Aggression Profiles in the Spanish Child Population: Differences in Perfectionism, School Refusal and Affect

María Vicent, Cándido J. Inglés, Ricardo Sanmartín, Carolina Gonzálvez, José Manuel García-Fernández

The aim of this study was to identify the existence of combinations of aggression components (Anger, Hostility, Physical Aggression and Verbal Aggression) that result in different profiles of aggressive behavior in children, as well as to test the differences between these profiles in scores of perfectionism, school refusal and affect. It is interesting to analyze these variables given: (a) their clinical relevance due to their close relationship with the overall psychopathology; and (b) the need for further evidence regarding how they are associated with aggressive behavior. The sample consisted of 1202 Spanish primary education students between the ages of 8 and 12. Three aggressive behavior profiles for children were identified using Latent Class Analysis (LCA):High Aggression(Zscores between 0.69 and 0.7),Moderate Aggression(Zscores between -0.39 and -0.47) andLow Aggression(Zscores between -1.36 and -1.58). These profiles were found for 49.08%, 38.46% and 12.48% of the sample, respectively.High Aggressionscored significantly higher thanModerate AggressionandLow Aggressionon Socially Prescribed Perfectionism (SPP), Self-Oriented Perfectionism (SOP), the first three factors of school refusal (i.e., FI. Negative Affective, FII. Social Aversion and/or Evaluation, FIII. To Pursue Attention), and Negative Affect (NA). In addition,Moderate Aggressionalso reported significantly higher scores thanLow Aggressionfor the three first factors of school refusal and NA. Conversely,Low Aggressionhad significantly higher mean scores thanHigh AggressionandModerate Aggressionon Positive Affect (PA). Results demonstrate thatHigh Aggressionwas the most maladaptive profile having a high risk of psychological vulnerability. Aggression prevention programs should be sure to include strategies to overcome psychological problems that characterize children manifesting high levels of aggressive behavior.