Liu Jianghong, Yang Yi, Shi Haoer, Wong Keri Ka-Yee, Raine Adrian
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
University College London, London, UK.
Crim Behav Ment Health. 2025 Feb;35(1):41-50. doi: 10.1002/cbm.2368. Epub 2025 Jan 8.
Understanding changes in aggressive behaviour throughout child development is crucial for identifying effective intervention strategies. This study investigates children's aggressive behaviour in a longitudinal cohort and explores the role of environmental tobacco exposure and fish consumption as potential risk and protective factors, respectively, for persistent aggression in children.
This study involved 452 children from the Chinese Jintan Cohort. Aggressive behaviour was assessed at ages 6 and 12 years using the child behaviour checklist (CBCL) and the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), respectively. Information on lifestyle habits and living environment, including parental smoking, was collected via questionnaires. Linear regression was employed to investigate the association between childhood and adolescence aggressive behaviour with relevant covariates adjusted. Subsequently, we conducted interaction analyses to explore the moderating effects of parent smoking and fish consumption on the association.
We identified no significant association between childhood and adolescent aggression in the entire sample. Interaction analysis revealed environmental tobacco exposure as a moderator for the association. Specifically, persistent reactive and total aggression across development was only observed among those with environmental tobacco exposure (reactive: β = 0.549, p = 0.020; total: β = 0.654, p = 0.035). Furthermore, within the parent smoking subgroup, freshwater fish consumption at the age of 12 showed a marginally significant interaction with childhood aggression (reactive: p = 0.061; total: p = 0.095). A significant longitudinal association for aggression was found only among those consuming fish less frequently at the age of 12 years (reactive: β = 0.927, p = 0.002; total: β = 1.082, p = 0.006).
Our findings suggest exposure to environmental tobacco as a contributing factor to the lasting presence of aggressive behaviour during children's development, whereas freshwater fish consumption shows potential protective effects.
了解儿童发育过程中攻击性行为的变化对于确定有效的干预策略至关重要。本研究调查了一个纵向队列中儿童的攻击性行为，并分别探讨了环境烟草暴露和鱼类消费作为儿童持续性攻击行为的潜在风险因素和保护因素的作用。
本研究纳入了来自中国金坛队列的452名儿童。分别在6岁和12岁时使用儿童行为检查表（CBCL）和反应性-主动性攻击问卷（RPQ）评估攻击性行为。通过问卷收集生活方式习惯和生活环境信息，包括父母吸烟情况。采用线性回归分析儿童期和青春期攻击性行为与相关协变量调整后的关联。随后，我们进行了交互分析，以探讨父母吸烟和鱼类消费对该关联的调节作用。
我们在整个样本中未发现儿童期和青春期攻击行为之间存在显著关联。交互分析显示环境烟草暴露是该关联的调节因素。具体而言，仅在有环境烟草暴露的儿童中观察到整个发育过程中持续性的反应性攻击和总体攻击（反应性：β = 0.549，p = 0.020；总体：β = 0.654，p = 0.035）。此外，在父母吸烟亚组中，12岁时食用淡水鱼与儿童期攻击行为存在边缘显著的交互作用（反应性：p = 0.061；总体：p = 0.095）。仅在12岁时较少食用鱼类的儿童中发现攻击行为存在显著的纵向关联（反应性：β = 0.927，p = 0.002；总体：β = 1.082，p = 0.006）。
我们的研究结果表明，环境烟草暴露是儿童发育过程中攻击行为持续存在的一个促成因素，而食用淡水鱼显示出潜在的保护作用。
