Anger management
Joseph Schwartz, Kevin Beaver & J.C. Barnes
PLoS ONE, October 2015
Objectives: Recent violent attacks on college campuses in the United States have sparked discussions regarding the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and the perpetration of violence among college students. While previous studies have examined the potential association between mental health problems and violent behavior, the overall pattern of findings flowing from this literature remain mixed and no previous studies have examined such associations among college students.
Methods: The current study makes use of a nationally representative sample of 3,929 college students from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) to examine the prevalence of seven violent behaviors and 19 psychiatric disorder diagnoses tapping mood, anxiety, personality, and substance use disorders. Associations between individual and composite psychiatric disorder diagnoses and violent behaviors were also examined. Additional analyses were adjusted for the comorbidity of multiple psychiatric diagnoses.
Results: The results revealed that college students were less likely to have engaged in violent behavior relative to the non-student sample, but a substantial portion of college students had engaged in violent behavior. Age- and sex-standardized prevalence rates indicated that more than 21% of college students reported at least one violent act. In addition, more than 36% of college students had at least one diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Finally, the prevalence of one or more psychiatric disorders significantly increased the odds of violent behavior within the college student sample.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that violence and psychiatric disorders are prevalent on college campuses in the United States, though perhaps less so than in the general population. In addition, college students who have diagnosable psychiatric disorders are significantly more likely to engage in various forms of violent behavior.
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Genetic and environmental influences on being expelled and suspended from school
Kevin Beaver et al.
Personality and Individual Differences, February 2016, Pages 214-218
Abstract:
There has been a significant amount of interest in understanding some of the key issues related to school suspensions and expulsions. One of the more intriguing and studied of these issues has to do with factors that contribute to variation in school disciplinary sanctions. To date, however, no research has examined the genetic architecture to either suspensions or expulsions. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by analyzing a sample of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The results of the analyses revealed that shared and nonshared environmental factors accounted for the variation in suspensions. Genetic influences, in contrast, were the dominant source of variation for expulsions. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings and avenues for future research.
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Friend to friend: A randomized trial for urban African American relationally aggressive girls
Stephen Leff et al.
Psychology of Violence, October 2015, Pages 433-443
Objective: To determine the effectiveness of the Friend to Friend (F2F) aggression prevention program through a clinical trial with urban African American girls.
Method: A randomized parallel-group study design was conducted comparing the effectiveness of F2F to an attention control condition (called Homework, Study Skills, and Organization, HSO) among relationally aggressive girls from 6 urban low-income elementary schools. Analyses of covariance were utilized for comparing posttest measurements from the 2 conditions while adjusting for pretest measurements. To further explore program outcomes, we examined whether the significant intervention effects were maintained from posttest to follow-up among girls in the F2F group.
Results: Results suggest that aggressive girls in F2F decreased their levels of relational aggression and increased their knowledge of social problem solving skills in comparison with similar girls randomized to HSO. Each of these findings was maintained at the 1-year follow-up.
Conclusion: The F2F Program, a culturally adapted group intervention addressing multiple forms of aggression, appears to have promise for decreasing relational aggression and improving knowledge of problem solving skills for urban high risk aggressive girls, with results that are maintained 1 year after treatment.
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Karin Fikkers et al.
Media Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study investigates the role of a social context variable, perceived peer norms, in the relationship between media violence exposure and adolescents' aggressive behavior. This was informed by a need to better understand whether, how, and for whom, media violence exposure may affect aggression. Three hypotheses were tested with peer norms as moderator, as mediator, and as both moderator and mediator in the relationship between media violence and aggression. A two-wave longitudinal survey measured media violence exposure, perceived descriptive and injunctive norms, and aggressive behavior among 943 adolescents (aged 10-14, 50.4% girls). Results provided support only for the moderated-mediation model. The indirect effect of media violence on aggression via perceived peer approval of aggression (i.e., injunctive norms) was moderated by perceived prevalence of peer aggression (i.e., descriptive norms). Specifically, media violence indirectly increased aggressive behavior for adolescents who perceived more peer aggression, but decreased aggression for adolescents who perceived less peer aggression. Implications for future research into media violence effects are discussed.
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James Unnever, Francis Cullen & J.C. Barnes
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, forthcoming
Objectives: This article examines a core hypothesis of Unnever and Gabbidon's theory that racial discrimination should diminish the ability of African American youths to build strong bonds with their school, which in turn should increase their likelihood of engaging in problematic behaviors over time. Their thesis further argues that these relationships should persist after controlling for affectional ties with parents and other covariates.
Methods: This hypothesis is assessed using data from two cohorts included within the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, Longitudinal Cohort Study.
Results: The results show that racial discrimination predicts changes in problematic behaviors from wave 1 to wave 3 and weakens the attachment that African American youths have with their teachers and their commitment to their education while controlling for affectional ties to parents and other covariates.
Conclusions: The results lend support to Unnever and Gabbidon's thesis that a holistic understanding of African Americans' offending must be grounded in their everyday experiences with what it means to be Black in a racialized society.