Aggression in adolescents: the role of social support and personality

A study was conducted to determine the degree to which social support and personality predict the use of reasoning and aggression by adolescents to resolve interpersonal conflict. Although all adolescents appeared to use reasoning to resolve conflict, those with less social support and those exhibiting a forceful personality were more likely to report using verbal and physical aggression to resolve conflict. By contrast, introverted adolescents were less likely to report using verbal aggression to settle their differences. The importance of social support, as well as measures that can be taken by mental health professionals to prevent the use of aggression by adolescents, are discussed.