The association between childhood maltreatment, mental health problems, and aggression in justice-involved boys

Exploring the Nexus of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Aggression in Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review

A strong relation between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and aggression has been established in adult populations, with less research examining this relation earlier in development. The purpose of this study was to complete a scoping review of the current evidence available on the relation between ACE and aggression and subtypes of aggression within a child and adolescent population. Inclusion criteria for the review included publications in English between 1998 and 2023, use of a child/adolescent population, and peer-review and quantitative publications. Databases searched included PubMed, APA PsycINFO, Scopus, and EBSCO, and search terms included words related to ACE and aggression. Initial selection was based on title and abstract, with 32 papers meeting eligibility criteria for inclusion. Two authors extracted the relevant characteristics of the studies independently and conferred on any disagreements. The overall findings from the scoping review suggest that there is a strong link between aggression and ACE; however, this link may not be as strong for specific subtypes of aggression. Additionally, characteristics of ACE may play role in understanding this relation, but little research is available within a child and adolescent population. A few studies have attempted to examine potential mediators and moderators of this relation; however, none have been replicated within a child and adolescent population. The findings from this review support the need for additional research in this area and identify significant gaps in the literature that need to be addressed within a child and adolescent population.

The ripple effect of trauma: Evaluating vulnerability, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and aggression within a child and adolescent population

BACKGROUND

The deleterious effects of experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), especially those associated with child abuse and neglect (CM-ACEs), is well documented. Two common behavioral and emotional concerns observed in children following CM-ACEs is post-traumatic stress and aggression. While support for cognitive models explaining both of these outcomes exists, little is known about any shared cognitive vulnerabilities that may explain the presence of both.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a cognitive model of vulnerability/safety as a shared underlying mechanism for the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and aggression following the occurrence of CM-ACEs in children.

METHODS

Male youth between the ages of 6 and 14 attending school within a residential setting participated in a school-based performance improvement program. As a part of the program, data were collected on the child's history of abuse, PTSS, aggression, and feelings of safety and vulnerability.

RESULTS

The results of the SEM suggested that there was a significant serial indirect effect of vulnerability and PTSS on the relation between CM-ACEs and reactive aggression. This was not true for proactive aggression.

DISCUSSION

The current results suggest that that there may be a shared schema-based model in which feelings of vulnerability and cognitive models promoting the world as an unsafe place may contribute to the maintenance and development of both PTSS and reactive aggression among children who have experienced abuse/neglect.

Explaining child maltreatment and aggression among Chinese drug user: The mediating and moderating roles of drug craving and impulsivity

BACKGROUND

The cycle of violence highlights a strong correlation between child maltreatment and aggression. However, there remains a significant gap in the pathway models of the cycle of violence. Given the exceptionally high rates of child maltreatment and violent crime among Chinese drug users, it is essential to examine the mechanisms of the cycle of violence within this group.

OBJECTIVE

The current study incorporates drug craving and impulsivity into the child maltreatment-aggression mechanism. We explore the potential mediating and moderating roles of these variables and further examine the heterogeneity.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A total of 894 participants (Meanage = 38.30, SDage = 8.38) were recruited as the final sample.

METHODS

We employed moderated mediation and serial mediation models to explore the roles of drug craving and impulsivity. The Johnson-Neyman method was utilized to investigate moderating effects. Rich demographic variables and depression were controlled.

RESULTS

There was no direct relationship between child maltreatment and aggression. The moderated mediation model indicated that drug craving played a mediating role, and there was a substitutive relationship between impulsivity and drug craving. The serial mediation model showed that child maltreatment could only affect drug craving (not impulsivity) and could ultimately influence aggression through a chain relationship. Heterogeneity tests revealed that the mechanisms might differ among various types of maltreatment.

CONCLUSION

Drug craving holds a significant position in the cycle of violence. Compared to impulsivity, it is a more proximal factor to child mistreatment. Future research should also focus on the heterogeneity of child maltreatment for targeted interventions.

