Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Self-Regulation Deficits Explain the Link between Reactive Aggression and Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Children

  • Published:
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Childhood aggression is often associated with significant psychosocial maladjustment; however, adjustment difficulties may vary based on the function of aggression. The present study used the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia et al. Child Neuropsychology 6:235–238, 2000) to examine whether difficulties in particular domains of self-regulation serve as common mechanisms in the association between reactive (versus proactive) aggression and internalizing or externalizing adjustment problems in clinic-referred children. Reactive aggression was associated with poorer behavioral regulation and metacognition, whereas proactive aggression was not associated with poorer self-regulation. Further, the association between reactive aggression and adjustment problems, both internalizing and externalizing, was accounted for by poorer behavioral regulation and metacognitive skills. Gender, age, ADHD diagnosis, IQ, and psychotropic medication status did not account for the results. These findings suggest that self-regulation skills influence adjustment problems in reactively aggressive youth and may be important targets of intervention for such children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Psychotropic medication status and ADHD diagnostic status were dichotomized (present vs. absent) for analyses.

  2. Although age, gender, and IQ were associated with variables of interest, including these variables as well as ADHD diagnosis and psychotropic medication status as covariates in the regression models did not change the pattern of findings; thus, models without these covariates are reported. Gender was also explored as a potential moderator. Gender did not moderate the association between Reactive Aggression and Internalizing or Externalizing Problems either before or after Behavioral Regulation or Metacognition were added to the models (i.e. the difference in coefficients was consistent for males and females). Therefore, only models without gender as a moderator reported.

  3. Another potential concern when closely related concepts are measured regards shared content across instruments. To address this concern, we first qualitatively evaluated the items on each scale for content overlap. Notable overlap was observed between the first Reactive Aggression item on the RPA (“overreacts angrily to accidents” and several items from the Emotional Control scale of the Behavioral Regulation Index of the BRIEF (e.g., “overreacts to small problems,” “has explosive, angry outbursts”). Analyses rerun for the remaining Behavioral Regulation Index items (i.e. Inhibit and Shift scales) excluding Emotional Control produced the same pattern of results, thus findings for the Index scores are reported. Second, we considered bivariate correlations among predictors. The strongest association was observed between the BRIEF Behavioral Regulation Index and CBCL Externalizing Problems (r = .71), of which the Aggressive Behavior scale conceptually and empirically overlapped more strongly with the BRIEF Behavioral Regulation Index (r = .72) than did the Rule-Breaking scale (r = .51). Nevertheless, the same pattern of results were found for analyses using just the Aggressive Behavior scale and just the Rule-Breaking scale as were found for the for Externalizing Problems, therefore only the latter are reported.

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Achenbach, T. M. (2001). Manual for the child behavior checklist 4–18 and 2001 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angold, A., Costello, E. J., & Erkanli, A. (1999). Comorbidity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 57–87.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bagner, D. M., Williams, L. B., Geffken, G. R., Silverstein, J. H., & Storch, E. A. (2007). Type 1 diabetes in youth: the relationship between adherence and executive functioning. Children's Health Care, 36, 169–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Oxford: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barkley, R. A. (2001). The executive functions and self-regulation: an evolutionary neuropsychological perspective. Neuropsychology Review, 11, 1–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, L. (1978). Whatever happened to the frustration-aggression hypothesis? American Behavioural Scientist, 21, 691–708.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodnar, L. E., Prahme, M. C., Cutting, L. E., Denckla, M. B., & Mahone, E. M. (2006). Construct validity of parent ratings of inhibitory control. Child Neuropsychology, 13, 345–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, N. A., & Little, T. D. (2006). Proactive and reactive aggression in childhood and adolescence: a meta-analysis of differential relations with psychosocial adjustment. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30, 466–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1998). Aggression and antisocial behavior. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 779–862). New York: Wiley.

