Social networking and messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, have become an essential social environment for adolescents and young adults (AYA). While facilitating connectivity, they also bear ...hazards, including cyber-aggression. This study investigates the impact of (aggressive) group norms on AYA's propensity to expect cyberaggressive behaviors within different group chats. Based on a vignette scenario, realistically simulated WhatsApp group chats enabled scrutinizing, if and how exemplary reactions (funny, aggressive, friendly) of group members influence AYA's conformity to cyber-aggression (N = 500, aged 16 to 29). Additionally, we examined the effect of chat group type—close friends versus fellow students—on the anticipation of aggressive reactions. Sociodemographic, social, and developmental-psychological factors were evaluated for potential effects. Multilevel logistic regression analyses indicated that aggressive group norms significantly predict cyber-aggression anticipation, while no effect of chat group type was observed. Controlling for the size and vivacity of participant’s friend group, gender, age, and educational status were significant predictors: males, younger participants, and non-university students expected higher levels of cyber-aggression conformity. This study underlines the importance of group dynamics on perceptions of cyber-aggression and hints at individual risk factors for AYA's digital communication behavior.
Animal aggression is one of the most conserved behaviors. Excessive and inappropriate aggression was a serious social concern across species. After long-term selection under strict stress conditions, ...Henan gamecock serves as a good model for studying aggressive behavior. In this research, we constructed a Henan game chicken backcross population containing 25% Rhode Island Red (RIR), and conducted brain transcriptomics and serum metabolomics analyses on Henan gamecock (HGR) through its comparison with its female encounters (HGH) and the male backcross birds (BGR). The study revealed that seven differential metabolites in serum and 172 differentially expressed genes in the brain were commonly shared in both HGR vs. HGH and HGR vs. BGR comparisons. They exhibited the same patterns of modulation in Henan gamecocks, following either HGH < HGR > BGR or HGH > HGR < BGR style. Therein, some neurological genes involving in serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling were upregulated, while the levels of many genes related with neuro-immune function were decreased in Henan gamecock. In addition, many unknown genes specifically or highly expressed in the brain of the Henan gamecock were identified. These genes are potentially key candidates for enhancing the bird's aggression. Multi-omics joint analysis revealed that tyrosine metabolism and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction were commonly affected. Overall, our results propose that the aggressiveness of Henan gamecocks can be heightened by the activation of the serotonergic-dopaminergic metabolic process in the brain, which concurrently impairs the neuroimmune system. Further research is needed to identify the function of these unknown genes on the bird's aggressive behavior.
Although the Internet has transformed the way our world operates, it has also served as a venue for cyberbullying, a serious form of misbehavior among youth. With many of today's youth experiencing ...acts of cyberbullying, a growing body of literature has begun to document the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of this behavior, but the literature is highly fragmented and lacks theoretical focus. Therefore, our purpose in the present article is to provide a critical review of the existing cyberbullying research. The general aggression model is proposed as a useful theoretical framework from which to understand this phenomenon. Additionally, results from a meta-analytic review are presented to highlight the size of the relationships between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, as well as relationships between cyberbullying and other meaningful behavioral and psychological variables. Mixed effects meta-analysis results indicate that among the strongest associations with cyberbullying perpetration were normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement, and the strongest associations with cyberbullying victimization were stress and suicidal ideation. Several methodological and sample characteristics served as moderators of these relationships. Limitations of the meta-analysis include issues dealing with causality or directionality of these associations as well as generalizability for those meta-analytic estimates that are based on smaller sets of studies (k < 5). Finally, the present results uncover important areas for future research. We provide a relevant agenda, including the need for understanding the incremental impact of cyberbullying (over and above traditional bullying) on key behavioral and psychological outcomes.
