Are Experiences of Family & of Organized Violence Predictors of Aggression & Violent Behavior? A Study with Unaccompanied Refugee Minors
BACKGROUND:
There
is strong support for familial abuse as a risk factor for later delinquency and
violent offending, whereas empirical evidence about the contribution of
experienced organized violence to the cycle of violence is less clear.
Nevertheless not all abused children do become violent offenders. This raises
the question of which factors influence these children's risk of future
aggressive behavior. Recent evidence suggests that the trait of appetitive
aggression plays an important role in the prediction of aggressive behavior.
OBJECTIVE:
The
focus of the study is to investigate whether exposures to 1) organized; and 2)
family violence equally contribute to aggressive behavior and how this is
related to a trait of appetitive aggression. Furthermore it is of interest to
uncover how the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms
modulates associations between violent experiences and aggression.
METHOD:
To answer
these questions, we investigated unaccompanied refugee minors who had been
exposed to varying levels of both violence types. Using structured interviews,
experiences of organized and familial violence, self-committed aggressive acts,
the trait of appetitive aggression, and PTSD symptoms were assessed in 49
volunteers.
RESULTS:
A
sequential regression analysis revealed that the trait of appetitive aggression
and experienced family violence were independent and significant predictors of
self-committed aggressive acts, altogether accounting for 70% of the variance.
Exposure to organized violence, however, was not significantly associated with
aggressive acts or appetitive aggression. PTSD symptom severity was not
correlated with measures of aggression but with the exposure to familial and
organized violence.
CONCLUSIONS:
Results
suggest that in addition to the impact of family violence, an elevated trait of
appetitive aggression plays a crucial role in aggressive behavior and should be
considered in psychotherapeutic treatment.
Below: Correlations between violent events, PTSD, and measures of aggression
- 1Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
- 2vivo international e.V. (www.vivo.org), Germany; veronika.mueller@uni-konstanz.de.
- 3vivo international e.V. (www.vivo.org), Germany
- Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2016 Feb 12;7:27856. doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v7.27856. eCollection 2016.
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