Reciprocal Relations Between Traumatic Stress and Physical Aggression Among Early Adolescence

Introduction: There is convincing evidence that traumatic stress and aggressive behavior are highly related among adolescents. The evidence is less clear, however, regarding the direction of this relation, particularly due to the preponderance of cross-sectional studies. The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to examine reciprocal longitudinal relations between physical aggression and symptoms of traumatic stress among early adolescents, (b) to examine gender differences in these relations, and (c) to assess the extent to which these relations differed within and across middle school grades.

Method: Data were collected four times a year (i.e., fall, winter, spring, summer) from students from all three grades in three urban middle schools. Two independent random samples were used: 1,188 students assessed across five waves starting in the fall of the sixth grade through the fall of the seventh grade, and 1,201 adolescents assessed across five waves from the fall of the seventh grade to the fall of the eighth grade. These samples were approximately 47% male, 74% African American, and ranged in age from 11 to 16 years old. Participants completed the Physical Aggression subscale from the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale and the Checklist of Children’s Distress Symptoms.

Results: Cross-lagged path models using robust estimates indicated that traumatic stress predicted increased levels of physical aggression across the winter to the spring of the sixth grade for boys and across all waves from the fall of the seventh grade to the fall of the eighth grade for both boys and girls. In contrast, physical aggression during the winter of the sixth grade predicted a decrease in traumatic stress in the spring of the sixth grade, which did not differ between boys and girls. Physical aggression did not predict changes in traumatic stress at any other waves.

Discussion: The findings suggest that adolescents who experience symptoms of traumatic stress are at a greater risk of exhibiting physical aggression, particularly within the seventh grade. This underscores the need for interventions tailored towards trauma-informed care to reduce the impact of traumatic experiences on other maladaptive behaviors. Further work is needed to investigate possible mechanisms that explain the association between adolescents’ physical aggression and traumatic stress. Future research should take seasonal variation into account when investigating the relations between traumatic stress and physical aggression.