Childhood maltreatment and homicidal ideation among Chinese early adolescents: The serial mediating role of borderline personality features and aggression

A large body of evidence linked childhood maltreatment (CM) to juvenile violence and delinquent behavior. However, little is known about the association between CM and homicidal ideation in early adolescents. This study aimed to examine that relationship and to explore the serial mediating role of borderline personality features (BPF) and aggression in that relationship in a large sample of early adolescents. A total of 5724 early adolescents (mean age: 13.5 years) were recruited from three middle schools in Anhui Province, China. The participants were invited to complete self-report questionnaires regarding their history of CM, BPF, aggression, and homicidal ideation. Mediation analyses were evaluated using structural equation modeling. A total of 669 participants (11.7%) reported homicidal ideation in the past 6 months. CM victimization was positively associated with homicidal ideation after adjusting for covariates. Furthermore, the serial mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of CM on homicidal ideation through BPF and subsequent aggression. Exposure to maltreatment in childhood is likely to manifest BPF and subsequently higher levels of aggression, which in turn are related to increased homicidal ideation. These findings suggest the need for early intervention for BPF and aggression in early adolescents exposed to CM to prevent the development of homicidal ideation.

Childhood trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among adolescents: Role of executive function and life events stress

INTRODUCTION

Exposure to childhood trauma is found to increase internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in adolescents, however, the potential mechanism of this link remains underexplored. This study investigated the associations between childhood trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among adolescents, and tested the mediating role of executive function and the moderating role of life events stress in this relationship.

METHODS

Questionnaire data were collected from 952 junior students in Northwest China. Participants ranged in age from 11 to 15 years old (M = 12.88 years, SD = 0.72; 53% females). SPSS 26.0 was used to analyze the relationship between variables and examine the mediation model and the moderated mediation model.

RESULTS

Childhood trauma was positively associated with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among adolescents. In addition, executive function partially mediated the relations between childhood trauma and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Life events stress was observed to moderate the relations between childhood trauma and executive function, as well as executive function and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, but the effect sizes were relatively small.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the role of executive function and life events stress in the association between childhood trauma and behavioral problems among adolescents.

Psychological maltreatment and aggression in preadolescence: Roles of temperamental effortful control and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies

BACKGROUND

Aggression is a type of externalization problem, which is common in preadolescence. The cause of preadolescents' aggression can be traced to their adverse family experiences, such as childhood psychological maltreatment. Therefore, exploring the cause and mechanism underlying aggressive behavior in preadolescents who have experienced psychological maltreatment is critical to preadolescents' healthy development.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to explore the mediating effects of effortful control and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between psychological maltreatment and aggressive behavior among preadolescents.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A total sample of 940 preadolescents (50.53 % males and 49.47 % females, M_age = 9.75 years, SD = 1.17) were selected from two primary schools in Liaoning province, China. All preadolescents were in grades 3-5.

METHODS

The participants completed questionnaires regarding psychological maltreatment, effortful control, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and aggression.

RESULTS

The results revealed that: (a) psychological maltreatment was positively associated with aggressive behavior; and (b) effortful control and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation mediated the link between psychological maltreatment and aggression in a sequential pattern.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provides further understanding of the relations between psychological maltreatment and aggression, and it also provides prevention and intervention suggestions concerning how to reduce the effect of psychological maltreatment on aggressive behavior among preadolescents.

Daily Reports of Aggressive Behaviors in Interpersonal Conflicts

Interpersonal conflicts are inevitable, but the probability that conflicts involve aggressive behavior varies. Prior research that has tended to focus on victimization in intimate partnerships reported through retrospective designs. Addressing these limitations, the current study examines daily reports of behaving aggressively in any conflict across relationships in a sample of 512 young adults drawn from the nationally representative iCOR cohort. Respondent attitudes and affective measures were collected at the end of the daily data collection period. Regression methods were applied to examine the probability and frequency of aggression, investigating early and recent exposure to adversities, attitudes, self-control, affect and emotional states, and alcohol use behavior. Recent adversities and the propensity to endorse a defensive honor code attitude, consistent with theory and retrospective studies of aggression, predicted both prevalence and frequency of aggressive behavior. The associations of childhood maltreatment and self-control with the prevalence of behaving aggressively were as expected, but these constructs were significantly associated with the frequency of aggression with unexpected, inverse directionality. Moreover, respondents' affect and other emotional states were only associated with the frequency, not the prevalence, of aggressive behavior. Overall, this daily data collection constructively distinguished risk and protective factors for behaving aggressively more often. Further research is needed to disentangle the extent to which affective states drive or is a consequence of frequent aggressive behavior.

