The development of aggressive behaviour during childhood: What have we learned in the past century?
Abstract
Research on human aggression has been a flourishing industry in the 20th century. As the attention shifted from an instinctual paradigm to a drive paradigm and a social learning paradigm, what have we learned on the development of aggressive behaviour during childhood? Are children born with an aggressive instinct or do they have to learn to aggress?This question has deep philosophical roots, but it also has important practical implications. Should interventions prevent children from learning to aggress or should they help children learn to inhibit aggressive reactions? Since most of the 20th century work on the development of aggression was concentrated on adolescents and elementary school age children, there appeared to be an implicit assumption that aggression is learned during these developmental periods. It is argued that to understand the origins of aggressive behaviour and prevent chronic cases of physical aggression we will need to focus on the development of aggressive behaviour during the first few years after birth, and differentiate among forms of aggressive behaviour. The form of agressive behaviour that is generally considered more “serious” or “socially unacceptable” (physical aggression) is clearly ontogenetically antecedent to less “serious” forms of aggressive behaviour, such as verbal aggression or indirect aggression. Furthermore, as a rule the frequency of physical aggression appears to decrease with age. However, infants’ physical aggression has generally not been considered developmentally significant. This is probably because of “the weakness of their limbs” and the apparent lack of “intentionality”. To have a relatively complete description of the life-span developmental trajectories of human aggressive behaviour by the end of the 21st century, we will need to start recruiting pregnant women very soon.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The assumed social origins of aggression-prone social information processing have been investigated far less than the relation of social information processing to aggressive behavior.
“the assumed social origins of aggression-prone SIP have been investigated far less than the relation of SIP to aggressive behavior”
From Social information processing, experiences of aggression in social contexts, and aggressive behavior in adolescents (2007) · cites this paper as Tremblay, 2000
Many studies are restricted to specific phases of social information processing and do not address larger parts of the whole sequence.
“Many studies are restricted to specific phases of SIP and do not address larger parts of the whole sequence.”
From Social information processing, experiences of aggression in social contexts, and aggressive behavior in adolescents (2007) · cites this paper as Tremblay, 2000
High stability coefficients imply consistency only in the rank order of individuals and not in the mode or intensity of the respective behavior.
“However, one should bear in mind that high stability coefficients imply consistency only in the rank order of individuals and not in the mode or intensity of the respective behavior (Farrington, 1990; Tremblay, 2000).”
From Social information processing, experiences of aggression in social contexts, and aggressive behavior in adolescents (2007) · cites this paper as Tremblay, 2000
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Personality Development: Stability and Change
Caspi, A., Roberts, B. W., & Shiner, R. L. (2005) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141913 · Cited by 2,699 · see citing works
Card, N. A., Stucky, B. D., Sawalani, G. M., & Little, T. D. (2008) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01184.x · Cited by 1,917 · see citing works
Egger, H. L., & Angold, A. (2006) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01618.x · Cited by 1,575 · see citing works
Broidy, L. M., Nagin, D. S., Tremblay, R. E., Bates, J. E., Brame, B., Dodge, K. A., Fergusson, D., Horwood, J. L., Loeber, R., Laird, R., et al. (2003) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037//0012-1649.39.2.222 · Cited by 1,637 · see citing works
Self-citationLove, J. M., Kisker, E. E., Ross, C., Raikes, H., Constantine, J., Boller, K., Brooks-Gunn, J., Chazan-Cohen, R., Tarullo, L. B., Brady-Smith, C., et al. (2005) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.6.885 · Cited by 800 · see citing works
Personality differences in childhood and adolescence: Measurement development, and consequences
Shiner, R., & Caspi, A. (2003) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00101 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
Côté, S., Vaillancourt, T., LeBlanc, J. C., Nagin, D. S., & Tremblay, R. E. (2006) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10802-005-9001-z · Cited by 641 · see citing works
Self-citationDevelopmental Trajectories of Externalizing Behaviors in Childhood and Adolescence
Bongers, I. L., Koot, H. M., Van Der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2004) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00755.x · Cited by 576 · see citing works
Dating violence prevention with at-risk youth: a controlled outcome evaluation
Wolfe, D. A., Wekerle, C., Scott, K., Straatman, A.-L., Grasley, C., & Reitzel-Jaffe, D. (2003) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.71.2.279 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Campbell, S. B., Spieker, S., Burchinal, M., Poe, M. D., & The NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2006) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01636.x · Cited by 391 · see citing works
Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Smith, V., Zaidman-Zait, A., & Hertzman, C. (2012) · School Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s12310-011-9064-7 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Popma, A., Vermeiren, R., Geluk, C. A. M. L., Rinne, T., van den Brink, W., Knol, D. L., Jansen, L. M. C., van Engeland, H., & Doreleijers, T. A. H. (2007) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.06.006 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
Booth-LaForce, C., & Oxford, M. L. (2008) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0012954 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Pathways to Violence in the Children of Mothers Who Were Depressed Postpartum.
