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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1484340
This article is part of the Research Topic Youth Mental Health, Particularly in Asian Populations View all 36 articles

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Executive Dysfunction and Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Adolescents: Impulsivity as a Mediator and Sex Differences

Provisionally accepted
Xiaojie Su Xiaojie Su 1,2Wenjie Li Wenjie Li 1Chang Sheng Hu Chang Sheng Hu 3*Huimin Liu Huimin Liu 4*Rong Lian Rong Lian 1
  • 1 School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
  • 2 Normal School, Urumqi Vocational University,, Urumqi, China
  • 3 School of Teacher Education, Sichuan Vocational and Technical College, Suining, China
  • 4 School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This longitudinal study investigated the relationships among executive dysfunction, impulsivity, and proactive-reactive aggression in adolescents. Using a 1-year follow-up design, we examined 617 middle school students (mean age, 15.26 years at Time 2; 59% male). Our findings revealed that (1) executive dysfunction at T1 (April 2023) significantly predicted both proactive and reactive aggression at T2 (April 2024); (2) impulsivity at T2 partially mediated the relationship between executive dysfunction and both types of aggression; (3) impulsivity significantly predicted proactive aggression only among male adolescents; and (4) impulsivity significantly predicted reactive aggression in both male and female adolescents, although the effect was stronger among the former. These results suggest that executive dysfunction not only directly promotes adolescent aggression but also indirectly influences aggression by increasing impulsivity. Sex moderates these relationships, with male adolescents being more susceptible to the influence of impulsivity on aggression compared to female adolescents. These findings highlight the importance of considering executive dysfunction, impulsivity, and sex differences in the prevention and intervention of adolescent aggression.

    Keywords: adolescents, Longitudinal mediation and moderation, impulsivity, Proactive and reactive aggression, executive dysfunction

    Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Su, Li, Hu, Liu and Lian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Chang Sheng Hu, School of Teacher Education, Sichuan Vocational and Technical College, Suining, China
    Huimin Liu, School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China

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