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Types of Aggression, Responsiveness to Provocation, and Callous-unemotional Traits in Detained Adolescents

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Abstract

The present study investigated differences in the behavioral and psychophysiological responses to provocation and in the level of callous-unemotional traits in boys exhibiting different patterns of aggression. Eighty-five boys (ages 13–18) in a juvenile detention center played a competitive computer task against a hypothetical peer who provided low and high levels of provocation. Youth high on both self-reported reactive and proactive aggression showed different behavioral responses to provocation than youth high on only reactive aggression. Specifically, the combined group showed high levels of aggressive responses without any provocation, whereas the group high on reactive aggression showed an increase in aggressive responding to low provocation. Further, results revealed a trend for the combined group to show lower levels of skin conductance reactivity to low provocation if they were also high on callous-unemotional traits.

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Notes

  1. We also examined the interaction between the two types of aggression in predicting the variables of interest by performing a series of hierarchical regressions with the two aggression variables entered on the first step and examining the change in R2 when the interaction was added on the second step. The only interaction to reach significance was in the prediction of callous-unemotional traits (ΔR 2 = 0.05, F (1,81) = 4.85, p < .05). Using the post-hoc probing techniques suggested by Holmbeck (2002), the interaction appeared to be due to the fact that reactive aggression had a positive relation with callous-unemotional traits (β = 0.40, t = 2.51, p < 0.05) at low levels of proactive aggression but not at high levels proactive aggression (β = −0.02, t = −0.11, p = ns). However, as noted in the introduction, this interaction needs to be interpreted cautiously due to the fact that the few youth high on proactive aggression but low on reactive aggression could have influenced the simple slopes.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Dr. John Ryals at the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Assessment Center for all his help starting this project. We also would like to thank the staff at the Detention Center, particularly Nat Williams and Christopher Bruno. We are grateful for the programming expertise of Matthew Johnsen and the voice recordings provided by Marc Holmes. Finally, we are especially grateful for the superb and dedicated work of our research assistants: Jessica Donegan, Darryl Gordon, Joanna Laux, Katherine Peak, and Natalie Tompson.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Developmental Research, BSR: Psychology Department, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden

    Luna C. Muñoz

  2. Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Paul J. Frick

  3. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Eva R. Kimonis

  4. Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority, Marrero, LA, USA

    Katherine J. Aucoin

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  1. Luna C. Muñoz
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Correspondence to Luna C. Muñoz.

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Muñoz, L.C., Frick, P.J., Kimonis, E.R. et al. Types of Aggression, Responsiveness to Provocation, and Callous-unemotional Traits in Detained Adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 15–28 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9137-0

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