While both social information processing and cortisol secretion in childhood aggression have generated a great deal of interest and research in the past few decades, these social-cognitive and physiological components of aggressive behavior have not been examined in the context of an integrative model. This lack of an integrative framework may underlie some of the inconsistencies that have plagued the literature in this area to date, especially with respect to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in aggressive children. This investigation tested a mediational model of the relationship between social-information processing, cortisol secretion, and reactive and proactive aggression. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social-information processing variables would mediate the proposed relationship between reactive and proactive aggression and cortisol secretion. One hundred and twenty-six children between the ages of 13 and 18 were administered the Child Behavior Rating Form (CBR), the Home Interview with Child (HIC), the Response Decision and Social Goals Instrument (RDSGI), the Antisocial Processes Screening Device (APSD), the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). Each child also contributed two samples of saliva for cortisol assay, and each child's teacher completed a teacher-version of the APSD and the CBR. Regression analyses revealed no significant associations between proactive or reactive aggression and cortisol secretion, or between any of the social-information processing variables and cortisol secretion. Predicted associations between proactive and reactive aggression and social-information processing variables were found. Overall, therefore, the mediational model was not supported. However, cortisol secretion was found to be associated with both anxiety and depression, and exploratory analyses revealed significant associations between cortisol secretion and Psychopathy as measured by the APSD. Taken together, the findings suggest that while the specific relationship proposed here among social-cognitive, psychophysiological, and behavioral variables was not found, an integrative model examining each of these components may be useful in further investigations of the complex phenomenon of childhood aggression. / Ph. D.

This study tested the hypotheses that 1) authoritarian and traditionally masculine men respond to depictions of male-male intimacy with anger, 2) this anger predicts aggression toward gay men, and 3) anonymity moderates this effect. Data from 978 men were collected from Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online participant pool and survey delivery mechanism. Results from SEM analyses confirmed hypotheses 1 and 2, indicating that traditionally masculine and authoritarian men experience anger in response to a video clip depicting male-male intimacy, b = .22, SE = .08, p < .01, and that this anger predicts greater aggression against a gay male target than a heterosexual target, b = .53, SE = .17, p < .01. The hypothesis that anonymity influences the link between anger and aggression was not supported.

Aggression/victimization in school is a problem that is associated with internalizing and externalizing behaviors which may develop into long term emotional problems for the child.Sixth grade is a transitional period in a child's life, whereby a child experiences hormonal changes, enters a new school and establishes social status. Depending on the child's emotional well-being, these are antecedents that are related to experiencing aggression/victimization. Children develop within a context. Within this context there are parents, adults, siblings, peersand teachers whereby the child learns behaviors through proximal and distal interactions which may impact the child's life either positively or negatively. Within this context the child developsresilience, which is a protective factor that enables the child to "bounce back" from negative situations. The goal of this study is to establish a connection between the environment in which achild develops and the impact emotional well-being, peers and adults have on a child in relation to experiencing aggression and ultimately becoming a victim. The findings indicate that childrenwho suffer from emotional distress are more likely to become victims and children who have supportive adults in their lives are less likely to become victims. Overall, emotional distressplays a negative role and resilience plays a positive and protective role in a child's life. This outcome suggests that prevention/interventions should be created whereby a child has more supportive adults in their lives creating a resilient environment.

No description available.

