Biomaterial Database

Emotions and Cognitions in Early Childhood Aggression: the Role of Irritability and Hostile Attribution Biases. 2021

Gretchen R Perhamus, and Jamie M Ostrov

Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 475 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA. grperham@buffalo.edu.

The present study examines the role of irritability in form and function subtypes of aggression over 1 year in early childhood (N = 300, Mage = 44.70 months, SD = 4.38 months). This study prospectively tests hostile attribution biases (HAB) as a mediator in irritability's relations with aggression, with hypothesized form-specific relations between HAB and aggression. Moderation by gender and a reversed alternative model (aggression to irritability, mediated by HAB), were also tested. Path analyses showed irritability predicted increases in all subtypes of aggression (βs = 0.24-0.34), but with moderation by gender, such that irritability significantly predicted increases in reactive relational aggression for girls only (β = 0.43). Reactive physical aggression also significantly predicted increases in irritability (β = 0.15). HAB was not associated significantly with any forms or functions of aggression, although gender differences emerged between HAB for instrumental provocations and reactive physical aggression. No significant indirect effects were found. Results highlight the importance of considering both forms and functions of aggression when investigating irritability, and point to potential gender differences in the role of irritability in relational aggression in early childhood.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007508	Irritable Mood	Abnormal or excessive excitability with easily triggered anger, annoyance, or impatience.	Mood, Irritable,Irritable Moods,Moods, Irritable
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003071	Cognition	Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge.	Cognitive Function,Cognitions,Cognitive Functions,Function, Cognitive,Functions, Cognitive
D005260	Female		Females
D006791	Hostility	Tendency to feel anger toward and to seek to inflict harm upon a person or group.	Hostilities
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000374	Aggression	Behavior which may be manifested by destructive and attacking action which is verbal or physical, by covert attitudes of hostility or by obstructionism.	Aggressions
D015982	Bias	Any deviation of results or inferences from the truth, or processes leading to such deviation. Bias can result from several sources: one-sided or systematic variations in measurement from the true value (systematic error); flaws in study design; deviation of inferences, interpretations, or analyses based on flawed data or data collection; etc. There is no sense of prejudice or subjectivity implied in the assessment of bias under these conditions.	Aggregation Bias,Bias, Aggregation,Bias, Ecological,Bias, Statistical,Bias, Systematic,Ecological Bias,Outcome Measurement Errors,Statistical Bias,Systematic Bias,Bias, Epidemiologic,Biases,Biases, Ecological,Biases, Statistical,Ecological Biases,Ecological Fallacies,Ecological Fallacy,Epidemiologic Biases,Experimental Bias,Fallacies, Ecological,Fallacy, Ecological,Scientific Bias,Statistical Biases,Truncation Bias,Truncation Biases,Bias, Experimental,Bias, Scientific,Bias, Truncation,Biase, Epidemiologic,Biases, Epidemiologic,Biases, Truncation,Epidemiologic Biase,Error, Outcome Measurement,Errors, Outcome Measurement,Outcome Measurement Error