integrate it with broader frameworks of personality, and suggest future directions to refine this complex dispositional tendency.
Topics: Aggression; Hostility; Humans; Personality; Personality Disorders; Personality Inventory; Psychometrics
PubMed: 34919275
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12695 -
Journal of Family Psychology : JFP :... Sep 2018Trauma exposure is a consistent correlate of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and parent-to-child aggression (PCA) perpetration, and difficulties with emotions...
Trauma exposure is a consistent correlate of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and parent-to-child aggression (PCA) perpetration, and difficulties with emotions (particularly fear and anger) are hypothesized to underlie these relations. However, the absence of knowledge of the immediate, contextual influence of emotions on aggression renders existing conclusions tenuous. This study illustrates a new method for studying contextual influences on aggressive behavior. Quarterly for 1 year, 94 men and 109 women with children age 2.5 years at study commencement were interviewed to measure the sequence of behaviors during aggressive incidents as well as the intensity of their emotions immediately prior to initiation of aggression. Within aggressive incidents, the number of acts of men's PCA was predicted by men's greater fear, anger, and trauma exposure, and the positive association between men's trauma exposure and PCA perpetration was especially strong under conditions of high fear and anger. In contrast, men's IPA was predicted by greater fear and anger, but not trauma exposure. Men with low trauma exposure engaged in more IPA under conditions of high fear; among men with high trauma exposure, fear inhibited their IPA persistence. Trauma exposure and fear interacted in the same manner to predict women's IPA, but many other findings among men did not generalize to women's aggression. This study illuminates the utility of simultaneously examining aggression across genders and family dyads, and serves as a foundation for refining theories of trauma and family aggression to account for emotion as a factor that can both motivate and inhibit aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Adult; Aggression; Anger; Child, Preschool; Fear; Female; Humans; Intimate Partner Violence; Male; Middle Aged; Parent-Child Relations; Psychological Trauma; Young Adult
PubMed: 29733661
DOI: 10.1037/fam0000405 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... May 2022Peaceful coexistence and trade among human groups can be fragile and intergroup relations frequently transition to violent exchange and conflict. Here we specify how...
Peaceful coexistence and trade among human groups can be fragile and intergroup relations frequently transition to violent exchange and conflict. Here we specify how exogenous changes in groups' environment and ensuing carrying-capacity stress can increase individual participation in intergroup conflict, and out-group aggression in particular. In two intergroup contest experiments, individuals could contribute private resources to out-group aggression (versus in-group defense). Environmental unpredictability, induced by making non-invested resources subject to risk of destruction (versus not), created psychological stress and increased participation in and coordination of out-group attacks. Archival analyses of interstate conflicts showed, likewise, that sovereign states engage in revisionist warfare more when their pre-conflict economic and climatic environment were more volatile and unpredictable. Given that participation in conflict is wasteful, environmental unpredictability not only made groups more often victorious but also less wealthy. Macro-level changes in the natural and economic environment can be a root cause of out-group aggression and turn benign intergroup relations violent. This article is part of the theme issue 'Intergroup conflict across taxa'.
Topics: Aggression; Humans; Warfare
PubMed: 35369744
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0147 -
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Mar 2020How do children with aggressive behavior problems view themselves? The present research seeks to answer this question by examining the self-views (i.e., self-esteem and...
How do children with aggressive behavior problems view themselves? The present research seeks to answer this question by examining the self-views (i.e., self-esteem and narcissism) of boys referred for disruptive behavior problems. In Study 1 (N = 85, Mage= 10.8 years), we examined relations between self-views and self-reported and parent-reported aggression; in Study 2 (N = 73, Mage= 11.8 years), we examined relations between self-views and teacher-reported aggression. We found narcissism to be related with self-reported aggression, but not with parent- and teacher-rated aggression. Children with narcissistic traits were more aggressive according to themselves, and these links were independent of children's level of self-esteem. Self-esteem was not significantly associated with aggression according to children themselves, their parents, nor their teachers. We encourage scholars to explore the possibility that interventions that target characteristics of narcissistic self-views (e.g., perceived superiority, sensitivity to negative feedback) can effectively reduce aggressive behavior in boys referred for behavior problems.
Topics: Aggression; Child; Child Behavior; Female; Humans; Male; Narcissism; Problem Behavior; Self Concept; Self Report
PubMed: 31152246
DOI: 10.1007/s00787-019-01347-z -
Aggressive Behavior Nov 2019Based on the General Aggression Model (GAM), the current study investigated the interactive effect of personal factors (e.g., sensation-seeking) and situational factors...
Based on the General Aggression Model (GAM), the current study investigated the interactive effect of personal factors (e.g., sensation-seeking) and situational factors (e.g., violent video games exposure [VVGE]) on the trait aggressive behavior, and the mediating role of individual difference trait (e.g., moral disengagement, anger, and hostility). We recruited 547 undergraduates (48.45% male) from five Chinese universities. The results showed that VVGE was positively associated with moral disengagement, disinhibition, and the four aggressive traits (physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility), which were positively associated with each other. Moral disengagement was positively associated with both the disinhibition and the four aggressive traits. Disinhibition was positively associated with the four aggressive traits as well. When controlled for gender, moral disengagement, anger, and hostility wholly mediated the relationship between VVGE and aggression, but the moderation effect of disinhibition was not significant. These findings support the framework of GAM and indicate that moral disengagement, anger, and hostility may be the factors that increase the risk of a higher level of aggression following repeated exposure to violent video games.
