Parental Perceptions of Aggressive Behavior in Preschoolers: Inhibitory Control Moderates the Association With Negative Emotionality

Abstract

Inhibitory control (IC) and negative emotionality (NE) are both linked to aggressive behavior, but their interplay has not yet been clarified. This study examines different NE × IC interaction models in relation to aggressive behavior in 855 preschoolers (aged 2-5 years) using parental questionnaires. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that NE and IC predict aggression both directly and interactively. The highest aggression levels were reported in children with high NE and low IC. Interestingly, the protective effect of IC for aggressive behavior increases with rising levels of NE. Analyses focusing on physical aggression revealed a significant NE × IC interaction in boys aged 4-5 years only. These findings shed new light on potential compensatory mechanisms for aggressive behavior in developing children.

Pediatric Irritability: A Systems Neuroscience Approach

“…These include the ability to withhold a pre-potent response, use working memory to deploy behavior flexibly in complex scenarios, or register and change stimulus-response mappings after making an error. In fact, an extensive literature links pediatric aggression to these and other components of cognitive control [55–58]. While these studies generally do not differentiate reactive from proactive aggression, one study did find a specific association between reactive aggression and deficits in sustained attention and set-shifting [59].…”

Prenatal risk and physical aggression during the first years of life: The gender‐specific role of inhibitory control

“…Specifically, using maternal reports, Suurland et al. () found that a lack of inhibitory control was predictive of aggressive behavior during preschool, especially in children showing high negative temperamental reactivity. Utendale and Hastings () reported that lower maternally reported inhibitory control was related to more externalizing behavior observed during a play task with other children in 3‐ to 6‐year‐olds, and both Raaijmakers et al.…”

Parental Education and Aggressive Behavior in Children: A Moderated-Mediation Model for Inhibitory Control and Gender

“…For instance, Vuontela et al (2013) in a sample of children aged between 7 and 12 years, found that lower levels of inhibitory control were related to higher externalizing symptoms, as reported by their parents. Other studies with preschoolers (Raaijmakers et al, 2008; Suurland et al, 2016) have shown that higher levels of aggression were related to lower inhibitory control. These results are also consistent with the findings of other studies in adolescents.…”

“…Thus, lower levels of parental education are related to higher levels of aggressive behavior through lower inhibitory control, which is consistent with our second hypothesis. Inhibitory control has been demonstrated to be a moderator and mediator variable in a wide range of outcomes (Pardini et al, 2004; Runions and Keating, 2010; Merz et al, 2014; Suurland et al, 2016). However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study analyzing this mediation effect.…”

“…Finding a mediating role for inhibitory control in the link between parental education and aggression could open the door to a way of reducing such undesirable conduct in the offspring of less educated parents by, for instance, implementing training programs for inhibitory control. Although some studies have found inhibitory control to be a mediator and moderator variable between outcomes such as aggression and negative emotionality (Suurland et al, 2016), aggression and hostile attribution of intent (Runions and Keating, 2010) or between parental education and early literacy (Merz et al, 2014); to our knowledge, no studies have examined the role of inhibitory control as a mediator of the relation between parental education and aggression in children.…”