Associations Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma Among Young People Who Offend: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic review synthesized current knowledge about the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among young people known to have offended and examined evidence of associations between ACEs, trauma symptoms, and offending behavior. A systematic search of English-language, peer-reviewed studies published from the year 2000 onwards was conducted. A final pool of 124 studies that reported quantitative data were included in the review. The Cambridge Quality Checklist for the assessment of studies on offending was used to assess methodological quality of included studies. Pooled data indicated that almost 87% of justice-involved young people across 13 countries experienced at least one traumatic event. The odds of experiencing at least one ACE were over 12 times greater for justice-involved young people compared with nonjustice-involved young people. Prevalence of individual ACEs ranged from 12.2% for childhood sexual abuse to 80.4% for parental separation among justice-involved young people. Those who reported both a higher number and multiple types of ACEs were more likely to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress symptoms. However, when considering only high-quality studies, there was minimal evidence to suggest that a higher incidence of ACEs predicted trauma symptoms or that trauma symptoms mediated the association between ACEs and offending behavior. Further research is needed to elucidate factors that differentiate young people exposed to ACEs who go on to offend from those who do not. This research is essential to understanding whether ACEs and trauma are drivers of offending behavior and for informing prevention and intervention strategies.

Childhood Maltreatment and Adolescents' Aggression: A Moderated Mediation Model of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Friendship Quality

A growing body of research has documented that childhood maltreatment is associated with increased risk of child aggression. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the relationships between childhood maltreatment and reactive and proactive functions of aggression. Therefore, the present study examined whether callous-unemotional traits mediated the relationships between childhood maltreatment and two subtypes of aggression and whether these mediating processes were moderated by friendship quality. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2407 adolescents between 11 and 16 years (M _age = 12.75, SD = .58) in Shanxi province, China. Participants filled out questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, callous-unemotional traits, aggression, and friendship quality. The results indicated that childhood maltreatment was significantly and positively associated with proactive and reactive aggression, and these relationships were partially mediated by callous-unemotional traits after controlling for demographic variables. Friendship quality moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and proactive aggression as well as callous-unemotional traits and proactive aggression. These relationships became weaker for adolescents with high levels of friendship quality. Friendship quality did not moderate the effects of childhood maltreatment and callous-unemotional traits on reactive aggression.

Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Needs Among Adolescents Involved With the Juvenile Justice System

Justice-involved adolescents typically report high levels of lifetime trauma exposure, although research on juvenile justice system-wide screenings is limited. Further, there is little evidence from research on the psychological and substance abuse treatment related needs of youth relative to the trauma levels or types of trauma experienced by justice-involved adolescents. We documented lifetime exposure to traumatic events and its relation to psychological and substance use concerns in a sample of adolescents admitted to custody in the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission. This study examined lifetime exposure to traumatic events experienced by justice-involved adolescents (N = 627) using negative binomial regression modeling and zero-inflated negative binomial regression modeling to identify which adolescents have the greatest trauma exposure, and determine how cumulative types of trauma relate to youths' mental health and substance use needs. Adolescents reported experiencing an average of 4 of 17 traumatic exposures on the Life Events Checklist. The most common traumas experienced directly and indirectly were physical assault and assault with a weapon. Considering particular traumas, there were differences in exposures based on race and ethnicity, sex, child welfare involvement, and gang affiliation. Higher levels of some types of traumatic exposure were consistently related to higher levels of mental health needs. Results indicate that adolescents enter the juvenile justice system with high levels of polytraumatization. These adverse events are associated with elevated mental health and substance use needs that should be considered in case planning.

Beyond Trauma Exposure: Discrimination and Posttraumatic Stress, Internalizing, and Externalizing Problems Among Detained Youth

According to the race-based traumatic stress model, racial discrimination is proposed to comprise a traumatic experience that results in posttraumatic stress symptoms, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems among youth. Accordingly, a significant body of research has emerged that supports the associations among these constructs. However, the majority of these empirical studies have not accounted for the potential role of traditionally defined traumatic events in these associations. This study investigated whether self-reported racial discrimination was related to posttraumatic stress symptoms, internalizing, and externalizing symptoms above and beyond the impact of other trauma exposures in a sample of 266 detained youth (79% boys, 60% identified as an ethnic minority). Results of hierarchical linear regressions demonstrated that, after accounting for youths' other trauma exposures, racial discrimination accounted for significant variance in the models predicting delinquency and risk-taking but no other externalizing and internalizing problems, or posttraumatic stress symptoms. These findings indicate that racial discrimination may be particularly important for understanding offending behavior among detained youth.

Specific effects of neglect and physical abuse on adolescent aggressive behaviors by gender: A multicenter study in rural China

BACKGROUND

Neglect and physical abuse may be typical risk factors for aggressive behavior in adolescents. However, findings on their specific effects and sex differences are still unclear. This study aimed to examine the specific effects of neglect and physical abuse on adolescent aggressive behaviors and to further explore the potential sex-specific effect.

