Citation

Sukhodolsky DG, Ruchkin VV. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 2004; 32(2): 225-236.

Affiliation

Yale University School of Medicine, Child Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. denis.sukhodolsky@yale.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15164863

Abstract

Examined the association of anger experience and two types of normative beliefs with physical aggression and nonaggressive antisocial behavior in 361 juvenile offenders and 206 high school students in Russia. All participants were male and ranged in age from 14 to 18 years. Higher frequency of aggressive acts was significantly associated with higher levels of anger and stronger beliefs that physical aggression is an appropriate course of action in conflicts. After statistically controlling for nonaggressive antisocial behavior, the relationship between physical aggression and antisocial beliefs was not significant. Similarly, with physical aggression controlled, nonaggressive antisocial behavior was uniquely associated with approval of deviancy, but not with anger or beliefs legitimizing aggression. Juvenile offenders reported higher levels of anger experience and higher frequency of aggression and antisocial behavior compared to high school students. There were no differences in normative beliefs between these two groups. This specificity of association of social-cognitive and emotion-regulation processes to aggressive and nonaggressive forms of antisocial behavior may be relevant to understanding the mechanisms of cognitive-behavioral therapy for conduct disorder and antisocial behavior.

Language: en