Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Emotional Competence and Aggressive Behavior in School-Age Children

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Examined emotional competence in 87 children, aged 7–10 years, who varied with respect to reports of aggressive behavior to determine whether individual differences in emotional competence characterize children with higher levels of aggressive behavior. Emotional competence was assessed during a 1-hr lab visit that included (a) an observational period consisting of a modified disappointment paradigm, (b) assessment of cognitive and language abilities, and (c) 2 structured emotion interviews. Children with higher levels of aggressive behavior exhibited more intense and frequent expressions of anger, both as reported by mothers and as observed during the disappointment paradigm. Less sophisticated ability to identify the causes of emotion also characterized children with higher levels of aggressive behavior. Gender moderated the relation between aggressive behavior and type of emotion identified such that reports of happiness (in response to receiving a disappointing prize) were associated with lower levels of reported aggressive behavior for boys. The value of assessing children's emotional competence in the context of an emotionally arousing situation is suggested by these findings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4–18 and 1991 Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arsenio, W., Cooperman, S., & Lover, A. (2000). Affective predictors of preschoolers' aggression and peer acceptance: Direct and indirect effects. Developmental Psychology, 36, 438-448.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, K., & Campos, J. (1987). Perspectives on emotional development: A functionalist approach to emotions. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beilke, R., Kusche, C., & Greenberg, M. (1989). The Kusche Affective Interview: Revised. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Washington.

  • Bird, H., Gould, M., & Staghezza, B. (1993). Patterns of diagnostic comorbidity in a community sample of children aged 9 through 16 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 361-368.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brody, L., & Hall, J. (1993). Gender and emotion. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 447-460). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buck, R. (1977). Nonverbal communication accuracy in preschool children: Relationships with personality and skin conductance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 225-236.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calkins, S., & Dedmon, S. (2000). Physiological and behavioral regulation in two-year-old children with aggressive/destructive behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 103-118.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campos, J., Mumme, D., Kermoian, R., & Campos, R. G. (1994). A functionalist perspective on the nature of emotion. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59(2–3, Serial No. 240), 284-303.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, J., & Steward, M. (1984). The role of cognitive development in children's understanding of their own feelings. Child Development, 55, 1486-1492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casey, R. (1996). Emotional competence in children with externalizing and internalizing disorders. In M. Lewis & M. Sullivan (Eds.), Emotional development in atypical children (pp. 161-184). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casey, R., & Schlosser, S. (1994). Emotional responses to peer praise in children with and without a diagnosed externalizing disorders. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 40, 60-81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, P. (1986). Children's spontaneous expressive control of facial expression. Child Development, 57, 1309-1321.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, P., Michel, M., & Teti, L. (1994). The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation: A clinical perspective. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59(2–3, Serial No. 240).