Recent changes to diagnostic criteria for serious conduct problems in children and adolescents have included the presence of elevated callous-unemotional traits to define etiologically and clinically ...important subgroups of youth with a conduct problem diagnosis. The Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions (CAPE) is an intensive assessment of the symptoms of this limited prosocial emotions specifier that uses a structured professional judgment method of scoring, which may make it useful in clinical settings when diagnoses may require more information than that provided by behavior rating scales. The present study adds to the limited tests of the CAPE's reliability and validity, using a sample of clinic-referred children ages 6-17 years of age, who were all administered the CAPE by trained clinicians. The mean age of the sample was 10.13 years (
= 2.64); 54% of the sample identified as male and 46% identified as female; and 67% of participants identified as White, 29% identified as Black, and 52% identified as another race/ethnicity (i.e., Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, or other). The findings indicated that CAPE scores demonstrated strong interrater reliability. The scores also were associated with measures of conduct problems and aggression, even when controlling for behavior ratings of callous-unemotional traits. Further, when children with conduct problem diagnoses were divided into groups based on the presence of the limited prosocial emotions specifier from the CAPE, the subgroup with the specifier showed more severe conduct problems and aggression. The results support cautious clinical use of the CAPE, its further development and testing, and research into ways to make its use feasible in many clinical settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Crowds in public spaces such as subway station are generally composed by diverse types of pedestrians with various motion features and behavior preferences. This paper aims to propose a ...behavior-based cellular automata model that can express the heterogeneous structure of crowds and explore the influence of different crowd composition on pedestrian dynamics, especially evacuation efficiency. The degree of aggressiveness is first introduced into cellular automata model as the internal state, which affects the motion characteristics and behavior preference of pedestrians. It is closely related to the motion characteristics including free walk velocity, target cells selection and conflict resolution mechanism. In addition, it determines the balance selection between keeping shorter paths and avoiding congestion. Simulation experiments of unidirectional pedestrian flow is conducted in the corridor with single exit. Simulation results indicate that a higher shortest path tendency leads to more time spent on blocking, and a higher detours tendency will cause longer detours time. A good balance between the two tendencies can make the individual's evacuation more efficient. A higher proportion of aggressive people and moderate degree of aggressiveness results in a higher average evacuation efficiency. In the crowd, the evacuation of conservative groups (i.e. pedestrians with zero aggressiveness) will be the most advantageous when the proportion of aggressive groups and degree of aggressiveness are moderate. For aggressive groups (i.e. pedestrians with the degree of aggressiveness greater than zero), evacuation efficiency will be the highest when the proportion of aggressive groups is moderate and the degree of aggressiveness is high. The proposed model provides a new perspective for the evaluation and analysis of heterogeneous pedestrian flow.
Reports an error in "Family dynamics and young children's sibling victimization" by Corinna Jenkins Tucker, David Finkelhor, Heather Turner and Anne M. Shattuck (
, 2014Oct, Vol 285, 625-633). In the ...original article, several errors were made when describing the results of the second and third columns of Table 2 whereby, in the text of the second paragraph of the" No Victimization Versus Sibling Victimization Groups" section. The corrected texts are present in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2014-32430-001). This research examines how family dynamics like interparental conflict, family violence, and quality of parenting are associated with young children's experiences of sibling victimization. We use nationally representative data from interviews with caregivers of 1,726 children aged 2 to 9 years of age. We hypothesized different family dynamics predictors for a composite of common types of sibling victimization (property, psychological, and mild physical aggression) in comparison to severe physical sibling victimization (victimization that includes physical aggression with a weapon and/or injury). Multinomial regression results showed that sibling victimization in general was associated with negative family dynamics but that children in the severe group had even less parental warmth, poor parental supervision, and greater exposure to interparental conflict and family violence than children in the common types victimization group. Different aspects of family dynamics contribute to sibling victimization, but possibly in different ways and with different consequences. The findings underscore the importance of a family systems theory approach to clinical and intervention work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
To clarify and quantify the influence of video game violence (VGV) on aggressive behavior, we conducted a metaanalysis of all prospective studies to date that assessed the relation between exposure ...to VGV and subsequent overt physical aggression. The search strategy identified 24 studies with over 17,000 participants and time lags ranging from 3 months to 4 years. The samples comprised various nationalities and ethnicities with mean ages from 9 to 19 years. For each study we obtained the standardized regression coefficient for the prospective effect of VGV on subsequent aggression, controlling for baseline aggression. VGV was related to aggression using both fixed β = 0.113, 95% CI = (0.098, 0.128) and random effects models β = 0.106 (0.078, 0.134). When all available covariates were included, the size of the effect remained significant for both models β = 0.080 (0.065, 0.094) and β = 0.078 (0.053, 0.102), respectively. No evidence of publication bias was found. Ethnicity was a statistically significant moderator for the fixed-effects models (P ≤ 0.011) but not for the random-effects models. Stratified analyses indicated the effect was largest among Whites, intermediate among Asians, and nonsignificant among Hispanics. Discussion focuses on the implications of such findings for current debates regarding the effects of violent video games on physical aggression.
