Which Children Will Have Persistent Problems with Aggression?

Children with trajectories of moderate-to-high aggression were more likely to have families with lower income or lower parent education.

Physical aggression, common in early childhood, can persist into adolescence, when it is linked with violent crime, school failure, substance abuse, and social maladjustment.

Prior research on aggression has relied on parent, teacher, or child behavior reports, but these investigators collected information from all three sources on 2223 children followed from age 18 months to 13 years. Researchers used complex multitrajectory modeling to examine how children manifested aggression symptoms (e.g., fighting with, attacking, hitting/biting/kicking other children) as reported by the three raters and how aggression levels changed over the course of childhood.

In both boys and girls, aggression peaked at age 3.5 years. In boys, two high-aggression t…

Reviewing Author

Jenny Radesky, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMelissa & Doug Toys (Consultant and Board of Directors)

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute for Child Health and Development; National Institutes of Health

Jenny Radesky, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMelissa & Doug Toys (Consultant and Board of Directors)

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute for Child Health and Development; National Institutes of Health

Which Children Will Have Persistent Problems with Aggression?

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Reviewing Author