Topics: Adolescent; Aggression; Anger; Exposure to Violence; Female; Hostility; Humans; Individuality; Male; Problem Behavior; Students; Video Games
PubMed: 31436326
DOI: 10.1002/ab.21860 -
Die Ophthalmologie Sep 2022Experiences of aggression/violence influence job satisfaction and can have a long-term psychological and physical impact on employees. In the fall of 2018, the...
BACKGROUND
Experiences of aggression/violence influence job satisfaction and can have a long-term psychological and physical impact on employees. In the fall of 2018, the Professional Association of Ophthalmologists (BVA) and the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) conducted a survey on experiences of aggression and violence. The first results were published in 2020. In the survey it was also possible to describe the most serious incident to date using free text fields, among others.
METHOD
All 9411 members of the DOG and BVA were given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire online in 2018 regarding aggression and violence in ophthalmology.
RESULTS
Overall, 253 of 1508 (16.8%) ophthalmologists participating in the survey reported their most serious incident, 46.8% of which were classified as moderate and 34.3% were related to verbal violence such as insults and threats. The most serious incident was experienced by 171 (67.6%) physicians in a practice setting, 71% were specialists at the time of the incident and 74.3% of the incidents occurred during regular working hours. The main causes were intercultural conflicts, long waiting times, problems with the allocation of appointments, excessive expectations, differences in treatment and basic aggressiveness. The offenders were male in 86.3% of cases, 15.8% of the incidents were reported to the police and 21 (8.3%) physicians issued a practice reprimand or house ban.
DISCUSSION
The description of the most serious incidents illustrates situations that are sometimes hard to imagine and also which incidents were considered serious. There are large subjective variations in the assessment of the incidents. Protective measures in practices and clinics are essential.
Topics: Aggression; Female; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Male; Ophthalmology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Violence
PubMed: 35441852
DOI: 10.1007/s00347-022-01634-2 -
Social Cognitive and Affective... Nov 2020Despite aggression being detrimental to children's physical health, mental health and social development, the dispositional and neurological antecedents of aggression in...
Despite aggression being detrimental to children's physical health, mental health and social development, the dispositional and neurological antecedents of aggression in the child are poorly understood. Here we examined the relationship between trait aggression as measured by Buss and Warren's Aggression Questionnaire and personality traits measured with Big Five Questionnaire for Children in 77 primary-school children and recorded resting-state brain activity (fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations [fALFF]) and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The present results showed that trait aggression was negatively correlated with agreeableness and positively correlated with neuroticism. The brain analyses showed that children with a higher propensity for aggression had a lower fALFF mainly in the left superior temporal gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus. Physical and total aggressions were negatively associated with rsFC between the right parahippocampal gyrus and the right putamen. Further analysis revealed that this rsFC could moderate the influence of neuroticism on total aggression. Moreover, the results suggest the presence of a sex difference in the neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying aggression in middle childhood. Overall, our findings indicate that aggressive children have lower agreeableness and higher neuroticism, and the underlying neural systems are mainly implicated in social judgment and empathy.
Topics: Aggression; Brain; Brain Mapping; Child; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Personality; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 32991698
DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa134 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Nov 2016Health services often manage agitated or violent people, and such behaviour is particularly prevalent in emergency psychiatric services (10%). The drugs used in such... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Health services often manage agitated or violent people, and such behaviour is particularly prevalent in emergency psychiatric services (10%). The drugs used in such situations should ensure that the person becomes calm swiftly and safely.
OBJECTIVES
To examine whether haloperidol plus promethazine is an effective treatment for psychosis-induced aggression.
SEARCH METHODS
On 6 May 2015 we searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register of Trials, which is compiled by systematic searches of major resources (including MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, BIOSIS, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, and registries of clinical trials) and their monthly updates, handsearches, grey literature, and conference proceedings.
SELECTION CRITERIA
All randomised clinical trials with useable data focusing on haloperidol plus promethazine for psychosis-induced aggression.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We independently extracted data. For binary outcomes, we calculated risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI), on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, we estimated the mean difference (MD) between groups and its 95% CI. We employed a fixed-effect model for analyses. We assessed risk of bias for included studies and created 'Summary of findings' tables using GRADE.