Multiple studies have supported the link between anger and aggression. It is not uncommon for anger to result in aggressive acts, especially in children still learning socially appropriate ways of coping. Furthermore, childhood aggression is typically viewed as a concerning act that should be reduced or eliminated. However, some research shows that within pretend play, aggression can be adaptive. Studies have supported the Mastery/Catharsis hypothesis, the theory that aggression in pretend play acts as a release of emotions and processing of events, by showing that children who exhibit more aggression within their pretend play exhibit less aggression outside of play. Pretend play has been proposed as an adaptive coping mechanism for children. Although the literature supports the role of pretend play in coping with anxiety, the role of play in coping with anger has not previously been evaluated. The current study used a pretest/posttest design to evaluate the relationships between anger and aggression in pretend play and the role of aggression in pretend play in regulating anger in preschool aged children. Mood was measured at three time points: baseline measure prior to play or mood induction (Time 1), measure after the mood induction (Time 2), and after the condition manipulation (Time 3). Baseline measures of pretend play were also collected prior to the mood induction for all children. After the mood induction, half the participants participated in a measure of pretend play and the other half watched an emotionally neutral 5-minute video. Measures of mood were then collected again. Given the strong relationship between anger and aggression, it was hypothesized that anger would increase aggression in pretend play. Furthermore, according to the Mastery/Catharsis hypothesis engaging in aggression in pretend play should reduce anger. Therefore, it was hypothesized that participants in the treatment condition, who engaged in pretend play, would show a greater reduction in anger than children in the control group, who watched a neutral video. Results indicated that the mood induction resulted in a worse mood than the baseline mood. Furthermore, children engaged in more aggression in pretend play after being angered than prior to being angered. Finally, there were no significant differences in mood scores at the end of the study between the treatment and control groups. The present study developed a novel, effective, and mild negative mood induction procedure for preschoolers. Additionally, it found a relationship between anger and aggression in pretend play in preschoolers. Although the present study did not find pretend play was more effective in improving mood that the control condition, future studies should evaluate this relationship further as there were several extraneous variables that were not controlled for (e.g., emotion regulation abilities).

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Megan C. Saybe

Child temperament has been implicated as a possible mediator or moderator of the relation between parenting and child outcomes. However, previous studies have lead to ambiguous interpretation of the results due to methodological problems. Sanson et al., (2004) conducted a review of the relation between temperament and social development and outlined four methodological problems with previous research in the field of temperament, two of which were addressed in the current study. The present study examined the moderating role of the three broad child temperament factors on the relation between three forms of parenting practices, punitive discipline, deficient parenting, and poor parental monitoring and child aggressive behaviors. Using a multimethod and multisource design, parent report, child report, observational data, and behavioral tasks were used to create the construct when possible. The present study also controlled for other factors that have been linked to child aggressive behaviors, specifically, child age and gender, maternal personality, and economic disadvantage. Mother report and child report of the criterion were examined separately using hierarchical regression and full information maximum likelihood estimation in path analyses. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) high levels of child negative affectivity will moderate the relation between harsh/punitive discipline and the development of aggressive behavior problems, 2) a combination of inconsistent discipline and neglect, or deficient parenting, will predict aggressive behaviors in children with high levels of surgency, and 3) that poor parental monitoring will predict aggressive behaviors particularly for children low on effortful control. Results using child report of aggressive behaviors indicated that temperament did not moderate the relationship between parenting practices and aggressive; however, higher use of punitive discipline predicted higher levels of aggressive behaviors. The covariates age and maternal positive emotionality, predicted aggressive behaviors as well, with older children reporting higher rates of aggressive behaviors and higher levels of maternal positive emotionality predicting lower levels of aggressive behaviors in children. Using maternal report of aggressive behaviors, deficient parenting had a main effect on child aggressive behaviors, with higher use of deficient parenting predicted high aggressive behaviors. While temperament did not moderate the relation between parenting and aggressive behaviors using maternal report either, effortful control did have a main effect on aggressive behaviors. That is, higher levels of effortful control predicted lower levels of child aggressive behaviors. As for the parenting variables, only deficient parenting had a direct relation to aggressive behaviors. The covariate maternal negative emotionality also predicted higher levels of mother reported child aggressive behaviors. In summary, although unable to find a moderation effect for temperament, this study found support for harsh punitive discipline and deficient parenting as risk factors of aggressive behaviors in children and found support for effortful control and maternal positive emotionality as protective factors against aggressive behaviors. Results are interpreted in terms of treatment for child aggressive behaviors and the need to examine data from different sources in a non-aggregated manner.

Parade's End, a screenplay accompanied by an exegesis exploring institutional and ideological violence within the war film genre. The problem to solve with my exegesis and subsequent screenplay was how to create a unique visual form for the treatment of violence. This was done by examining screenwriting techniques that have been used to explore the psychology of violence and aggression within the war film genre. I identified and examined those techniques used to depict vioence within the war film genre, specifically those discussed by film theorist Stephen Prince. Stephen Prince in Savage cinema: Sam Peckinpah and the rise of ultraviolent movies in America examines the cultural and subsequent technical shifts that occurred in the late sixties towards the treatment of violence in contemporary cinema. He focuses on specific techniques that he believes radicalised the depiction of vioence and its aftermath in the cinematic form. In Visions of empire: political image ry in contemporary American film, Prince examines those techniques that he believed explored the political dimensions of violence. A primary consideration of my research then was how to integrate the techniques under discussion in ways that will help create a convincing form the for depiction of violence for a contemporary screen audience. A major outcome of my investigation and exploration of Prince's techniques, was to sustain within my screenplay the audience's gaze at a disturbing mirror, and probe an audience's ambivalent response to contemporary social currents. Through the demystification of the Special Forces soldier, it was my intention to depict vioence and aggression in striking and original ways.

