Self-control and aggression versatility: moderating effects in the prediction of delinquency and conduct disorder among youth

ABSTRACT

An individual’s capacity for self-control is an important factor when considering the link between aggression and delinquency outcomes. The aim of the present study is to examine the possible role of self-control as a moderator of the aggression-antisociality/delinquency link among a sample of 567 youth (M = 15.91 years, SD = .99 years, age range = 14–18 years) from Portugal. Results indicated that self-control significantly moderates four different forms and functions of aggression – proactive overt, proactive relational, reactive overt, and reactive relational – in models simultaneously predicting delinquency and conduct disorder outcomes. We encourage multifaceted study of aggression as inherent in the Peer Conflict Scale-20 to articulate the ways that various forms of aggression unfold into clinical conduct problems.

KEYWORDS:

• Aggression
• delinquency
• moderation
• self-control
• youth
• conduct disorder

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi/UM PSI/01662) School of Psychology, University of Minho, and was partially funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (UID/PSI/01662/2019) through the Portuguese State budget (UIDB/01662/2020).