MAIN RESULTS
We found two new randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from the 2015 update searching. The review now includes six studies, randomising 1367 participants and presenting data relevant to six comparisons.When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with haloperidol alone for psychosis-induced aggression for the outcome not tranquil or asleep at 30 minutes, the combination treatment was clearly more effective (n=316, 1 RCT, RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.87, high-quality evidence). There were 10 occurrences of acute dystonia in the haloperidol alone arm and none in the combination group. The trial was stopped early as haloperidol alone was considered to be too toxic.When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with olanzapine, high-quality data showed both approaches to be tranquillising. It was suggested that the combination of haloperidol plus promethazine was more effective, but the difference between the two approaches did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance (n=300, 1 RCT, RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.22 to 1.61, high-quality evidence). Lower-quality data suggested that the risk of unwanted excessive sedation was less with the combination approach (n=116, 2 RCTs, RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.12 to 3.84).When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with ziprasidone all data were of lesser quality. We identified no binary data for the outcome tranquil or asleep. The average sedation score (Ramsay Sedation Scale) was lower for the combination approach but not to conventional levels of statistical significance (n=60, 1 RCT, MD -0.1, 95% CI - 0.58 to 0.38). These data were of low quality and it is unclear what they mean in clinical terms. The haloperidol plus promethazine combination appeared to cause less excessive sedation but again the difference did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance (n=111, 2 RCTs, RR 0.30, 95% CI 0.06 to 1.43).We found few data for the comparison of haloperidol plus promethazine versus haloperidol plus midazolam. Average Ramsay Sedation Scale scores suggest the combination of haloperidol plus midazolam to be the most sedating (n=60, 1 RCT, MD - 0.6, 95% CI -1.13 to -0.07, low-quality evidence). The risk of excessive sedation was considerably less with haloperidol plus promethazine (n=117, 2 RCTs, RR 0.12, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.49, low-quality evidence). Haloperidol plus promethazine seemed to decrease the risk of needing restraints by around 12 hours (n=60, 1 RCT, RR 0.24, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.55, low-quality evidence). It may be that use of midazolam with haloperidol sedates swiftly, but this effect does not last long.When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with lorazepam, haloperidol plus promethazine seemed to more effectively cause sedation or tranquillisation by 30 minutes (n=200, 1 RCT, RR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.68, high-quality evidence). The secondary outcome of needing restraints or seclusion by 12 hours was not clearly different between groups, with about 10% in each group needing this intrusive intervention (moderate-quality evidence). Sedation data were not reported, however, the combination group did have less 'any serious adverse event' in 24-hour follow-up, but there were not clear differences between the groups and we are unsure exactly what the adverse effect was. There were no deaths.When haloperidol plus promethazine was compared with midazolam, there was clear evidence that midazolam is more swiftly tranquillising of an aggressive situation than haloperidol plus promethazine (n=301, 1 RCT, RR 2.90, 95% CI 1.75 to 4.8, high-quality evidence). On its own, midazolam seems to be swift and effective in tranquillising people who are aggressive due to psychosis. There was no difference in risk of serious adverse event overall (n=301, 1 RCT, RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.06 to 15.95, high-quality evidence). However, 1 in 150 participants allocated haloperidol plus promethazine had a swiftly reversed seizure, and 1 in 151 given midazolam had swiftly reversed respiratory arrest.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Haloperidol plus promethazine is effective and safe, and its use is based on good evidence. Benzodiazepines work, with midazolam being particularly swift, but both midazolam and lorazepam cause respiratory depression. Olanzapine intramuscular and ziprasidone intramuscular do seem to be viable options and their action is swift, but resumption of aggression with subsequent need to re-inject was more likely than with haloperidol plus promethazine. Haloperidol used on its own without something to offset its frequent and serious adverse effects does seem difficult to justify.
Topics: Aggression; Benzodiazepines; Drug Therapy, Combination; Haloperidol; Humans; Lorazepam; Midazolam; Promethazine; Psychomotor Agitation; Psychotic Disorders; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Restraint, Physical
PubMed: 27885664
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005146.pub3 -
Tijdschrift Voor Psychiatrie 2019To provide an overview of the literature on transitions towards smoke-free psychiatric hospitals and the risk of aggression.
METHOD: A systematic search was made in...To provide an overview of the literature on transitions towards smoke-free psychiatric hospitals and the risk of aggression.
METHOD: A systematic search was made in medline, Embase and Psycinfo. Studies were included if they reported data on: a smoke-free intervention in a psychiatric hospital or ward, the number of aggressive incidents, and seclusions or prn drugs.
RESULTS: A total of 17 studies matched the inclusion/exclusion criteria; 5 reported a decrease in the number of aggressive incidents after implementation of a smoke-free ward, 7 showed an increase in the number of incidents, and 5 studies reported no differences. Heterogeneity between the studies was high with respect to the definition and implementation of the intervention, the definition and measurement of aggression, study design, length of follow-up, and the sample size.
CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that, after changing the policy towards a smoke-free psychiatric hospital, the risk of aggression is limited. However, several precautions related to the preparation and implementation of this transition seem to be essential. The results support further investment in the implementation of smoke-free psychiatric hospitals in the Netherlands, while maintaining safety.Topics: Aggression; Hospitals, Psychiatric; Humans; Netherlands; Smoke-Free Policy; Smoking Cessation; Violence
PubMed: 31243749
DOI: No ID Found