Objective: To explore the relationship between aggressive behaviors, parent-child separation and experience of childhood abuse among junior high school students.
Methods: A total of 1417 students in ordinary junior high schools from 3 townships in Huoshan, Anhui were involved in this study. Self-made questionnaire was used to estimate aggressive behaviors, parent-child separation in childhood, child abuse and social demographic information of the students under this study.
Results: Related scores (2.52 ± 0.78) on physical aggression in boys was higher than in girls (2.29 ± 0.79) while the scores related to anger (2.60 ± 0.82) and hostility (2.58 ± 0.80) in girls, were higher than those in boys (2.41 ± 0.75, 2.47 ± 0.78), all with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Scores related to different types of aggressive behaviors and the scores in total, were higher in students from the senior class (P < 0.001). Scores on items as verbal aggression, hostility and in total, were higher in those adolescents which had undergone maternal-child separation during their childhood (P < 0.05). Scores on hostility and in total, were higher in those adolescents which had suffered from father-child separation during their childhood (P < 0.05). Scores related to anger, hostility and in total, were higher in those adolescents which had undergone both parent-child separation when they were much younger (P < 0.05). Students who had suffered from various types of repeated abuse showed higher scores in various types of aggressive behaviors and in total, than those who did not have the same experience. Most of the differences among groups were statistically significant (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Students that suffered parent-child separation in their earlier childhood and with repeated experiences of abuse in childhood appeared to be risk factors causing aggressive behaviors to develop during the age of adolescence.