Hay, D. F., Pawlby, S., Angold, A., Harold, G. T., & Sharp, D. (2003) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.39.6.1083 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Protective factors and resilience
Lösel, F., & Bender, D. (2003) · Early Prevention of Adult Antisocial Behaviour · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511489259.006 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
A genome‐wide approach to children's aggressive behavior: <i>The EAGLE consortium</i>
Pappa, I., St Pourcain, B., Benke, K., Cavadino, A., Hakulinen, C., Nivard, M. G., Nolte, I. M., Tiesler, C. M. T., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. J., Davies, G. E., et al. (2016) · American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.32333 · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Dishion, T. J., Ha, T., & Véronneau, M.-H. (2012) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0027304 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Reactive aggression in boys with disruptive behavior disorders: behavior, physiology, and affect
Waschbusch, D. A., Pelham, W. E., Jennings, J. R., Greiner, A. R., Tarter, R. E., & Moss, H. B. (2002) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1020867831811 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Controlling parenting and physical aggression during elementary school
Joussemet, M., Vitaro, F., Barker, E. D., Côté, S., Nagin, D. S., Zoccolillo, M., & Tremblay, R. E. (2008) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01133.x · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Self-citationIndividual risk factors for school bullying
Farrington, D., & Baldry, A. (2010) · Journal of Aggression Conflict and Peace Research · doi:10.5042/jacpr.2010.0001 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Loukas, A., Zucker, R. A., Fitzgerald, H. E., & Krull, J. L. (2003) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.112.1.119 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Guttmann-Steinmetz, S., Gadow, K. D., & DeVincent, C. J. (2009) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-009-0706-7 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Ramani, G. B., Brownell, C. A., & Campbell, S. B. (2010) · The Journal of Genetic Psychology · doi:10.1080/00221320903300353 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Lösel, F., Bliesener, T., & Bender, D. (2007) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/0093854806295833 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Multilevel correlates of behavioral resilience among children in child welfare
Bell, T., Romano, E., & Flynn, R. J. (2013) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.07.005 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Kierfeld, F., Ise, E., Hanisch, C., Görtz-Dorten, A., & Döpfner, M. (2013) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-013-0397-7 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Webb, H. J., Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., Mastro, S., Farrell, L. J., Waters, A. M., & Lavell, C. H. (2015) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10802-014-9971-9 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Vermeersch, H., T'Sjoen, G., Kaufman, J.-M., & Vincke, J. (2008) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.03.016 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Children and Violence: Nurturing Social-Emotional Development to Promote Mental Health
Malti, T. (2020) · Child Policy Nexus · doi:10.1002/sop2.8 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Kamradt, J. M., Momany, A. M., & Nikolas, M. A. (2018) · ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders · doi:10.1007/s12402-017-0238-5 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Kohlhoff, J., Wallace, N., Cibralic, S., Morgan, S., Briggs, N. E., McMahon, C., Hawkins, E., Druskin, L., Owen, C., Lieneman, C., et al. (2024) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-024-02171-0 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“While such difficulties usually resolve naturally across the transition into the pre-school years [86], for a small proportion of children, difficulties persist and represent the start of a pathway to mental health challenges [4, 11, 15, 16, 24, 44, 71].”
- Authors
- Tremblay, R. E.
- Affiliations
- Research Unit on Children's Psychosocial Maladjustment (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Tremblay, Richard E.
- ORCID
- Tremblay, Richard E.
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Development
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2000-06
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-141
- ISSN
- 0165-0254 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0651
- OpenAlex
- W2142205487
- Cited by
- 842
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 40 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 46
- FWCI
- 28.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Development (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- aggression, child aggression, physical aggression, verbal aggression, indirect aggression, aggression development, social learning theory, drive theory, aggression prevention, early childhood, lifespan development, ontogeny
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
