Personal and Environmental Predictors of Aggression in Adolescence

Moral Disengagement in Adolescent Offenders: Its Relationship with Antisocial Behavior and Its Presence in Offenders of the Law and School Norms

This study focuses on understanding the relationship between moral disengagement mechanisms in adolescents who engage in law-breaking activities and those who violate school norms. To do so, we administered the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS), which evaluates moral justification, euphemistic labeling, advantageous comparison, deflection of responsibility, diffusion of responsibility, distortion of consequences, dehumanization, and attribution of blame, to 366 adolescents (60.1% males (n = 220) and 39.9% females (n = 146)). Our results confirmed the hypothesis that law-breaking adolescents presented a higher degree of moral disengagement than those adolescents who violate school norms. Additionally, we found that adolescents who violated school norms displayed significantly higher levels of dehumanization than the controls, and law-breaking adolescents obtained the highest score in this domain. Our findings allow us to suggest that the presence of the dehumanization mechanism in adolescents who violate school norms could be used as an early indicator of the emergence of antisocial behaviors, since this was the only component of moral disengagement that significantly differentiated this group from the controls in the study.

Internet gaming disorder and aggression: A meta-analysis of teenagers and young adults

Background and aims

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and aggression (AG) are widespread phenomena around the world. Numerous studies have explored the relationship between the two but findings from such studies are inconsistent. The meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the relationship between IGD and AG as well as identify the variables moderating the relationship.

Method

Studies investigating the relationship between IGD and AG were searched using selected terms to identify studies published from 1999 to 2022 on CNKI, Wanfang Data, Chongqing VIP Information Co., Ltd. (VIP), Baidu scholar, ProQuest dissertations, Taylor & Francis, Springer, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Elsevier Science (Science Direct), EBSCO, and PsycINFO. The identified studies were pooled and analyzed.

Results

A total of 30 samples comprising 20,790 subjects were identified. Results showed that there was a moderate relationship between IGD and AG (r = 0.300, 95%CI [0.246, 0.353]). Moderator analysis revealed that the relationship between IGD and AG was moderated by the region, age, and survey year.

Conclusion

This meta-analysis indicated that people with a higher level of IGD might show more aggression, and people with more aggression might have a higher level of IGD. The correlation coefficient between IGD and AG was significantly higher in Asia than in Europe, higher in primary school than in middle school and university, and higher by increasing year. Overall, our findings provide a basis for developing prevention and intervention strategies against IGD and AG.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022375267, 42022375267.

Personality Traits and Family Environment: Antecedents of Child Aggression

Previous research reported significant relationship between Big Five personality traits and aggression in both adolescent’s and adult population. However, it is unclear about whether similar connection exist in early age. This study investigated how personality traits and family environment influence the development of aggression in school aged Saudi children. A sample of 315 school going children were recruited voluntarily to complete a set of measures examining Big Five personality factors, family environment and aggression. Correlation analysis were employed to evaluate association between Big Five personality traits, family environment and aggression. The results showed a significant relationship of Big Five personality factors and family environment factors to aggression. The findings of the study revealed that amongst the Big Five personality traits conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism were strongest antecedents of childhood aggression. Family environment characterized by family cohesion, expressiveness and conflict were appeared to be significant antecedents of aggressive behavior in children. This study expands our knowledge about the intervention strategies of aggression from Big Five traits and family environment perspectives.

Moral Disengagement as a Self-Regulatory Cognitive Process of Transgressions: Psychometric Evidence of the Bandura Scale in Chilean Adolescents

Moral disengagement is a process of cognitive restructuring that allows individuals to disassociate from their internal moral standards and behave unethically without feeling distressed. It has been described as a key predictor of maladaptive behaviors (e.g., delinquency, aggression, and cyberbullying) and as a mediator between individual variables and unethical outcomes (e.g., empathy and aggression). We aimed to provide evidence of validity based on the internal structure, reliability, and correlations with other constructs of the most used instrument to measure disengagement from moral self-sanctions: Bandura's Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS). A non-probabilistic national sample of 528 Chilean adolescents from 14 to 18 years participated in the study. The results showed that the 10-item version of the MMDS had a unidimensional structure and good internal consistency. As expected, the MMDS-10 showed positive and medium correlations with abusive, violent antisocial, and delinquent behaviors and negative and medium associations with prosocial behavior and empathy. Additionally, moral disengagement fully mediated the relationship between empathy and violent antisocial behavior, supporting the hypothesis on moral disengagement as a self-regulatory cognitive process. The results confirm previous research, and the findings are discussed in terms of their implications for reducing the use of moral disengagement strategies in adolescence.

The Effect of a Theory-Based Educational Intervention on Reducing Aggressive Behavior among Male Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study

Introduction

One of the most challenging issues in public health is preventing aggression and violent behavior, generally in the adolescent population. Intervention studies in this field, especially in Iran, were few. Moreover, their findings are controversial. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on reducing aggression among male students.

Method

This study used a randomized controlled trial design. The sample comprised 98 middle school students aged between 13 and 16 years (14.28 ± 0.7). Educational intervention for the experimental group consisted of five sessions of 45-60 minutes. Data were collected using two self-administered questionnaires to measure aggression and constructs of TPB. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, independent t-test, and chi-square test at a significance level of 0.05.

Results

After the intervention, the experimental group showed a significant increase in all TPB constructs except the subjective norms, compared to the control group (p < 0.001). After two months of intervention, the mean score of the aggression behaviors in students in the experimental group showed a remarkable improvement in the experimental group, while the control group showed no significant difference.

Conclusion

The findings of this study showed that the theory-based educational intervention was effective on the improvement of aggressive behavior. To achieve a significant change in perceived mental norms, more training sessions are recommended, and emphasis is placed on educating parents, peers, and school staff.

Adaptation of Questionnaire about Aggressive Beliefs and Attitudes in Spanish Adolescents

Aggressive beliefs and attitudes are increasingly present in adolescents, and it can be argued that they are a prevalent feature of adolescence. Michel, Pace, Edun, Sawhney, and Thomas’s (2014) original thirty-item scale was later shortened to a more parsimonious eight-item scale (ABA-SF). This study addresses the adaptation and validation of the brief Aggressive Beliefs and Attitudes Scale to Spanish adolescents. The sample comprised a group of Spanish adolescents (N = 771, M age = 14.01 years). A total of two studies were undertaken: (1) the scale was translated into Spanish and its internal consistency, factorial structure and convergent validity were established; and (2) factorial analysis was undertaken to confirm the questionnaire. The results yielded high scores for internal consistency, reliability (α = 0.82; Ω = 0.83) and convergent validity. The examination of the underlying nomological network revealed links with positive and negative feelings, anxiety and aggression. According to the Exploratory Factorial Analysis (EFA), the aggregate variance of the factors in the scale was 65.814%, indicating that they can explain variations in aggression levels in adolescents. For its part, the Factorial Confirmatory Analysis (FCA) confirmed the match between the translation and the model, leading to a sustainable model composed by the three factors identified and eight items: χ2 (17) = 30.693; p < 0.001; χ2/gL = 1.805; CFI = 0.968; NFI = 0.837; TLI = 0.944; RMSEA = 0.060, IC del 95% (0.048−0.072). The short scale is easy to understand and quick to complete and is thus considered a useful instrument to assess aggression levels in adolescents.