Citation

Williams SC, Lochman JE, Phillips NC, Barry TD. J. Clin. Child Adolesc. Psychol. 2003; 32(4): 568-576.

Affiliation

Baptist Health, Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

14710465

Abstract

This study examined physiological and social-cognitive correlates of aggression in an in vivo laboratory provocation situation. Fifty-one male participants (ages 9 to 13) were selected based on teacher aggression screenings, ranging from normative to high levels. A provocation was induced by the experimenter communicating a threat from an unseen "peer" in the laboratory. Bivariate linear regression analyses showed that aggression significantly predicted heart rate at both pre- and postinduction, and aggression significantly predicted attributions of intent following the provocation. Results indicated that aggression was a significant predictor of changes in hostile attribution and heart rate following the threat induction. A positive correlation also was found between heart rate change and attribution change. The findings suggest that both physiological and social-cognitive processes should be addressed in clinical interventions with aggressive children.

Language: en