title: Students' Aggression and Its Relevance to Personal, Family, and Social Factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aggression is defined as behaviors intended to hurt, harm, or injure another person. Aggression is by no means a new concern in human society, especially in youth. Universities are among the institutions in which most of the members are young people and because of facing with various personal and social stressors, the students usually experience high level of stress.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine aggression among university students and its association with their personal, family, and social characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional, analytic study was conducted on a representative sample (n = 809) of university students (1 state university and 2 private universities) locating in Gonabad, Iran in 2012. Using proportional to size stratified sampling, we selected the respondents and gathered the required data using a valid and reliable questionnaire. The data were entered into SPSS (version 20) and analyzed through t test, ANOVA, and regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 381 (47.2%) male and 428 (52.8%) female students participated in the study. Mean (SD) age of the respondents was 21.79 (2.86) years. Overall mean aggression score (SD) in the students was 72.45 (15.49) and this score for in dorm and out of dorm students was 74.31 (15.59) and 70.93 (15.23), respectively. There were significant associations between the mean aggression score of dormitory students and sex (P = 0.004), age (P = 0.044), and type of the university (P = 0.039). On the other hand, there was no significant association between all independent factors and mean aggression score of students living out of dorm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regarding the control of aggressive behaviors, paying attention to male, young students living in dormitory, especially in non-governmental universities has the highest priority.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alami
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shahghasemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Operating and Anesthesia, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Arezoo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davarinia Motlagh Ghochan
authors.affiliation: Department of Operating and Anesthesia, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Fateme
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baratpour
keywords: Aggression; Private Sector; University