Proactive and Reactive Aggression in a Child Psychiatric Inpatient Population

Abstract

This study examined relations between proactive and reactive aggression and indicators of antisocial behavior (callous/unemotional traits and behavioral consequences) and negative affect (depression and suicidal behavior) in a sample of 105 children admitted to an acute child psychiatric inpatient unit. The majority of the children were male (69%) and ranged from 6 to 12 years of age (M = 9.61, SD = 1.83). Multiple regression analyses revealed that proactive aggression was a unique predictor of antisocial behavior but was not significantly related to negative affect. In contrast, reactive aggression was uniquely positively related to negative affect but unrelated to indicators of antisocial behavior. Findings support unique correlates for proactive and reactive aggression.