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Abstract
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134 high school students from a small high school in north central Kansas completed the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale, Fenigstein, et al.'s Self-consciousness Scale, and Zaks' Aggression Scale. Analyses of variance showed significant differences between boys and girls but not among grades. On the aggression and alcohol measures boys scored higher than girls, but lower on public self-consciousness. Youth of divorced parents scored significantly higher than those of nondivorced parents on aggression, private self-consciousness, and general self-consciousness. Aggression scores were significantly and positively correlated with those on the alcohol and private self-consciousness scales. When students' alcoholism scores indicate problems with alcohol, their scores on aggression indicate greater aggression and their private self-consciousness scores indicate sensitivity toward events in their environment, then having concerns about inner self can inhibit the action required for change. MacAndrew scores correlated significantly and negatively with scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness. When MacAndrew scores indicated problems with alcohol, the students' scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness suggested confidence in social settings, being at ease interacting with people. The present study involved students from a single rural district so increased understanding will require more extensive research if strategies for prevention and intervention are to be developed and utilized.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study by Workman and Beer was to examine the relationships among aggression, alcoholism and self-consciousness in adolescents whose parents had been divorced and in those whose parents were still married.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with a non-probability sample of 134 students from a small rural high school in Kansas. Background information was collected from each student, and included age, grade, marital status of parents and sex. Each subject also completed the 49-item MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale, the 23-item Fenigstein et al. Self-Consciousness Scale (including measures of general, private, public self-consciousness and social anxiety) and the 12-item Zaks' Aggression Scale, all of which were administered by teachers during classes. Analysis included examination of frequencies, ANOVA and Pearson correlations.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The researchers divided the subjects by sex, marital status of parents and grade. ANOVA showed significant differences between boys and girls on all three dependent measures, with boys scoring higher than girls on aggression and alcoholism, and lower on self-consciousness. There was no difference in the three dependent measures across grades. Significant differences were found between children with divorced parents and those with married parents on measures of aggression, Private self-consciousness and total self-consciousness, with children of divorced parents scoring significantly higher on all three. Correlational analysis found that aggression scores were significantly positively correlated with scores on the alcohol and Private self-consciousness measures - as alcohol use increased, so too did aggression and self-consciousness. Alcohol scores correlated negatively with the Social Anxiety measure, indicating that increased alcohol use was related to a decrease in feelings of ease in social interactions. The authors concluded that their findings might help in the development of prevention and intervention strategies for children of divorced and non-divorced parents.
EVALUATION:
The authors present an interesting glimpse at the relationships among aggression, alcohol use and self-consciousness in children of divorced and married parents. However, use of subjects from a single rural district precludes generalization to others in non-rural areas. The authors suggested that their results might assist in the formation of prevention strategies, but they fail to address this issue themselves - no discussion is made of the implications of the findings for prevention or intervention planning. The question of validity and reliability of the scales used in the study is also not addressed, and methods of recruiting subjects are not disclosed. A more thorough discussion of the findings would also have been useful. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-124, AB-124
KW - Kansas
KW - Senior High School Student
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Divorce Effects
KW - Family Environment
KW - Family Relations
KW - Parent Child Relations
KW - Aggression Causes
KW - Juvenile Self-Esteem
KW - Juvenile Substance Use
KW - Juvenile Female
KW - Juvenile Male
KW - Alcohol Use Causes
KW - Alcohol Use Risk Factors
KW - Family Risk Factors
KW - Substance Use Causes
KW - Substance Use Risk Factors
KW - Aggression Causes
KW - Aggression Risk Factors
KW - Self-Esteem Development
KW - Juvenile Development
KW - Youth Development
KW - Female Aggression
KW - Female Substance Use
KW - Female Self-Esteem
KW - Male Aggression
KW - Male Self-Esteem
KW - Male Substance Use
KW - Gender Differences
Language: en |