Overt categorical aggression in referred children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate descriptive and predictive correlates of aggression in children and adolescents who exhibit a high frequency of daily physical assault after admission to a structured residential treatment program and to examine correlations between subcategories of overt categorical aggression (OCA) in the same population.


METHODS
Fifty-one admissions to a residential treatment program were assessed for frequency of physical assault after admission; analyses were corrected for length of stay. Patients with a high frequency of daily assault were compared with patients with a low frequency of daily assault on variables assessing demographics, history, family, concurrent behavior, treatment, and outcome.


RESULTS
A high prevalence of OCA was found in this sample. Variables assessing history and concurrent behavior were significantly associated and predictive of subjects exhibiting a high frequency of daily physical assault after admission. Physical assault was significantly correlated with verbal aggression, property destruction, and self-injurious behavior.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings support the distinctiveness of OCA as a separate subtype of aggression encompassing four subcategories. Further research on treatment, outcome, and associated comorbidity of OCA is warranted.
Connor
D F
DF
Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01655, USA.
Melloni
R H
RH
Harrison
R J
RJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000145:classification*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012114:Residential Treatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors