Anger and aggression in early adolescence: The influence of hormones and social context.

Two studies collected self-report data on anger and aggression as part of a longitudinal project relating hormones, moods and behavior in early adolescents. Social context's effect on sex differences in anger and aggression and the association between hormones and anger/impatience and aggression were examined. Study I investigated sex differences in children's responses to anger in various social contexts. Forty boys (ages 11-12) and 37 girls (ages 9-10) were compared on: memory of an angry episode; response to anger at a parent, sibling, and friend; response to same- and opposite-sex peer provocation; and feelings about past anger and verbal aggression. Predominantly, nonaggressive strategies were reported with the exception of significantly more physical aggression reported toward siblings. Children reported more verbal than physical aggression. Parent-child conflict was reported most frequently on the free recall task; the children coped nonaggressively in these conflicts. Males reported more aggression than did females both when angry at a friend and in response to same-sex peer provocation but not in response to opposite-sex peer provocation. Males' physical aggression scores declined significantly from same- to opposite-sex peer contexts. Feelings of anxiety and justification about past anger and verbal aggression were similar across the sexes. Study II investigated the association between salivary testosterone and progesterone, and urinary follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, and anger/impatience and aggression. Children participated for 4 weeks (3 days/week) of daily collection of hormones and nightly self-report of anger/impatience and aggression. Contrary to prediction, the 24 females and 20 males did not differ in anger/impatience or aggression; both factors were stable over time. Fluctuation in testosterone values (st and ard deviation of testosterone concentration in saliva over the 4 weeks) was positively related to anger/impatience and aggression. In contrast, the mean testosterone concentration was negatively related to mean anger/impatience with impatience being most strongly associated with testosterone. Other hormone-behavior associations include a positive association between urinary concentrations of mean follicle stimulating hormone and impatience in both males and females, and in females, mean progesterone concentrations were positively associated (p $<$.07) with anger/impatience and aggression.PhDClinical psychologyDevelopmental psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161985/1/8821665.pd