Abstract
Previous work by our group has found that housing pigs with a ramp in the pen during only the nursery period increased the speed of trailer ramp loading at marketing. However, the presence ...of the ramp may also alter pig behavior during the nursery period. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether ramp exposure affects pig behavior during the nursery period. We predicted that pigs exposed to a ramp would exhibit reduced aggressive behaviors, but similar eating, drinking, and postural behaviors during the nursery period compared with pigs not given access to a ramp. Two hundred four pigs (17 to 21 d of age) were placed in 8 pens (n = 24 to 27 pigs per pen) that were allocated to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) RAMP (n = 4 pens; standard commercial pen equipped with a ramp), or 2) CONTROL (n = 4 pens; standard commercial pen without a ramp). One day after placement (D1) and again 18 days later (D2), incidences of eating, drinking, aggressive, and postural (standing, lying) behaviors within each pen were collected for a period of 60 min at 0800, 1200, and 1600 h using a 5-min instantaneous scan sampling strategy. Data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure in SAS with treatment, experimental day (D1, D2), hour (0800, 1200, 1600 h), and all 2-way interactions as fixed effects. Pen was included as a random effect. No treatment differences (P > 0.55) were detected for the evaluated behaviors. Greater incidences of eating were observed on D2 than on D1 (P < 0.0001). There were fewer pigs drinking at 1600 h on D1 than all other time points (P < 0.04) except for 1200 h on D1 (P = 0.64). There were also fewer pigs drinking at 1200 h on D1 than at 1600 h on D2 (P = 0.047). A greater incidence of aggressive behavior was observed at 0800 h on D1 compared with all other time points (P < 0.01), with no other differences observed (P > 0.40). Standing behavior was greater at 0800 h on D1 compared with all other time points (P < 0.02) except for 1600 h on D2 (P = 0.42). There were also fewer incidences of standing at 1600 h on D1 than 0800 or 1200 h on D2 (P = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively). Finally, there were more lying incidences at 1600 h on D1 than all other time points (P < 0.02) except for 1200 h on D1 (P = 0.81). Taken together, eating, drinking, aggressive, and postural behaviors changed by experimental day and hour after weaning. However, pig behavior was not altered due to ramp exposure.
Abstract
Enrichment increases the ability of a sow to express innate behavior in a barren environment and can reduce aggressive behaviors, stress, and promote animal welfare. The objective of this ...study was to determine sow interaction with different types of enrichment materials provided before farrowing. A total of 11 sows were randomly assigned an enrichment combination of cardboard, paper, and banana leaves. Sows received two enrichment types, then enrichment was switched for the following day, until all combinations were completed. The enrichment material hung from 2x4 wood using ropes that hung the enrichment and chains placed in the ceiling of the farrowing room that held the 2x4 above the pen of each sow. Therefore, enrichment was placed within the nose reach of each sow. Enrichment material (113 g) was placed in the pens at 0700 h and left for 24 h each day before changing with another enrichment combination. Any enrichment material remaining was weighed. Final weight varied by treatment (P = 0.01), with sows consuming the least of cardboard (24.9 ± 10.0 g) and having an equal preference for banana leaves and paper (74.1 ± 10.0 g and 50.1 ± 11.3 g, respectively). Scan sampling was utilized to measure the frequency of interaction with the enrichments. The scans were designed with the first hour recording every minute a sow interacted with enrichment and the following 3 hours recording every 10 minutes. Continuous observation for the first hour of placement was performed for count data. Each time the sow made contact with the enrichment with her nose, the observation was recorded. The results of the behavior observation suggested that time in contact with enrichment did not differ (P > 0.05), nor did the number of times the pig-initiated contact with enrichment (P > 0.05). In conclusion, sow preference showed that bananas and papers were preferred over cardboard. However, sows will engage with any enrichment material provided before farrowing. Future research should be done to see if any environmental factors play a role in sow’s preference.
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