Lam Bess Y H, Raine Adrian, Fung Annis L C, Gao Yu, Lee Tatia M C
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2020 Apr 21;11:636. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00636. eCollection 2020.
Previous studies have shown that the impairment of executive function is positively related to aggression in children and adolescents. What is worth investigating is the moderator of such a relationship so that aggressive behavior can be reduced effectively in those who have executive function problems. The present study examined the association between executive function and two major subtypes of aggression (proactive and reactive aggression) and whether their caregivers' grit (perseverance) moderated such relationship.
Executive function and reactive and proactive aggression were assessed in 254 children and adolescents aged 8-19 years old, and their caregivers' grit was measured.
Results show that caregivers' grit plays a significant role in moderating the relationship between children's executive function and proactive aggression after controlling for the covariates including the children's age, gender, and family income. Specifically, children's executive function became more negatively associated with proactive aggression when caregivers' grit was high while the association was positive when it was low. On the other hand, the association between children's executive function and reactive aggression did not vary across different levels of caregivers' grit.
These findings suggest that proactive aggression may be reduced in those who have better executive function by enhancing their caregivers' grit, which inform the design of interventions in adjunct with the current approach (e.g., executive function training) to reduce aggression in children and adolescents in the community.
以往研究表明，执行功能障碍与儿童及青少年的攻击行为呈正相关。值得探究的是这种关系的调节因素，以便能有效减少那些存在执行功能问题者的攻击行为。本研究考察了执行功能与两种主要攻击亚型（主动性攻击和反应性攻击）之间的关联，以及他们的照料者的毅力是否调节了这种关系。
对254名8至19岁的儿童及青少年进行了执行功能、反应性攻击和主动性攻击的评估，并测量了他们照料者的毅力。
结果显示，在控制了包括儿童年龄、性别和家庭收入等协变量后，照料者的毅力在调节儿童执行功能与主动性攻击之间的关系中发挥了显著作用。具体而言，当照料者的毅力较高时，儿童的执行功能与主动性攻击的负相关更强，而当照料者的毅力较低时，这种关联则为正相关。另一方面，儿童执行功能与反应性攻击之间的关联在照料者不同水平的毅力下并无差异。
这些发现表明，对于执行功能较好的个体，可通过增强其照料者的毅力来减少主动性攻击，这为结合当前方法（如执行功能训练）设计干预措施以减少社区中儿童及青少年的攻击行为提供了依据。
