Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Risk Factors Associated with Proactive and Reactive Aggression in a Child Psychiatric Inpatient Sample

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

Abstract

Proactive and reactive aggression represent distinct functions of aggression that are associated with different risk factors, including individual and contextual characteristics. However, more research evaluating the interactive effects of risk factors is needed. The current study evaluated whether corporal punishment moderated the influence of neighborhood problems and anger coping on proactive and reactive aggression in a child psychiatric inpatient sample of 6 to 13 year olds (n = 151). Findings were compared across child- and caregiver-reports of aggression. Consistent with expectations, anger coping was more strongly associated with reactive aggression than proactive aggression across informants. In contrast, perceived neighborhood problems were only associated with child-reports of proactive aggression, with corporal punishment moderating this association. Specifically, the association between neighborhood problems and proactive aggression was only evident at high levels of corporal punishment. Treatment implications and future directions are discussed.

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

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park: Sage Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aneshensel, C. S., & Sucoff, C. A. (1996). The neighborhood context of adolescent mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37(4), 293–310.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood Cliffs: Pretince-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barker, E. D., Vitaro, F., Lacourse, E., Fontaine, N. M., Carbonneau, R., & Tremblay, R. E. (2010). Testing the developmental distinctiveness of male proactive and reactive aggression within a nested longitudinal experimental intervention. Aggressive Behavior, 36, 127–140.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barry, T., Lochman, J. E., Fite P. J., Wells, K. C., & Colder, C. R. (2012). The influence of neighborhood characteristics and parenting practices on academic problems and aggression outcomes among moderately to highly aggressive children. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 372–378.

  • Brofenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calvete, E., & Orue, I. (2012). The role of emotion regulation in the predictive association between social information processing and aggressive behavior in adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 36, 338–347. doi:10.1177/0165025412444079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Card, N. A., & Little, T. D. (2007). Differential relations of instrumental and reactive aggression with maladjustment: Does adaptivity depend on function? In P. H. Hawley, T. D. Little, & P. C. Rodkin (Eds.), Aggression and adaptation: The bright side to bad behavior (pp. 107–124). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, P. M., Martin, S. E., & Dennis, T. A. (2004). Emotion regulation as a scientific construct: methodological challenges and directions for child development research. Child Development, 75, 317–333. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00673.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dadds, M. R., Maujean, A., & Fraser, J. A. (2003). Parenting and conduct problems in children: Australian data and psychometric properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. Australian Psychologist, 38, 238–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Los Reyes, A., & Kazdin, A. E. (2005). Informant discrepancies in the assessment of childhood psychopathology: a critical review, theoretical framework, and recommendations for further study. Psychological Bulletin, 131(4), 483–509. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.4.483.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A. (1991). The structure and function of reactive aggression. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 201–218). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    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., Pettit, G. S., McClaskey, C. L., & Brown, M. M. (1986). Social competence in children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51(2, Serial No. 213).