METHODS

A multicenter school-based survey was conducted in rural China. A total of 15,957 students aged 11-20 years completed self-report questionnaires to record aggressive behaviors, neglect and physical abuse, and other related information. Participants were grouped into those who experienced none, one of, or both neglect and physical abuse for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

Of the participants, 37.0% experienced both neglect and physical abuse, 30.0% experienced neglect only, and 9.8% experienced physical abuse only. Higher risk for physical aggression (OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.06-1.45), and lower risk for verbal aggression (OR=0.83, 95% CI=0.72-0.94) and hostility (OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.69-0.94) were found in the physical abuse only group as compared to the neglect only group. No sex difference was found between neglect or physical abuse and general aggressive behaviors (P>0.05), except that females were more likely to exert physical aggression than males when exposed to neglect and physical abuse (P<0.05).

LIMITATIONS

Cross-sectional design, retrospective self-report data, and not including other maltreatment subtypes.

CONCLUSIONS

Neglect and physical abuse may each have distinct sensitivity for different subtypes of aggression. Targeted treatment for diverse aggressive symptoms is suggested, and strategies to prevent both neglect and physical abuse across gender would yield comprehensive benefits.

Childhood Maltreatment and Bullying Perpetration among Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model of Moral Disengagement and Trait Anger

BACKGROUND

Childhood maltreatment plays an important role in adolescents' bullying perpetration. However, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unknown.

OBJECTIVES

The current study examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescents' bullying perpetration and extended previous literature by examining the mediating effect of moral disengagement and the moderating effect of trait anger in this relationship.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Four hundred and thirty-five Chinese adolescents (228 girls, mean age = 13.55 years) participated in the current study.

METHODS

Our theoretical model was examined using a short-term longitudinal design. During the fall of 2016, adolescents completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form. After six months, they completed the moral disengagement Scale, the Bullying Scale, and the Trait Anger Scale in the spring of 2017.

RESULTS

The results indicated that childhood maltreatment positively predicted adolescents' bullying perpetration at six months later, and moral disengagement mediated this relationship. Trait anger moderated the relationship between moral disengagement and bullying perpetration, but not the relationship between childhood maltreatment and bullying perpetration. Specifically, high trait anger adolescents who had higher levels of moral disengagement were more likely to bully their peers than low trait anger adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that childhood maltreatment plays an important role in adolescents' bullying perpetration, and this relationship is mediated by moral disengagement. Moreover, trait anger moderates the relationship between moral disengagement and bullying perpetration. Educators who examine adolescents' bullying perpetration should pay closer attention to their moral disengagement and trait anger, as well as their childhood maltreatment experiences, in order to provide appropriate interventions.

Childhood Maltreatment Is Associated With Aggression Among Male Juvenile Delinquents in China: The Mediating Effects of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Self-Control

Background: Aggression is an important risk factor for delinquency and crime in adolescents. Previous studies have indicated that childhood maltreatment plays an important role in the development of aggression. However, whether the effect could be mediated by other factors is still unknown. Evidence suggests that callous-unemotional (CU) traits and self-control may be candidate mediators in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression.

Methods: A total of 585 male juvenile delinquents from China were recruited for the present study. We measured self-reported childhood maltreatment, CU traits, self-control, and aggression with the short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU), the Self-Control Scale (SCS), and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), respectively. Furthermore, we constructed multiple mediation models to investigate the mediating effects of CU traits and self-control on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression. Childhood maltreatment and aggression were entered into the model as the independent and dependent variables, respectively, and CU traits and self-control were treated as the mediating variables. In addition, the moderating role of self-control in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression was tested by constructing a moderation model.

Results: Correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations among childhood maltreatment, CU traits, and aggression (all r values > 0.31, P values < 0.01), and self-control was negatively correlated with these three factors (all r values < −0.32, P values < 0.01). Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression was completely and sequentially mediated by the factors of CU traits and self-control (indirect effect = 0.31, P < 0.001). In addition, the relationship between childhood maltreatment and aggression could also be completely mediated by CU traits (indirect effect = 0.24, P < 0.001) and self-control (indirect effect = 0.26, P < 0.001) separately.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that, in a sample of male juvenile delinquents in China, the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adolescent aggression was found to be mediated by CU traits and self-control, which may shed light on the development of aggression among male juvenile delinquents.

