Psychobiological analysis of aggressive behavior in school-age children

Abstract

The factors that influence aggressive behavior are abundant: environmental, genetic, physiological and social. The aim of this research was to analyze how psychological and biological variables affect the aggressive behavior among school-aged children taking into account the sexual differences. In both phases the aggressive behavior was measured and saliva samples were collected to measure hormone levels. In addition, information about psychological variables was collected. The results show the interaction between psychological (empathy and temperament) and biological variables (testosterone and cortisol) explains the aggressive behavior of children, but this was different in both phases. Our results highlight the importance of considering the interaction of biological and psychosocial variables when investigating aggressive behavior.