Links Between Stressful Life Events and Proactive and Reactive Functions of Aggression
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Issue Date
2017-06-01Author
Brown, Shaquanna
Fite, Paula J.
DiPierro, Moneika
Bortolato, Marco
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Recently, more attention has been devoted to understanding how stressful life events might relate to proactive and reactive aggression. Findings suggest that stressful life events are more strongly linked to reactive, than proactive, aggression; however, it is unclear whether the impact of stressful life events on proactive and reactive aggression might vary as a function of the level of exposure to or type of stressful life event. The current study examined how level of exposure to stressful life events (i.e., witnessed, experienced, and learned about) and stressful life event types (i.e., war zone exposure, sexual victimization, interpersonal violence, and other trauma exposure) related to proactive and reactive aggression. The sample was comprised of 500 undergraduate students (M = 18.96, SD = 1.22, 49.6% male) recruited from a Midwestern university. Findings indicated that all three levels of stressful life event exposure (i.e., experienced, witnesses, and learned) were associated with reactive aggression; however, only witnessed stressful life events were associated with proactive aggression. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.
Description
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma on June 01, 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10926771.2017.1322658.
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Citation
Brown, S., Fite, P. J., DiPierro, M., & Bortolato, M. (2017). Links between stressful life events and proactive and reactive functions of aggression. Journal of aggression, maltreatment & trauma, 26(6), 691–699. doi:10.1080/10926771.2017.1322658
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