The Role of Hostile Attributions in the Associations Between Child Maltreatment and Reactive and Proactive Aggression

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relations between child maltreatment and reactive and proactive functions of aggression, and whether hostile attribution biases partially accounted for these associations in a sample of 339 college students (M age = 19, 51% male). Child maltreatment was associated with reactive, but not proactive, aggression, and instrumental hostile attribution biases accounted for this association. Relational hostile attributions were correlated with both reactive and proactive aggression, but did not play a role in the link between child maltreatment and reactive aggression.

KEYWORDS:

• Abuse
• aggression subtypes
• neglect
• social information processing

Funding

The writing of this article was supported in part by a University of Kansas Research Investment Council strategic initiatives grant awarded to Paula J. Fite and Marco Bortolato and National Institutes of Health Grant R01MH104603 awarded to Marco Bortolato.

Additional information

Funding

The writing of this article was supported in part by a University of Kansas Research Investment Council strategic initiatives grant awarded to Paula J. Fite and Marco Bortolato and National Institutes of Health Grant R01MH104603 awarded to Marco Bortolato.