The psychic readiness for destruction among contemporary adolescents

Emotional Intelligence and Aggressive Behaviors in Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Adolescent aggression is a global public health with long-lasting and costly emotional, social, and economic consequences, and it is of vital importance to identify those variables that can reduce these behaviors in this population. Therefore, there is a need to establish the protective factors of aggressive behavior in adolescence. While some research has demonstrated the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and various aggressive responses in adolescence, indicating that EI-or the ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions-could be considered a protective factor for the development of aggressive behavior in adolescence, the strength of this effect is not clear. The aim of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature concerning the relationship between aggressive behavior and EI in adolescents and provide a reliable estimate of the relationship between both constructs through a meta-analysis. For this purpose, we searched for relevant articles in English and Spanish in Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus, obtaining 17 selectable articles based on the search terms used in research in the adolescent population. These studies provide scientific evidence of the relationship between the level of EI assessed from the three theoretical models of EI (performance-based ability model, self-report ability model, and self-report mixed model) and various aggressive responses, showing that adolescents with higher levels of EI show less aggressive behavior. Implications for interventions and guidelines for future research are discussed.

Family Patterns and Suicidal and Violent Behavior among Adolescent Girls-Genogram Analysis

An increase in extreme self-destructive and aggressive behaviors in adolescents has been observed in recent years. Therapeutic effectiveness seems to depend on an adequate recognition of factors that might increase the risk of extreme destructive behaviors. The aim of this study was to identify the family patterns that should draw therapeutic attention due to their importance for suicidal or violent behaviors in adolescent girls. The study involved 140 participants, aged 13⁻17, including 40 girls after suicide attempts, 40 girls using violence, and 60 girls without destructive behavior at all. The Genograms were used to assess the family structure, relationships between family members, and family projections. The data was analyzed by polynomial logistic regression, analysis of variance, and discriminant analysis. Emotional distance and hidden projections (related to diseases) were the most significant predictors of suicidal behaviors in the studied adolescent girls. Alcohol abuse by significant family members, especially by male family members, and a lesser role of hidden projections, were the most significant predictors of violent behaviors. Interventions designed to reduce risk of destructive behaviors among adolescents need to take account of the specific family patterns.