De rol van executieve functies in het uiten van agressief gedrag

Aggression is a phenomenon which is seen more and more in society. Therefore, it is important to research this phenomenon more actively. Aggression has a big influence on the future prospects of a child. It has been suggested that less developed executive functions are related to more aggressive behavior. This study examines whether there is a difference in executive functioning in children with a disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) compared to typically developing children. In addition, it is examined if there is a relation between executive functions and proactive aggression and reactive aggression. The DBD group consisted of 37 boys aged 8 to 12 years (M =9.57) and the control group consisted of 42 boys aged 8 to 12 years (M = 9.64). Two questionnaires were used, the BRIEF (Smidts, & Huizinga, 2009) for executive functioning and the IRPA (Polman & Orobio de Castro, 2008) for proactive and reactive aggression. The DBD-group scored significantly lower on all the executive functions...Show moreAggression is a phenomenon which is seen more and more in society. Therefore, it is important to research this phenomenon more actively. Aggression has a big influence on the future prospects of a child. It has been suggested that less developed executive functions are related to more aggressive behavior. This study examines whether there is a difference in executive functioning in children with a disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) compared to typically developing children. In addition, it is examined if there is a relation between executive functions and proactive aggression and reactive aggression. The DBD group consisted of 37 boys aged 8 to 12 years (M =9.57) and the control group consisted of 42 boys aged 8 to 12 years (M = 9.64). Two questionnaires were used, the BRIEF (Smidts, & Huizinga, 2009) for executive functioning and the IRPA (Polman & Orobio de Castro, 2008) for proactive and reactive aggression. The DBD-group scored significantly lower on all the executive functions than the control group. Correlation analyses on the parental questionnaires indicated a positive relationship within the DBD group between inhibition skills and reactive aggression. An explanation for these results is that children with DBD struggle to resist their impulses and emotion regulation, tend to respons aggressively to frustrations. Moreover, a negative correlation was found within the DBD-group between emotion regulation and proactive aggression. By examining these relationships further treatment can be aimed at specific executive functioning deficits for the different forms of aggression. This could help negate future behavioral problems with these children.Show less

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De rol van executieve functies in het uiten van agressief gedrag