A Model of Aggressive Behavior: Early Adversity, Impulsivity, and Response Inhibition

ABSTRACT

Exposure to adverse environments during childhood is robustly linked to future aggressive behavior. In this study we tested a model of emotional and neurocognitive mechanisms related to aggressive behavior in the context of childhood adversity. More specifically, we used path analysis to assess the distal contribution of childhood adversity and the more proximal contributions of emotion-related and non-emotion-related forms of impulsivity, and behavioral response inhibition to aggressive behavior. Participants were 180 undergraduates who completed well-validated self-report measures and an emotional version of the Go/No-Go task. The structural equation model was a poor fit for the data (χ²(3) = 23.023, p<. 001; RMR = .131; CFI = .682; RMSEA = .142), though several significant paths emerged. Childhood adversity, emotion-related impulsivity, and behavioral response inhibition displayed direct effects on aggression, collectively accounting for 16.3% of variance. Findings demonstrate the specificity of emotional subtypes of impulsivity in linking childhood adversity and aggression. This study extends work on pathways to aggressive behavior by illustrating the complex relationships of early environmental, cognitive, and emotional mechanisms related to aggression.

KEYWORDS:

• Aggression
• adversity
• impulsivity
• response inhibition
• emotion

Disclosure of Interest

Authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board at the University of Miami and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

Notes

¹ McLaughlin’s (2016) model specifies unique pathways between types of adversity, distinct manifestations of emotional processing and executive functioning, and different forms of psychopathology. We do not test this full model, but rather are guided by this framework in considering how adversity gives rise to certain emotional and cognitive deficits, which in turn contribute to aggression.

² To ensure that the associations between the Three-Factor impulsivity index and the BAQ were not artificially inflated due to construct overlap, we purged 3 items from the BAQ Anger scale, and one from the Three-Factor impulsivity scale (“In the heat of an argument, I will often say things that I later regret”) then re-estimated bivariate correlations. Correlations between the BAQ and factors of emotion-relevant impulsivity were slightly attenuated, as expected (rBAQ with Pervasive Influence of Feelings = .326, rBAQ with Feelings Trigger Action =.279). Both emotion-related impulsivity scales remained significantly correlated with the BAQ (p < .001), and there were no significant differences in the magnitudes of the correlations after excluding these items (all p’s > .17).”

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by seed funds associated with a University of Miami Distinguished Professorship. This work was also supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [1R01MH110477].