Brief report: Associations between adolescent girls' social–emotional intelligence and violence perpetration

Abstract

This study examined associations between social emotional intelligence (SEI) and two measures of violence perpetration (relational aggression and physical violence) in a cross-sectional sample of high-risk adolescent girls (N = 253). We evaluated three aspects of SEI: stress management, intrapersonal, and interpersonal skills. Results of a multiple linear regression model accounting for participants’ age, race/ethnicity, and experiences of relational aggression victimization indicated that girls with better stress management skills were less likely to perpetrate relational aggression. A parallel model for perpetration of physical violence showed a similar pattern of results. Study findings suggest that SEI, and stress management skills in particular, may protect adolescent girls – including those who have been victims of violence – from perpetrating relational aggression and physical violence. Interventions that build adolescent girls’ social and emotional skills may be an effective strategy for reducing their perpetration of violence.

Association between intelligence quotient and violence perpetration in the English general population

“…Interestingly, Gower et al . conducted similar analyses in a sample of 253 adolescent girls, and discovered that the odds of violence perpetration might be reduced in participants with social emotional intelligence and stress management skills (Gower et al ., 2014). Taking these results together, it is likely that there is a causal relationship between cognitive ability and violence.…”

“…There has recently been a growing interest on intelligence or cognitive ability as a risk factor for violence perpetration. For example, individuals with low cognitive ability are at a particularly high risk for crime perpetration (Stattin and Klackenberg-Larsson, 1993; Fergusson et al ., 2005; Guay et al ., 2005; Bartels et al ., 2010; Bellair and McNulty, 2010; Diamond et al ., 2012; Frisell et al ., 2012; Yun and Lee, 2013; de Tribolet-Hardy et al ., 2014; Gower et al ., 2014). Low cognitive ability may be associated with violence perpetration via low school performance, low job performance, lack of anticipation, and lack of empathy.…”

“…Although previous studies focusing on the relationship between IQ and violence perpetration have advanced the field, there are some major limitations that should be mentioned. First, most of them only included small numbers of participants (Guay et al ., 2005; de Tribolet-Hardy et al ., 2014; Gower et al ., 2014) and were conducted among adolescents (Bellair and McNulty, 2010; Gower et al ., 2014) or inmates (Guay et al ., 2005; Diamond et al ., 2012), and only a few used nationally representative data (Bellair and McNulty, 2010; Frisell et al ., 2012). Second, previous studies have rarely adjusted for key factors such as psychiatric morbidity leaving room for residual confounding.…”

Relationships Between Mental Health, Skill Sets, and Violence Perpetration Among Adolescent Girls

“…Examining the impact of these skills among youth from high-risk social contexts, Polan and colleagues (2013) found that young teens with greater stress management skills reported lower levels of involvement in both relational aggression and physical violence. Gower and colleagues (2014) examined associations between social-emotional skills and perpetration of relational aggression and physical violence among adolescent girls from high-risk urban contexts. Similar to findings with young teens, greater stress management skills were associated with lower levels of instigating both relational aggression and physical violence.…”

“…Individual-level factors that may buffer girls from violence involvement include strong social-emotional skills, particularly stress management skills (Gower et al, 2014). Jagers, Sydnor, Mouttapa, and Flay (2007) found that girls who had high levels of fight avoidance self-efficacy were less likely to be involved in violent behavior.…”