  • Conklin, H. M., Salorio, C. F., & Slomine, B. S. (2008). Working memory performance following paediatric traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 22, 847–857.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, D. F., Steingard, R. J., Anderson, J. J., & Melloni, R. H. (2003). Gender differences in reactive and proactive aggression. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 33, 279–294.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deater-Deckard, K., Sewell, M. D., Petrill, S. A., & Thompson, L. A. (2010). Maternal working memory and reactive negativity in parenting. Psychological Science, 21, 75–79.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • DeWall, C. N., Finkel, E. J., & Denson, T. F. (2011). Self-control inhibits aggression. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5, 458–472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dishion, T. J., & Connell, A. (2006). Adolescents’ resilience as a self-regulatory process: promising themes for linking intervention with developmental science. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 125–138.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1987). Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1146–1158.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., Lochman, J. E., Harnish, J. D., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1997). Reactive and proactive aggression in school children and psychiatrically impaired chronically assaultive youth. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106, 37–51.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dollard, J., Miller, N. E., Doob, L. W., Mowrer, O. H., & Sears, R. R. (1939). Frustration and aggression. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, M. L., Weiss, B., & Lochman, J. E. (2009). Executive functions in children: associations with aggressive behavior and appraisal processing. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 945–956.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Stoppelbein, L., & Greening, L. (2009). Proactive and reactive aggression in a child psychiatric inpatient population. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 38, 199–205.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, L. S., & Schatzkin, A. (1992). Sample size for studying intermediate endpoints within intervention trials of observational studies. American Journal of Epidemiology, 136, 1148–1159.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Giancola, P. R., Moss, H. B., Martin, C. S., Kirisci, L., & Tarter, R. E. (1996). Executive cognitive functioning predicts reactive aggression in boys at high risk for substance abuse: a prospective study. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 20, 740–744.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gioia, G. A., Isquith, P. K., Guy, S. C., & Kenworthy, L. (2000). Behavior rating inventory of executive function. Child Neuropsychology, 6, 235–238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grills, A. E., & Ollendick, T. H. (2003). Multiple informant agreement and the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Parents and Children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(1), 30–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinshaw, S. P., Henker, B., Whalen, C. K., Erhardt, D., & Dunnington, R. E. (1989). Aggressive, prosocial, and nonsocial behavior in hyperactive boys: dose effects of methylphenidate in naturalistic settings. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 636–643.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, J. A., Smithmyer, C. M., Ramsden, S. R., Parker, E. H., Flanagan, K. D., Dearing, K. F., & Simons, R. F. (2002). Observational, physiological, and self-report measures of children’s anger: relations to reactive versus proactive aggression. Child Development, 73, 1101–1118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jarrett, M. A., & Ollendick, T. H. (2008). A conceptual review of the comorbidity of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety: implications for future research and practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1266–1280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., & Walters, E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 617–627.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Little, T. D., Jones, S. M., Henrich, C. C., & Hawley, P. H. (2003). Disentangling the ‘whys’ from the ‘whats’ of aggressive behaviour. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 122–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2002). The Coping Power Program at the middle school transition: universal and indicated prevention effects. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, S40–S54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Duran, N. L., Olson, S. L., Hajal, N. J., Felt, B. T., & Vazquez, D. M. (2009). Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis functioning in reactive and proactive aggression in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 169–182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods, 7, 83–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marsee, M. A., & Frick, P. J. (2007). Exploring the cognitive and emotional correlates to proactive and reactive aggression in a sample of detained girls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 969–981.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCandless, S., & O’Laughlin, L. (2007). The clinical utility of the behavior rating inventory of executive functioning (BRIEF) in the diagnosis of ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 10, 381–389.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nigg, J. T. (2006). What causes ADHD? Understanding what goes wrong and why. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollendick, T. H., Jarrett, M. A., Wolff, J. C., & Scarpa, A. (2009). Reactive and proactive aggression: cross-informant agreement and the clinical utility of different informants. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 31, 51–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parrish, J., Geary, E., Jones, J., Seth, R., Hermann, B., & Seidenberg, M. (2007). Executive functioning in childhood epilepsy: parent-report and cognitive assessment. