The Relationship Between Executive Functions, Anger Regulation, and Aggressive Behaviors in Adolescence

The present study examines how anger and hostile rumination mediate the association between executive functions and aggressive behaviors in adolescence. Pursuing this goal may lead to a better understanding of self-regulation-related processes in adolescence, which in turn could advance researchers’ knowledge of key targets for prevention and early intervention strategies seeking to thwart the adolescent onset of behavioral and mental health issues. Participants (N=104; 47% females) were from Rome and were part of the ongoing Parenting Across Cultures study (PAC; e.g., Lansford et al., 2014). In order to evaluate the construct of executive functions (at age 11), a composite score that capitalized on the children’s score on digit span, verbal fluency, and working memories (three tasks in a computerized battery) were considered (Steinberg, 2009). Irritability (at age 12) was assessed with the correspondent scale from the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (Capaldi & Rothbart, 1992). The tendency to ruminate (at age 12) was assessed via the Hostile Rumination Scale (Caprara, 1986). Aggressive behaviors (at age 10 and 13) were assessed via the YSR and the CBCL (Achenbach, 1991). Data were analyzed using path analysis. Findings show the mediating role of anger and hostile rumination in the association between executive functions and aggressive behaviors. These result held controlling for the stability of the outcome and SES. The generalizability of these results to other cultural contexts will be also examined on further PAC data, correspondent to the aforementioned ones, from another Italian site (Naples), from three ethnic groups from US, and from Colombia