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

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

Keywords:

Aggression , Callous-unemotional traits , Insecure attachment , Trauma