Children Psychology

Aggressive Behaviour” can be characterized as the behaviour, which has a purpose to harm or hurt the others. Aggressive behaviour cannot take only the form of physical violence but also verbal. An individual can adopt aggressive behaviour either to defense itself in a real or perceived threat (reactive) , or as a sequence in goal achieving activities / social dominance ( proactive).

Emotional dysregulation can be considered as the main cause of aggressive behaviour. According to majority of studies emotional dysregulation is connected with a wide range of disorders in children. More specifically “emotion regulation”, is a person’s ability to adapt its emotions according to occasion and coping strategies with main purpose the control of negative emotions. Furthermore, people, who lack of self- awareness and social abilities, face difficulties in positive interaction with peers. Finally, studies indicate, that parental patterns like, using corporal punishment, emotional distancing / low- warmth, and indifference, are positive correlated with the appearance of aggressive behaviour from children. However, on developmental level, aggressive behaviour constitutes an evolutionary and expected behavior in 2 year old child but not to a 5 year old child, who has developed his speech and he can manage appropriate his emotions (Hubbard, McAuliffe, Morrow and Romano, 2010 ; Olson et al., 2011 ; Röll, Koglin and Petermann, 2012).

Generally, manifestation of aggressive behaviour at a young age constitutes a warning sign for severe problems in their life later on. In every occasion, aggressive behaviour, which lasts more than 2 months, demands direct contact with a therapist.

References:

• Hubbard, J., McAuliffe, M., Morrow, M. and Romano, L., 2010. Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Childhood and Adolescence: Precursors, Outcomes, Processes, Experiences, and Measurement. Journal of Personality, 78(1), pp.95-118.
• Olson, S., Lopez-Duran, N., Lunkenheimer, E., Chang, H. and Sameroff, A., 2011. Individual differences in the development of early peer aggression: Integrating contributions of self-regulation, theory of mind, and parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 23(1), pp.253-266.
• Röll, J., Koglin, U. and Petermann, F., 2012. Emotion Regulation and Childhood Aggression: Longitudinal Associations. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 43(6), pp.909-923.