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Do Early Difficult Temperament and Harsh Parenting Differentially Predict Reactive and Proactive Aggression?

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Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the links between difficult temperament (i.e., negative emotionality) and harsh parental discipline during toddlerhood, and reactive and proactive aggression in kindergarten. These links were assessed on a longitudinal population-based study of 1516 boys and girls followed longitudinally from the age of 17 months through the age of 72 months. Two possible models were tested to examine the interplay between negative emotionality and harsh parenting in predicting later reactive aggression compared to proactive aggression. The first was an additive model where both aspects make unique contributions in predicting later reactive aggression. The second model was an interactive model where harsh parenting exacerbates the link between negative emotionality and reactive aggression. Results showed a specific contribution of negative emotionality to reactive aggression. The results relative to harsh parenting are more mixed but nonetheless in line with developmental models stressing different pathways to reactive and proactive aggression.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been made possible through grants from the Quebec Ministry of Heath and Social Services, the Quebec Ministry of Education, the Fonds Québecois pour la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, and by the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon. We would like to thank the Institut de la Statistique du Québec as well as the parents and teachers for their participation in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GRIP_University of Montreal, 3050 Edouard-Montpetit, Montreal (Quebec), Canada, H3T 1J7

    Frank Vitaro, Edward Dylan Barker & Richard E. Tremblay

  2. Laval University, Quebec, Canada

    Michel Boivin

  3. University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Mara Brendgen

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  1. Frank Vitaro
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  2. Edward Dylan Barker
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  3. Michel Boivin
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  4. Mara Brendgen
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  5. Richard E. Tremblay
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Correspondence to Frank Vitaro.

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Vitaro, F., Barker, E.D., Boivin, M. et al. Do Early Difficult Temperament and Harsh Parenting Differentially Predict Reactive and Proactive Aggression?. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34, 681–691 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9055-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-006-9055-6

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