Stability and Continuity of Aggression From Early Childhood to Young Adulthood (From Youth Violence: Prevention, Intervention, and Social Policy, P 73-95, 1999, Daniel J. Flannery and C. Ronald Huff, eds. -- See NCJ-184963)

• NCJ Number: 184966
• Author(s): L. Rowell Huesmann Ph.D.; Jessica F. Moise M.A.
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 23 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Sale Source: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter reviews the empirical research on the stability and continuity of aggression from early childhood to young adulthood and provides support for the position that most individuals develop a characteristic level of aggressiveness that remains stable across situations and over time.

Abstract

The chapter defines aggressive behavior and examines its causes, and reviews claims that aggression is either a trait or is situationally induced. The article also attempts to account for the continuity of aggressive behavior over time, including examination of environmental continuity versus behavioral continuity. The statistical predictability of adult aggression from childhood aggression is clear, an estimated .4 to .5 over 20 years, with higher continuity for males than for females. Although this statistical continuity is substantial, a large portion of the individual variance in development of aggression is not explained by early aggression. Most highly aggressive young children do not grow up to be highly aggressive. The forces that moderate these continuities, whether environmental or personal, need further exploration. Figures, table, references