Cumulative childhood adversity, adolescent psychiatric disorder and violent offending in young adulthood

BACKGROUND

Childhood adversity (CA) is a risk indicator for psychiatric morbidity. Although CA has been linked to violent offending, limited research has considered adolescent psychiatric disorder as a mediating factor. The current study examined whether adolescent psychiatric disorder mediates the association between CA and violent offending.

METHODS

We used a cohort of 476 103 individuals born in 1984-1988 in Sweden. Register-based CAs included parental death, substance abuse and psychiatric disorder, parental criminal offending, parental separation, public assistance, child welfare intervention and residential instability. Adolescent psychiatric disorder was defined as being treated with a psychiatric diagnosis prior to age 20. Estimates of risk of violent offending after age 20 were calculated as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Mediation was tested with the bootstrap method.

RESULTS

Exposure to CA was positively associated with violent offending, especially when accumulated. Individuals exposed to 4+ CAs who were also treated for psychiatric disorder had a 12-fold elevated risk for violent offending (adjusted IRR 12.2, 95% CI 10.6-14.0). Corresponding IRR among 4+ CA youth with no psychiatric disorder was 5.1 (95% CI 4.5-5.6). Psychiatric disorder mediated the association between CA and violent offending.

CONCLUSION

CA is associated with elevated risk for violent offending in early adulthood, and the association is partly mediated by adolescent psychiatric disorder. Individuals exposed to cumulative CA who also develop adolescent psychopathology should be regarded as a high-risk group for violent offending, by professionals in social and health services that come into contact with this group.

Is there a female cycle of violence after exposure to childhood maltreatment? A meta-analysis

Several studies have demonstrated a vicious cycle of violence, in which experiences of childhood maltreatment (CM) transition into later perpetration of aggressive acts. But evidence for the presence of this cycle in adult women is mixed. The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate the strength of associations and the mechanisms underlying a cycle of violence in women. Databases were searched for terms related to female aggression, violence, delinquency, antisocial behavior, or offending in addition to exposure to traumatic experiences, abuse, or maltreatment during childhood. Only peer-reviewed studies were included that investigated associations between any type of CM and different acts of aggression. Multi-level meta-analyses were applied, as well as meta-regressions, all based on Cohen's d. K = 34 studies were identified. The overall association between exposure to CM was in the positive but small range (Cohen's d = 0.30). There was no significant difference between specific types of abuse and/or neglect. However, associations were smaller for the perpetration of sexual aggression and violent crime compared with other acts of aggression. These findings underline the long-lasting and devastating impact of CM, including types of maltreatment that were long assumed to be less severe. Due to the limited number of available studies, interactions between types of CM and aggression could not be modeled, thus compromising their probable interacting contribution to the cycle of violence. Early interventions targeting families and women at risk are critical in order to prevent ongoing cycles of violence.

Global Mental Health and Adolescent Anxiety: Kin, Care and Struggle in New Mexico

While recent developments within the field of global mental health have illuminated the reality of serious mental health difficulties worldwide, particularly in low-income settings, research that focuses on children and adolescents remains underdeveloped. This is especially the case with respect to ethnographic studies of lived experience of adolescents diagnosed with serious mental health conditions. Drawing from an interdisciplinary study of adolescents in New Mexico who were afflicted with a broad range of disorders according to contemporary research diagnostic criteria, this article focuses on anxiety-related conditions with respect to subjective experience and social-ecological contexts of living with such conditions. We offer preliminary observations regarding the value of linking ethnographic and research diagnostic data to address questions of resilience, endurance, capacity and struggle. These observations are intended as the basis for the formulation of more precise hypotheses about adolescent anxiety, kin, and care under conditions of structural violence marked by psychological, residential, and intergenerational adversity.

Links between early child maltreatment, mental disorders, and cortisol secretion anomalies

Early child maltreatment has been widely associated with the development of mental disorders in both childhood and adulthood. However, such association cannot be systematically established, as only few factors are observed regularly, such as high prevalence of comorbidities and externalized disorders. Similarly, the association between early abuse and cortisol secretion anomalies has been well-documented. Whereas early hypercortisolism followed by hypocortisolism was often described, the results proved inconsistent and at times contradictory. The physiopathological mechanisms are quite complex and varied, including mixed neurotoxicity and stress response anomalies, linked to circadian rhythm disturbances. One of the difficulties inherent to research on this topic is to better define maltreatment in childhood. Studying children's groups at risk of maltreatment, such as children followed by juvenile justice or in child welfare systems, could be a very good tool, provided that social, judiciary, and mental health professionals are able to work together and implement common research objectives.

