Citation

Clifford ME, Nguyen AJ, Bradshaw CP. Aggressive Behav. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, International Society for Research on Aggression, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ab.21936

PMID

33275293

Abstract

Social-emotional factors associated with youth aggression have largely been studied in the context of social information-processing models. The ability to accurately encode and appropriately interpret others' emotions has yet to be fully examined in the context of aggressive behavior, particularly during adolescence. Using cross-sectional data from a sample of 282 at-risk early adolescents, the present study examined associations between teacher-reported aggression and youth performance on a task assessing two components of affective theory of mind: emotion recognition and situational attribution.

RESULTS indicated that emotion recognition, but not situational attribution accuracy, was significantly associated with teacher-reported aggressive behavior. Over-recognizing anger and under-recognizing sadness were unique error patterns associated with aggression, and these associations remained significant after controlling for demographics and other key social information-processing variables.

FINDINGS suggest that difficulties with emotion processing play an important role in the social information-processing patterns observed in the context of youth aggression. Implications for preventive interventions for youth at risk of engaging in aggressive behavior are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

emotion recognition; aggression; affective theory of mind