An assessment of hostility in a population of adolescents.

In the course of an epidemiological survey of adolescents, the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire was administered to 6,709 persons aged 13 to 18 years, representing 89% of secondary school students in Hobart, Tasmania. Extrapunitiveness was found to decrease substantially between the ages of 15 and 17 years in both sexes. Intropunitiveness also decreased, although to a lesser extent. Girls were less extrapunitive and more intropunitive than boys over the whole age range. These findings are discussed in relation to their clinical relevance and to the understanding of psychiatric disorder in adolescents.