Childhood maltreatment and Chinese adolescents' bullying and defending: The mediating role of moral disengagement

In the present study, we tested the mediating role of moral disengagement in the effect of childhood maltreatment on bullying and defending. We also examined whether the mediating effect of moral disengagement differed between girls and boys, early and middle adolescents, as well as only and non-only children. Five hundred and fifty-two Chinese adolescents participated in this study. The results indicated that the prevalence rates of physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, and emotional neglect were 4.0%, 40.0%, 10.5%, and 27.9%, respectively. Path analysis showed that moral disengagement partially mediated the relation between childhood maltreatment and bullying, but did not mediate the relation between childhood maltreatment and defending. Moreover, multi-group analyses indicated that no significant path in the final model differed by gender. However, early adolescents exposed to high levels of childhood maltreatment were more likely to engage in bullying and less likely to engage in defending than middle adolescents, and early adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement were more likely to engage in bullying than middle adolescents. Compared to non-only children, only children exposed to high levels of childhood maltreatment were more likely to score higher on moral disengagement and less likely to engage in defending.

Moral Disengagement as Mediator and Moderator of the Relation Between Empathy and Aggression Among Chinese Male Juvenile Delinquents

The link between empathy and aggression is well documented; yet, studies examining potential mechanisms that explain this association are limited. In the present study, we tested the relation between empathy and aggression and examined both the mediating and moderating effects of moral disengagement on this relation among Chinese male juvenile delinquents. Three hundred and fifty-seven male juvenile delinquents from one Chinese juvenile correctional facility completed the interpersonal reactivity index, the moral disengagement scale and the aggression questionnaire. The results indicated that moral disengagement partially mediated the influence of empathy on aggression. Moreover, moral disengagement moderated the relation between empathy and aggression. Specifically, there was a significant negative relation between empathy and aggression at low levels of moral disengagement. However, at high levels of moral disengagement, the relation between empathy and aggression was non-significant. The significance and limitations of the results are discussed.

Gene-Gene-Environment Interactions of Serotonin Transporter, Monoamine Oxidase A and Childhood Maltreatment Predict Aggressive Behavior in Chinese Adolescents

Gene-environment interactions that moderate aggressive behavior have been identified independently in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene and monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA). The aim of the present study was to investigate epistasis interactions between MAOA-variable number tandem repeat (VNTR), 5-HTTlinked polymorphism (LPR) and child abuse and the effects of these on aggressive tendencies in a group of otherwise healthy adolescents. A group of 546 Chinese male adolescents completed the Child Trauma Questionnaire and Youth self-report of the Child Behavior Checklist. Buccal cells were collected for DNA analysis. The effects of childhood abuse, MAOA-VNTR, 5-HTTLPR genotypes and their interactive gene-gene-environmental effects on aggressive behavior were analyzed using a linear regression model. The effect of child maltreatment was significant, and a three-way interaction among MAOA-VNTR, 5-HTTLPR and sexual abuse (SA) relating to aggressive behaviors was identified. Chinese male adolescents with high expression of the MAOA-VNTR allele and 5-HTTLPR “SS” genotype exhibited the highest aggression tendencies with an increase in SA during childhood. The findings reported support aggression being a complex behavior involving the synergistic effects of gene-gene-environment interactions.

Understanding the connection between self-esteem and aggression: The mediating role of emotion dysregulation

The purpose of the present study was to extend previous knowledge concerning the link between self-esteem and aggression by examining the mediating role of emotion dysregulation among offenders and community participants. A sample of 153 incarcerated violent offenders and a community sample of 197 individuals completed self-report measures of self-esteem level, emotion dysregulation, and trait aggression. Offenders reported lower levels of self-esteem than community participants, as well as greater levels of emotional nonacceptance and hostility. Bootstrapping analyses were performed to test whether emotion dysregulation mediated the association between self-esteem level and aggression. In the offender sample, mediation models were significant for three of the four aspects of trait aggression that were considered. Emotion dysregulation fully mediated the links that low self-esteem had with physical aggression, anger, and hostility. The same pattern (with the addition of full mediation for verbal aggression) was confirmed in the community sample. Our findings suggest that emotion dysregulation may play an important role in the connection between low self-esteem and aggression. Alternative models of the associations among these variables were tested and discussed. As a whole, the present results are consistent with those of other studies and suggest that it may be beneficial to include emotion regulation modules as part of prevention and treatment programs for violent offenders.