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 49, 412–416.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Polman, H., de Castro, B. O., Koops, W., van Boxtel, H. W., & Merk, W. W. (2007). A meta-analysis of the distinction between reactive and proactive aggression in children and adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 522–535.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Poulin, F., & Boivin, M. (2000). Reactive and proactive aggression: evidence of a two-factor model. Psychological Assessment, 12, 115–122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J. M., & Dodge, K. A. (1989). Reactive and proactive aggression in childhood: relations to peer status and social context dimensions. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17, 455–471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prifitera, A., Saklofske, D. H., & Weiss, G. (Eds.). (2005). WISC-IV: clinical use and interpretation. New York: Elsevier Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., & Cillessen, A. H. N. (2003). Forms and functions of adolescent peer aggression associated with high levels of peer status. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 49, 310–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A., Dodge, K., Loeber, R., Gatzke-Kopp, L., Lynam, D., Reynolds, & Liu, J. (2006). The reactive-proactive aggression questionnaire: differential correlates of reactive and proactive aggression in adolescent boys. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 159–171.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rathert, J., Fite, P. J., Gaertner, A. E., & Vitulano, M. (2011). Associations between effortful control, psychological control and proactive and reactive aggression. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 42(5), 609–621.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, J. M., & Gross, J. J. (2000). Emotion regulation and memory: the cognitive costs of keeping one’s cool. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 410–424.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Temperament. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 99–166). Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoemaker, K., Bunte, T., Wiebe, S. A., Espy, K. A., Deković, M., & Matthys, W. (2012). Executive function deficits in preschool children with ADHD and DBD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53, 111–119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Séguin, J. R., & Zelazo, P. D. (2005). Executive function in early physical aggression. In J. Archer, R. E. Tremblay, W. W. Hartup, & W. Willard (Eds.), Developmental origins of aggression (pp. 307–329). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuss, D. T., & Benson, D. F. (1987). The frontal lobes and control of cognition and memory. In E. Perecman (Ed.), The frontal lobes revisited (pp. 141–158). New York: The IRBN Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toplack, M. E., Bucciarelli, S. M., Jain, U., & Tannock, R. (2009). Executive functions: performance-based measures and the behavior rating inventory of executive function (BRIEF) in adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Child Neuropsychology, 15, 53–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., & Tremblay, R. E. (2002). Reactively and proactively aggressive children: antecedent and subsequent characteristics. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 495–506.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2004). Understanding self-regulation: an introduction. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: research, theory and applications (pp. 3–10). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1991). Manual for the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (3rd ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (2003). Manual for the Wechsler intelligence scale for children (4th ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welsh, M. C., & Pennington, B. F. (1988). Assessing frontal lobe functioning in children: views from developmental psychology. Developmental Neuropsychology, 4, 199–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winstok, Z. (2009). From self-control capabilities and the need to control others to proactive and reactive aggression among adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 455–466.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, Q., Chen, S. H., & Main, A. (2011). Commonalities and differences in the research on children’s effortful control and executive function: a call for an integrated model of self-regulation. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 112–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zingerevich, C., & LaVesser, P. D. (2009). The contribution of executive functions to participation in school activities of children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 3, 429–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are extended to Matthew Fritz for statistical consultation, and to the children and parents who participated in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall (0436), Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Bradley A. White & Thomas H. Ollendick

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Matthew A. Jarrett

Authors
  1. Bradley A. White
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthew A. Jarrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Thomas H. Ollendick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bradley A. White.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

White, B.A., Jarrett, M.A. & Ollendick, T.H. Self-Regulation Deficits Explain the Link between Reactive Aggression and Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Children. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 35, 1–9 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-012-9310-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-012-9310-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation