The aggressive child

Abstract

Aggression in children is a common transdiagnostic symptom associated with a wide range of developmental and mental health problems. It emerges early and without intervention, may increase in severity as the child grows stronger. Aggressive children are more likely to experience physical and mental illness, unemployment, poverty and forensic problems as adults. Strategies to prevent aggression must address risk factors: low maternal education, adolescent pregnancy, in utero exposure to tobacco and alcohol, poverty, coercive parenting, childhood maltreatment and bullying victimisation. The aggressive child requires a comprehensive assessment to identify and manage underlying or comorbid problems, to understand the reasons for the aggressive behaviour and to detect modifiable factors that exacerbate or perpetuate the aggression. Psychosocial interventions include parenting skills training and child‐directed cognitive behavioural therapy, whereas pharmacotherapy may be used to treat underlying developmental or mental health problems or to manage the aggression.

Differential Susceptibility or Diathesis-Stress: Testing the Moderating Role of Temperament and Cortisol Levels between Fathers’ Parenting and Children’s Aggressive Behavior

“…Aggressive behavior is a multidimensional phenomenon involving numerous physical, emotional, cognitive and social factors [1]. Children's aggressive behavior is a social problem, which is causing increasing concern both in society in general and in relation to public health [2]. Moreover, extreme forms of aggression are one of the main causes of death and the WHO [3] declared that by 2030 it may take more lives than very prevalent diseases.…”

“…That is why prevention of aggression is very important at early stages of life. As Scott et al [2] point out in their review, aggressive behavior should be approached from a biopsychosocial perspective, with special attention being paid to those factors that may predict it during early development phases, with the aim of avoiding negative consequences later on.…”

The Moderating Role of Surgency, Behavioral Inhibition, Negative Emotionality and Effortful Control in the Relationship between Parenting Style and Children’s Reactive and Proactive Aggression

“…Aggressive behavior is viewed as a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon [ 1 ] rooted in the interaction of prenatal factors, characteristics associated with the individual characteristics of the child (genetic, physiological and psychological) and various aspects of the social environment [ 2 ].…”

Monitoring of metabolic side-effects in children and adolescents prescribed antipsychotic medication: A systematic review

“…The prescription of antipsychotic medication to children and adolescents has increased in recent years for both approved indications and off-label prescribing (Kaguelidou et al, 2020). Off-label prescribing commonly occurs for the management of mood disorders, disruptive behavioural disorders and autism spectrum disorders (Hollingworth et al, 2013;Morrison et al, 2013;Scott et al, 2018). While there has been a concerted effort to reduce the risk of Monitoring of metabolic side-effects in children and adolescents prescribed antipsychotic medication: A systematic review cardiometabolic adverse effects arising from antipsychotic medication in adults (Melamed et al, 2019), metabolic monitoring in children has received relatively less attention.…”