  • 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 

  • Elliott, D. S., Wilson, W. J., Huizinga, D., Sampson, R. J., Elliott, A., & Rankin, B. (1996). The effects of neighborhood disadvantage on adolescent development. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 33, 389–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Essau, C. A., Sasagawa, S., & Frick, P. (2006). Psychometric properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15, 597–616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fauth, R. C., Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2004). Short-term effects of moving from public housing in poor to middle-class neighborhoods on low-income, minority adults’ outcomes. Social Science & Medicine, 59, 2271–2284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., & Pelham, W. E. (2006). A factor analytic approach to distinguish pure and co-occurring dimensions of proactive and reactive aggression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 578–582.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Stoppelbein, L., & Greening, L. (2009b). Proactive and reactive aggression in a child psychiatric inpatient population: relations to psychopathic characteristics. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36, 481–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Wynn, P., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2009c). The effect of neighborhood disadvantage on proactive and reactive aggression. Journal of Community Psychology, 37(4), 542–546. doi:10.1002/jcop.20306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Vitulano, M., Wynn, P., Wimsatt, A., Gaertner, A., & Rathert, J. (2010). Influence of perceived neighborhood safety on proactive and reactive aggression. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(6), 757–768.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Rathert, J. L., Grassetti, S. N., Gaertner, A. E., Campion, S., Fitek, J. L., & Vitulano, M. L. (2011a). Longitudinal investigation of the link between proactive and reactive aggression and disciplinary action in an after-school care program. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33, 205–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Stoppelbein, L., Gaertner, A. E., Greening, L., & Elledge, L. C. (2011b). Further evaluation of the forms and functions of aggression measure within a child inpatient population. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 28, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Preddy, T., Vitulano, M., Elkins, S., Grassetti, S., & Wimsatt, A. (2012a). Perceived best friend delinquency moderates the link between contextual risk factors and juvenile delinquency. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 747–761.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fite, P. J., Rathert, J., Colder, C. R., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2012b). Proactive and reactive aggression. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 2164–2170). New York: Springer Science + Business Media LLC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: a meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 539–579. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.539.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holden, G. W., Brown, A. S., Baldwin, A. S., & Caderao, K. C. (2014). Research findings can change attitudes about corporal punishment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(5), 902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, J. A., Dodge, K. A., Cillessen, A. H., Coie, J. D., & Schwartz, D. (2001). The dyadic nature of social information processing in boys’ reactive and proactive aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 268–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, J. A., Smithmyer, C. M., Ramsden, S. R., Parker, E. H., Flanagan, K. D., Dearing, K. F., Relyea, N., & 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 

  • Huesmann, L. R. (1997). Observational learning of violent behavior. In A. Raine & P. Brennan (Eds.), Biosocial bases of violence. New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, J. M. (2007). Neighborhood and community effects on individual behavior and social functioning. Social Work Research, 31(4), 195–197. doi:10.1093/swr/31.4.195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karriker-Jaffe, K., Foshee, V. A., Ennett, S. T., & Suchindran, C. (2013). Associations of neighborhood and family factors with trajectories of physical and social aggression during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(6), 861–877.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kaynak, O., Lepore, S., Kliewer, W., & Jaggi, L. (2015). Peer victimization and subsequent disruptive behavior in school: the protective functions of anger regulation coping. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 1–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lansford, J. E., Sharma, C., Malone, P. S., Woodlief, D., Dodge, K. A., Oburu, P., … Di Giunta, L. (2014). Corporal punishment, maternal warmth, and child adjustment: a longitudinal study in eight countries. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 43(4), 670.

  • 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., & Wayland, K. K. (1994). Aggression, social acceptance, and race as predictors of negative adolescent outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 1026–1035.

    Article  PubMed  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 

  • McAuliffe, M. D., Hubbard, J. A., Rubin, R. M., Morrow, M. T., & Dearing, K. F. (2007). Reactive and proactive aggression: stability of constructs and relations to correlates. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 167, 365–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orobio de Castro, B., Bosch, J. D., Veerman, J. W., & Koops, W. (2003). The effects of emotion regulation, attribution, and delay prompts on aggressive boys’ social problem solving. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 153–166. doi:10.1023/A:1023557125265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orobio de Castro, B., Merk, W., Koops, W., Veerman, J. W., & Bosch, J. D. (2005). Emotions in social information processing and their relations with reactive and proactive aggression in referred aggressive boys. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34, 105–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, N. C., & Lochman, J. E. (2003). Experimentally manipulated change in children’s proactive and reactive aggressive behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 29, 215–227.

