Co-occurrence Patterns of ADHD Symptoms and Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Chinese Adolescents: Associations...

Previous studies have found that ADHD symptoms often co-occur with aggressive behavior in adolescents, and that reactive aggression is more closely related to ADHD symptoms than proactive aggression. However, the specific co-occurrence patterns of ADHD symptoms and different functions of aggression remain unclear, as does their relationship with parenting practices. This study used a person-centered approach to examine the co-occurrence patterns of ADHD symptoms, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression and their associations with parenting practices.

A total of 1,152 mother-adolescent dyads participated in this study (adolescents: M_age = 14.29; 48.0% girls). Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify adolescent profiles of ADHD, reactive, and proactive aggression, followed by multinomial logistic regression to examine relationships between these profiles and auxiliary variables.

Latent profile analysis identified three patterns of adolescent- and mother-reported ADHD symptoms, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression: low symptom (84.4%), reactive co-occurrence (10.0%), and complete co-occurrence (5.6%). Multinomial logistic regression revealed that adolescents in the complete co-occurrence group had higher rates of corporal punishment, while adolescents in the reactive co-occurrence group exhibited higher rates of verbal hostility.

These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between reactive and proactive aggression in the context of ADHD and suggest that different co-occurrence patterns may be shaped by distinct parenting practices. Addressing specific parenting behaviors could help mitigate aggression in adolescents with ADHD symptoms.