Emotional competence and aggressive behavior in school-age children

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology,  Feb, 2003  by Amy M. Bohnert,  Keith A. Crnic,  Karen G. Lim

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INTRODUCTION

Recently, there has been much theorizing about the links between emotional competence and externalizing psychopathology, particularly aggressive behavior (e.g., Cole, Michel, & Teti, 1994; Cole & Zahn-Waxler, 1990; Dodge & Garber, 1991). Emotional competence is a complex phenomenon consisting of a number of distinct, yet interrelated component skills including emotion appraisal, emotion expression, and emotion understanding (Saarni, 1990, 1999). The purpose of this study was to explore individual differences among school-age children in emotion appraisal, expression, understanding (i.e., emotional competence) as a function of their aggressive behavior.

Emotion Appraisal

Cognitive models of emotion suggest that appraisals of events, in contrast to the event itself, are more important in determining emotion (e.g., Lazarus, 1991). Social information processing work examining appraisal strategies suggests that children with aggressive behavior more often make errors interpreting intent in ambiguous social situations and attend selectively to hostile social cues than do their nonaggressive peers (e.g., Crick & Dodge, 1994). A recently modified version of the social information processing model (Lemerise & Arsenio, 2000) highlights both the role of emotion and the integration of affect and cognition to explain individual differences in children's social development.

The functionalist approach to emotion suggests that emotions represent an attempt by an individual to "establish, maintain, change or terminate the relation between the person and the environment on matters of significance to the person" (Campos, Mumme, Kermoian, & Campos, 1994, p. 285). Anger is experienced when there is an undesirable situation in which an action is warranted to remove an obstacle in order to obtain a goal (Barrett & Campos, 1987; Levine, 1995). Children are more likely to report anger when they have appraised both the presence of an aversive outcome and the possibility of goal reinstatement. Although appraisal of hostile intent has not been identified as a predictor of anger (Levine, 1995), it is significantly related to aggressive behavior (e.g., Crick & Dodge, 1994). In the present investigation, it was expected that children who were rated as more aggressive would tend to make systematic distortions in terms of how they appraise emotion. Specifically, it was anticipated that they would more frequently endorse appraisals associated with anger (e.g., aversive outcome, possibility of goal reinstatement, and hostile intent).

Emotion Expression

The control, modification, and management of emotional reactivity and expressivity are important components of emotional competence. The complex interplay between emotion and behavior suggests that children might be less prone to aggressive outbursts if they are successful at managing their emotions and expressions than if they are unsuccessful at doing so (Eisenberg et al., 1996; Eisenberg, Fabes, Nyman, Bemzweig, & Pinuelas, 1994). Young children with aggressive symptoms exhibit different patterns of emotion expression, particularly with respect to anger. Toddlers at high risk for aggressive behavior exhibit more negative affect during a series of challenge episodes than do those at low risk for aggressive behavior (Calkins & Dedmon, 2000). In a study examining the emotional displays of preschool children in the context of naturally observed aggressive behavior, expressions of anger independent of aggressive acts and expressions of happiness while behaving aggressively were associated with higher levels of aggressive behavior (Arsenio, Cooperman, & Lover, 2000). In one of the few studies to include school-age children, aggressive symptoms were associated with decreased ability to verbally express negative feelings, exhibit empathy towards others, and display a range of emotion (Shields & Cicchetti, 1998).

Evidence suggests that there are important differences in the way in which girls and boys express emotions (e.g., Brody & Hall, 1993). These gender differences often vary depending on the situational demands. In response to losing a game to a peer, school-age girls exhibit sadness for a longer duration than do boys (Underwood, Hurley, Johanson, & Mosley, 1999). However, when presented with a disappointing prize, girls are more likely than boys to minimize expression of negative emotions, such as anger and disappointment, and exaggerate positive emotional expressions (Cole, 1986). Furthermore, girls who are at risk for behavior problems minimize negative emotions more frequently than low-risk girls (Cole, Zahn Waxier, & Smith, 1994). In the current investigation, the effects of gender on emotion expression were examined to determine whether there were gender differences in expression and whether the relation between emotion expression and aggressive behavior would depend upon the children's gender.

In this study, emotion expression was evaluated by examining children's facial and bodily expressions of emotion in response to a disappointment. In addition, children's ability to modulate the expression of emotion, particularly anger, was assessed by obtaining mothers' reports of children's expressions. It was expected that children who were rated as more aggressive would exhibit less modulated expressions of anger as reported by mothers and observed during the disappointment paradigm.