Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.
Psychol Med. 2022 Jan;52(2):241-250. doi: 10.1017/S0033291720001877. Epub 2020 Jun 5.
A growing body of evidence suggests that child aggression is likely to be driven by multiple developmental pathways. However, little is known about the complex interactions between developmental trajectories of child psychological factors (such as anxiety, irritability, and hyperactivity/impulsivity dimensions) and their associations with aggression from childhood to adolescence. Therefore, the current study aimed to identify clusters of individuals with different developmental multi-trajectory, investigate their early risk factors, and describe their longitudinal associations with physical aggression.
The sample comprised 4898 children derived from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. A parallel process growth mixture model was used to identify developmental multi-trajectory groups at 5, 9 and 15 years old. Associations between multi-trajectory group membership and physical aggression were examined with Generalized Estimating Equations models. Finally, multinomial logistic regression was performed to assess perinatal and early risk factors for multi-trajectory groups.
Multi-trajectory groups differed in the magnitude of risk for exhibiting physical aggression, compared to typically developing children. The risk for physical aggression was the most prominent in children who were hyperactive/impulsive and irritable [odds ratio (OR) 6.47; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.44-7.70] and hyperactive/impulsive, irritable, and anxious (OR 7.68; CI 6.62-8.91). Furthermore, maternal cigarette and alcohol use during pregnancy and maternal depression consistently predicted multi-trajectory groups characterized by problematic levels of at least two co-occurrent psychological symptoms.
Identified combinations of developmental trajectories of psychological characteristics were associated with different magnitude in risk for exhibiting physical aggression. These results may highlight the heterogeneity of developmental trajectories associated with childhood aggression.
越来越多的证据表明，儿童攻击行为可能是由多种发展途径驱动的。然而，对于儿童心理因素（如焦虑、易怒和多动/冲动维度）的发展轨迹之间的复杂相互作用及其与从儿童期到青春期的攻击性的关联知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在确定具有不同发展多轨迹的个体群，研究其早期风险因素，并描述其与身体攻击的纵向关联。
该样本包括来自脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究的 4898 名儿童。使用平行过程增长混合模型来识别 5、9 和 15 岁时的发展多轨迹组。使用广义估计方程模型检查多轨迹组成员与身体攻击之间的关联。最后，进行多项逻辑回归以评估围产期和早期多轨迹组的风险因素。
与典型发育的儿童相比，多轨迹组在表现出身体攻击的风险程度上存在差异。具有多动/冲动和易怒特征的儿童（比值比[OR] 6.47；95%置信区间[CI] 5.44-7.70）和多动/冲动、易怒和焦虑（OR 7.68；CI 6.62-8.91）的身体攻击风险最为显著。此外，母亲在怀孕期间吸烟和饮酒以及母亲抑郁与表现出至少两种同时发生的心理症状的问题水平的多轨迹组一致相关。
确定的心理特征发展轨迹组合与表现出身体攻击的风险程度存在不同程度的关联。这些结果可能突出了与儿童攻击相关的发展轨迹的异质性。
