Role of Early Traumatic Life Events, Insecure Attachment Style and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Predicting Aggressionin High School Students

Worldwide, aggression is one of the main death causes for people between the ages of 15 to 44. Understanding the risk factors may be critical to accurate aggression and treatment.

This study aimed to examine the relation between early traumatic events, callous-unemotional traits and insecure attachment style with aggression in a sample of adolescent out-patient.

Asample of high school students (n=345) with a mean age of 16.62 (SD=0.81) years completed Boss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ), Early Trauma Inventory (ETI), Inventory of Callous-Unemotional (ICU) traits and revised adult attachment scale (RAAS). The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis.

Regression analysis revealed that 13% variance of aggression can be predicted by early traumatic events, insecure style of attachment and callous-unemotional traits.

Our findings provide further insight into the role of particularpsychopathy traits, trauma and attachment in developing and maintaining aggression. Study implications and limitations are considered.