Background Violence in the emergency department (ED) is a significant problem and it is increasing. Several studies have shown that violence in the ED is more likely to occur within the first hour of a patient’s presentation. Therefore, it is possible that there are some indicators of violence observable during the initial nurse-patient/relative interaction at triage. Nevertheless the problem remains inadequately investigated as many incidents are not reported and most studies that have investigated this issue are descriptive in nature. Although these studies have provided important preliminary information, they fail to reveal the complexities of the problem, in particular the cultural aspects of violence which are crucial for the ED. Aims The main aims of this study were to explore the cultural aspects of violence in the ED and to determine the possible indicators of violence at triage. Methodology Contemporary ethnography based on interpretive and post-positive paradigms was adopted to frame the methodology of this study. Methods This study was carried out at a major metropolitan ED over three months. The data collection techniques included field observations, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data analysis framework adopted for this study incorporated Spradley's (1980) and LeCompte and Schensul's (1999) approaches. Findings The study indicated that the cultural meanings of violence were complex and highly subjective with variations among nurses which in turn influenced their responses to violence (e.g. reporting or not reporting an incident). The cultural meanings were sometimes contradictory and confusing as violence could be seen as both a challenge and a threat or predictable and unpredictable. The same type of behaviour from one individual could be perceived as violent but not for another. Many nurses perceived that violence was unpredictable and inevitable but the study demonstrated that there were indicators of violence which could be used to predict and prevent the problem. Factors such as environment, conflicting messages regarding waiting time, and patients' expectations and needs played an important part in violence. Besides, there were immediate warning signs of violence such as the overt verbal (e.g. mumbling or shouting) and covert nonverbal signs (e.g. staring or agitation). This study showed that patients' behaviours for instance being unfriendly, not appreciative, inattentive and uncooperative were better predictors of violence in the ED than their traits or problems alone. However, nurse-patient/relative behaviours and the resulting reciprocal relationship were considered central in determining if violence would occur or be avoided. Nurses' efforts to establish rapport with patients was crucial in minimising violence and needed to occur early. There was usually a ‘turning point’ that provided an opportunity for the nurse to avoid violence. Nurses’ behaviours at the ‘turning point’ strongly influence the outcome. Nurses' awareness of their personal expectations, prejudices and ethnocentrisms were the pivotal points in preventing escalation of violence. Conclusion This study has provided a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of the cultural aspects of violence in the ED. While violence is a complex issue with many paradoxes, there are lessons to be learned. The study indicates that effective interpersonal empathetic communication has a significant role in reducing violence in the ED. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1457967 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2009

It was hypothesized that the self-esteem instability and emotional reactivity associated with narcissism may be related to the simplicity of cognitive self-representation known as low self-complexity. The relationships among narcissism, self-concept, affect and violent behaviour were investigated in two studies with samples of federally sentenced violent and sexual offenders. In the first study, participants completed personality inventories and a measure of self-complexity, while changes in self-esteem were tracked across two weeks. In the second study, participants completed the same battery of measures as in the first study in addition to several new measures of anger, aggression and previous violent behaviour. Also, official records were consulted to obtain collateral information regarding violent behaviour. Experiences of positive and negative events and the resulting changes in affect and self-esteem were tracked over six weeks. It was expected that self-complexity would mediate reactivity to daily events such that individuals low in self-complexity and high in narcissistic personality traits would report the greatest shifts in self-esteem and emotion. When positive and negative self-complexity were considered separately, some support was found for the hypothesized buffering effect. Generally, higher positive self-complexity was associated with better coping while higher negative self-complexity was associated with less desirable reactions to events. Theoretical and clinical implications of this finding are discussed along with limitations of these studies and suggestions for future research.