Proclivity to aggressive behavior: Comparing institutionalized adolescents with behavior disorders with teenagers living with their families [Sklon k agresivnímu chování: Srovnání institucionalizovaných adolescentů s poruchami chování s adolescenty žijícími v rodinách]
Abstract
Objectives. The aim of the study was an attempt to identify factors associated with the proclivity to aggressive behavior comparing responses from adolescents living with their families and teenagers with behavior disorders from the Diagnostic Institutions.
Subjects and setting. Responses were obtained from a sample of 254 adolescents (107 boys, 147 girls), average age 16,85; SD=1,55; median=17, range 14-19, from five Diagnostic Institutions, and from a sample of 258 teenagers living with their families (108 boys, 150 girls); average age 16,5; SD=1,71; median 16,5; range 14-19, obtained from an epidemiological database of 8469 schoolchildren using random selection.
Results. The findings indicate distinctively high proclivity to aggressive style of problems solution of the Diagnostic Institutions clients in comparison to adolescents living with their families.
With some simplification, it can be concluded that there are neither clinically important differences among 14-19 age cohorts, nor between boys and girls. The profile of proclivity to forceful solution of conflicting situations of the adolescents from the Diagnostic Institutions is associated, compared to the adolescents living with families, apart from impulsivity, with disrespect to consensual social norms, and well-marked feeling of social alienation.
Study limitation. The study is not based on a representative sample of adolescents from the Diagnostics Institutions and respondents living with their families were chosen randomly from an epidemiological database taking into consideration only number, age, and gender of persons comparable to the Diagnostic Institutions sample. (C) 2018, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
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