Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

, Volume 38, Issue 5, pp 615–626 | Cite as

Does Response Evaluation and Decision (RED) Mediate the Relation between Hostile Attributional Style and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence?

  • Reid Griffith Fontaine
  • Marieh Tanha
  • Chongming Yang
  • Kenneth A. Dodge
  • John E. Bates
  • Gregory S. Pettit
Article
First Online:

Abstract

The role of hostile attributional style (HAS) in antisocial development has been well-documented. We analyzed longitudinal data on 585 youths (48% female; 19% ethnic minority) to test the hypothesis that response evaluation and decision (RED) mediates the relation between HAS and antisocial behavior in adolescence. In Grades 10 and 12, adolescent participants and their parents reported participants’ antisocial conduct. In Grade 11, participants were asked to imagine themselves in videotaped ambiguous-provocation scenarios. Segment 1 of each scenario presented an ambiguous provocation, after which participants answered HAS questions. In segment 2, participants were asked to imagine themselves responding aggressively to the provocateur, after which RED was assessed. Structural equation modeling indicated that RED mediates the relation between HAS and subsequent antisocial conduct, controlling for previous misconduct. Findings are consistent with research on the development of executive function processes in adolescence, and suggest that the relation between HAS and RED changes after childhood.

Keywords

Social cognition Social information processing Hostile attributional style Decision making Aggression Antisocial behavior Adolescence 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Reid Griffith Fontaine
    • 1
  • Marieh Tanha
    • 2
  • Chongming Yang
    • 3
  • Kenneth A. Dodge
    • 4
  • John E. Bates
    • 5
  • Gregory S. Pettit
    • 6
  1. 1.Department of Psychology and James E. Rogers College of LawUniversity of ArizonaTucsonUSA
  2. 2.Department of PsychologyUniversity of ArizonaTucsonUSA
  3. 3.Department of Public Policy StudiesDuke UniversityDurhamUSA
  4. 4.Center for Child and Family PolicyDurhamUSA
  5. 5.Department of Psychological and Brain SciencesIndiana UniversityBloomingtonUSA
  6. 6.Department of Human Development and Family StudiesAuburn UniversityAuburnUSA

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