  • Cole, P., Usher, B., & Cargo, A. (1993). Cognitive risk and its association with risk for disruptive behavior disorder in preschoolers. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 22, 154-164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, P., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (1990). Developmental perspectives on depression. In D. Cicchetti & S. Toth (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology (Vol. 4, pp. 173-209). Rochester, MN: University of Rochester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, P., Zahn-Waxler, C., & Smith, D. (1994). Expressive control during a disappointment: Variations related to preschoolers' behavior problems. Developmental Psychology, 30, 835-846.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, E., Greenberg, M., & Kusche, C. (1994). The relations between emotional understanding, intellectual functioning, and disruptive behavior problems in elementary school-aged children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 22, 205-219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74-101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K., & Garber, J. (1991). Domains of emotion regulation. In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 3-11). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K., & Somberg, D. (1987). Hostile attributional biases among aggressive boys are exacerbated under conditions of threats to the self. Child Development, 58, 213-224.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, S., & Westerman, M. (1986). Development of children's understanding of ambivalence and causal theories of emotions. Developmental Psychology, 22, 655-662.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R., Guthrie, I., Murphy, B., Maszk, P., Holmgren, R., et al. (1996). The relations of regulation and emotionality to problem behavior in elementary school children. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 141-162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R., Nyman, M., Bernzweig, J., & Pinuelas, A. (1994). The relations of emotionality and regulation to children's anger-related reactions. Child Development, 65, 109-128.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erdley, C. A., & Asher, S. (1996). Children's social goals and self-efficacy perceptions as influences on their responses to ambiguous provocation. Child Development, 67, 1329-1344.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garber, J., Braafladt, N., & Zeman, J. (1991). The regulation of sad affect: An information-processing perspective. In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 208-240). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, M., Kusche, C., Cook, E., & Quamma, J. (1995). Promoting emotional competence in school-aged children: The effects of the PATHS curriculum. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 117-136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, P. (1983). Children's understanding of the link between situation and emotion. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 36, 490-509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, P. (1993). Understanding emotion. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 237-246). New York: Guilford, Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, P., Olthof, T., & Meerum Terwogt, M. (1981). Children's knowledge of emotion. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 22(3), 347-261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinshaw, S. (1992). Externalizing behavior problems and academic underachievement in childhood and adolescence: Causal relationships and underlying mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 127-155.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klaczynski, P. A., & Cummings, E. M. (1989). Responding to anger in aggressive and nonaggressive boys: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 309-314.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemerise, E., & Arsenio, W. (2000). An integrated model of emotion processes and cognition in social information processing. Child Development, 71, 107-118.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, L. (1995). Young children's understanding of the causes of anger and sadness. Developmental Psychology, 66, 697-709.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, D. A. (1972). Manual for the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nannis, E., & Cowan, P. (1987). Emotional understanding: A matter of age, dimension, and point of view. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 8, 289-304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, W., & Strayer, J. (1996). Empathy, emotional expressiveness, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 67, 449-470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saarni, C. (1984). An observational study of children's attempts to monitor their expressive behavior. Child Development, 55, 1504-1513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saarni, C. (1990). Emotional competence: How emotions and relationships become integrated. In R. A. Thompson (Ed.), Socio-emotional development at Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1988 (pp. 115-182). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saarni, C. (1999). The development of emotional competence. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sattler, J. M. (1992). Assessment of children (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savitsky, J., & Czyzewski, D. (1978). The reaction of adolescent offenders and nonoffenders to nonverbal emotional displays. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, 89-96.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Selman, R. L. (1981). What children understand of the intrapsychic processes. In E. K. Shapiro & E. Weber (Eds.), Cognitive and affective growth (pp. 187-215). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (1998). Reactive aggression among maltreated children: The contributions of attention and emotion dysregulation. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 381-395.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trabasso, T., Stein, N., & Johnson, L. (1981). Children's knowledge of events: A causal analysis of story structure. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 15, pp. 237-282). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, M. K. (1997). Peer social status and children's understanding of the expression and control of positive and negative emotions. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 43, 610-634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, M. K., Hurley, J. C., Johanson, C. A., & Mosley, J. (1999). An experimental, observational investigation of children's responses to peer provocation: Developmental and gender differences in middle childhood. Child Development, 70, 1428-1446.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1991). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wintre, M., & Vallance, D. (1994). A developmental sequence in the comprehension of emotions: Intensity, multiple emotions, and valence. Developmental Psychology, 30, 509-514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahn-Waxler, C., Cole, P., Richardson, D., Friedman, R., Michel, M., & Belouad, F. (1994). Social problem solving in disruptive preschool children: Reactions to hypothetical situations of conflict and distress. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 40, 98-119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahn-Waxler, C., Friedman, R., Cole, P., Mizuta, I., & Hiruma, N. (1996). Japanese and United States preschool children's responses to conflict and distress. Child Development, 67, 2462-2477.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania

    Amy M. Bohnert, Keith A. Crnic & Karen G. Lim

Authors
  1. Amy M. Bohnert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Keith A. Crnic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karen G. Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bohnert, A.M., Crnic, K.A. & Lim, K.G. Emotional Competence and Aggressive Behavior in School-Age Children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 31, 79–91 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021725400321

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021725400321

Search

Navigation