    Article  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 

  • Roberton, T., Daffern, M., & Bucks, R. (2012). Emotion regulation and aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 72–82. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2011.09.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roll, J., Koglin, U., & Petermann, F. (2012). Emotion regulation and childhood aggression: longitudinal associations. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 43, 909–923.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saarni, C. (1999). The development of emotional competence. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schenck, E. R., Lyman, R. D., & Bodin, S. D. (2000). Ethical beliefs, attitudes, and professional practices of psychologists regarding parental use of corporal punishment: a survey. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, & Practice, 3(1), 23–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, N. (1996). Uses and abuses of coefficient alpha. Psychological Assessment, 8, 350–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1997). The early socialization of aggressive victims of bullying. Child Development, 4, 665–675.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., Hubbard, J. A., Cillessen, A. H. N., Lemerise, E. A., & Bateman, H. (1998). Social-cognitive and behavioral correlates of aggression and victimization in boys’ play groups. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 431–440.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shelton, K. K., Frick, P. J., & Wootton, J. (1996). Assessment of parenting practices in families of elementary school-age children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 25, 317–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (1998). Reactive aggression among maltreated children: the contributions of attention and emotion dysregulation. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 381–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stoolmiller, M. (2001). Synergistic interaction of child manageability problems and parent-discipline tactics in predicting future growth in externalizing behavior for boys. Developmental Psychology, 37, 814–825.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Streiner, D. L. (2003). Starting at the beginning: an introduction to coefficient alpha and internal consistency. Journal of Personality Assessment, 80, 99–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, T. N., Helms, S. W., Kliewer, W., & Goodman, K. L. (2010). Associations between sadness and anger regulation copping, emotional expression, and physical and relational aggression among urban adolescents. Social Development, 19, 30–51. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00531.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Suveg, C., Sood, E., Comer, J. S., & Kendall, P. C. (2009). Changes in emotion regulation following cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxious youth. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 38, 390–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2001). Using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., & Brendgen, M. (2011). Subtypes of aggressive behaviors: Etiologies, development and consequences. In T. Bliesner, A. Beelman, & M. Stemmler (Eds.), Antisocial behavior and crime: Contributions of theory and evaluation research to prevention and intervention. Goettingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., Barker, E. D., Boivin, M., Brendgen, M., & Trembley, R. E. (2006a). Do early difficult temperament and harsh parenting differentially predict reactive and proactive aggression? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 685–695.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., & Barker, E. D. (2006b). Subtypes of aggressive behaviors: a developmental perspective. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30, 12–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wandersman, A., & Nation, M. (1998). Urban neighborhoods and mental health: psychological contributions to understanding toxicity, resilience, and interventions. The American Psychologist, 53(6), 647–656.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waschbusch, D. A., Willoughby, M. T., & Pelham, W. E. (1998). Criterion validity and the utility of reactive and proactive aggression: comparisons to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and other meassures of functioning. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 396–405.

  • Xu, Y., Farver, J. A., & Zhang, Z. (2009). Temperament, harsh and indulgent parenting, and Chinese children’s proactive and reactive aggression. Child Development, 80, 244–258.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeman, J., Shipman, K., & Suveg, C. (2002). Anger and sadness regulation: predictions to internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31(3), 393–398. doi:10.1207/153744202760082658.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of Interest

Paula J. Fite, Jon Poquiz, John L. Cooley, Laura Stoppelbein, Stephen P. Becker, Aaron M. Luebbe and Leilani Greening declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Experiment Participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Child Psychology Program, University of Kansas, Dole HDC 2012, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Paula J. Fite, Jon Poquiz & John L. Cooley

  2. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Laura Stoppelbein

  3. Glenwood Autism and Behavioral Health, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Laura Stoppelbein

  4. Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Stephen P. Becker

  5. Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA

    Aaron M. Luebbe

  6. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA

    Leilani Greening

Authors
  1. Paula J. Fite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jon Poquiz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John L. Cooley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Laura Stoppelbein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen P. Becker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Aaron M. Luebbe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Leilani Greening
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paula J. Fite.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fite, P.J., Poquiz, J., Cooley, J.L. et al. Risk Factors Associated with Proactive and Reactive Aggression in a Child Psychiatric Inpatient Sample. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 38, 56–65 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9503-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9503-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation