Citation

Taubner S, Bertsch K, Protic S, Fehr T. Front. Psychiatry 2022; 13: e919122.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2022.919122

PMID

35757217

PMCID

PMC9214206

Abstract

An interesting and astonishing phenomenon in the development of aggression is that there appears to be a lifetime peak of aggressive with behavioral tendencies around two years of age [e.g., (1)]. This observation directly lead to the assumption that aggressive behavior has not to be learned, but rather unlearned during individual socialization [e.g., (2)]. On the other side, aggression must not necessarily be related to violence. Whether an action is of destructive nature depends on contextual and motivational factors, and it is not evident that complex associations between behavioral motives and concrete and complex violent action patterns are inherited (3, 4). It appears most likely that individual schemes of violent behaviors in mentally healthy individuals are a result of complex interactions between environmental, societal, and potentially inherited, temperament-related factors (4-6). However, there is also evidence that neurophysiological disorders and psychopathological diseases can facilitate the development of violent behaviors in manifold ways [e.g., (7-9)].

The present Research Topic outlines a collection of studies that have provided insights into the nature of potential modulators and/or mediators of violent and/or aggressive forms of behavior. These modulators and/or mediators (e.g., pre-, post-, and peri-natal environmental properties, violence-related learning history and socialization, mental illness and psychopathology, as well as communication) can provide puzzle pieces that help us to estimate chances of unlearning destructive and adverse behavioral tendencies.

Language: en

Keywords

development; aggressive behavior; treatment; mechanisms; neural correlates