title: Parenting styles and hormone levels as predictors of physical and indirect aggression in boys and girls.
abstract: This study examines the relationship between parenting style, androgen levels, and measures of physical and indirect aggression. Peer ratings of aggression were obtained from 159 eight-year-old children (89 boys and 70 girls). Parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian or permissive) were assessed using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ).Saliva samples were obtained from children and assayed for testosterone and androstenedione concentrations. A regression analysis revealed that high testosterone levels were associated with a higher level of physical aggression in boys with authoritarian mothers. Testosterone was also found to moderate the relationship between father's authoritarian parenting and physical aggression in girls, with both moderate and high levels being significant. In relation to indirect aggression, moderate and high levels of testosterone were associated with higher levels of this type of aggression in girls with permissive mothers. Our results highlight the importance of taking into account the interaction of biological and psychosocial variables when investigating aggressive behavior.
authors: Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain.
authors: Eider
authors: E
authors: Pascual-Sagastizabal
authors: Aitziber
authors: A
authors: Azurmendi
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Braza
authors: Ana I
authors: AI
authors: Vergara
authors: Jaione
authors: J
authors: Cardas
authors: José R
authors: JR
authors: Sánchez-Martín
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000032:analysis*; D001318:Authoritarianism; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione
keywords: indirect aggression; parenting styles; physical aggression; testosterone