TY - JOUR
T1 - Relational Aggression in Adolescents with Conduct Disorder
T2 - Sex Differences and Behavioral Correlates
AU - Ackermann, Katharina
AU - Kirchner, Marietta
AU - Bernhard, Anka
AU - Martinelli, Anne
AU - Anomitri, Chrysanthi
AU - Baker, Rosalind
AU - Baumann, Sarah
AU - Dochnal, Roberta
AU - Fernandez-Rivas, Aranzazu
AU - Gonzalez-Madruga, Karen
AU - Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate
AU - Hervas, Amaia
AU - Jansen, Lucres
AU - Kapornai, Kristina
AU - Kersten, Linda
AU - Kohls, Gregor
AU - Limprecht, Ronald
AU - Lazaratou, Helen
AU - McLaughlin, Ana
AU - Oldenhof, Helena
AU - Rogers, Jack C.
AU - Siklósi, Réka
AU - Smaragdi, Areti
AU - Vivanco-Gonzalez, Esther
AU - Stadler, Christina
AU - Fairchild, Graeme
AU - Popma, Arne
AU - De Brito, Stephane A.
AU - Konrad, Kerstin
AU - Freitag, Christine M.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - As most research on conduct disorder (CD) has been conducted on male participants, it has been suggested that female-specific symptoms may be underestimated based on current DSM-5 criteria. In particular, relational aggression, i.e. the hurtful, often indirect, manipulation of relationships with the intention of damaging the other’s social position, has been proposed as a characteristic of CD that is more common in females. In addition, sex-specific studies on correlates of relational aggressive behavior are lacking. Relational aggression may be strongly related to the correlates of proactive aggression, namely low affective empathy, and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and relational victimization. Thus, the present study investigated sex differences in relational aggression, and associations between relational aggression and correlates of proactive aggression in 662 adolescents with CD (403 females) and 849 typically-developing controls (568 females) aged 9–18 years (M = 14.74, SD = 2.34) from the European multi-site FemNAT-CD study. Females with CD showed significantly higher levels of relational aggression compared to males with CD, whereas no sex differences were seen in controls. Relational aggression was only partly related to correlates of proactive aggression in CD: Independent of sex, CU traits showed a positive association with relational aggression. In females only, cognitive, but not affective empathy, was negatively associated with relational aggression. Relational victimization was more strongly associated with relational aggression in males compared to females. Despite interesting sex specific correlates of relational aggression, effects are small and the potential clinical implications should be investigated in future studies.
AB - As most research on conduct disorder (CD) has been conducted on male participants, it has been suggested that female-specific symptoms may be underestimated based on current DSM-5 criteria. In particular, relational aggression, i.e. the hurtful, often indirect, manipulation of relationships with the intention of damaging the other’s social position, has been proposed as a characteristic of CD that is more common in females. In addition, sex-specific studies on correlates of relational aggressive behavior are lacking. Relational aggression may be strongly related to the correlates of proactive aggression, namely low affective empathy, and high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and relational victimization. Thus, the present study investigated sex differences in relational aggression, and associations between relational aggression and correlates of proactive aggression in 662 adolescents with CD (403 females) and 849 typically-developing controls (568 females) aged 9–18 years (M = 14.74, SD = 2.34) from the European multi-site FemNAT-CD study. Females with CD showed significantly higher levels of relational aggression compared to males with CD, whereas no sex differences were seen in controls. Relational aggression was only partly related to correlates of proactive aggression in CD: Independent of sex, CU traits showed a positive association with relational aggression. In females only, cognitive, but not affective empathy, was negatively associated with relational aggression. Relational victimization was more strongly associated with relational aggression in males compared to females. Despite interesting sex specific correlates of relational aggression, effects are small and the potential clinical implications should be investigated in future studies.
KW - Callous-unemotional traits
KW - Conduct disorder
KW - Empathy
KW - Relational aggression
KW - Relational victimization
KW - Sex differences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064498214&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10802-019-00541-6
DO - 10.1007/s10802-019-00541-6
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064498214
SN - 0091-0627
VL - 47
SP - 1625
EP - 1637
JO - Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
IS - 10
ER -
