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Karla Torres
Gango 6
10/5/15
Aggressive Behavior in Kids
When a child starts screaming, his or her mother checks what is going on and notices it's
nothing bad. When a child is fighting with another child in an aggressive way, then there's a
problem and the mother yells at the kid who provoked it and gets him or her in trouble. Many
people have seen kids fight or say mean words to others. Some parents may think its normal
when kids act that way because they are young. Many kids fight when they don't know how to
communicate with others and instead fight or do other negative things. When kids have an
aggressive behavior it's not the same as just being mean. Any kid can be mean to others, but
those that are aggressive are because of frustration, react to pain, fear, or express their anger.
Kids who are aggressive are so because they likely suffer from a mental disorder and it gets
worse when their parents mistreat them.
Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the disorders that causes
aggression in kids. Kids that suffer from this disorder are antisocial. ADHD has behaviors such
as: hyperactivity, restlessness, impulsivity, and aggression (D'Alonzo). Kids usually don't pay
attention when they are told instructions, they don't care about their mistakes, and they don't
listen to the orders an older person gives them. When a kid is hyperactive, they usually won't
calm down but when a kid is being aggressive they will be rude to others. An association called
American Psychiatric investigated that theres 3% to 5% in school-age children that suffer from
ADHD (D'Alonzo). Since ADHD prevents kids from thinking clearly, they aren't able to realize
how their actions can affect others.
Children that suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are unable to understand
and process their emotions (Treatment for Aggression). In New Research on Children with ASD

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and Aggression, Dr. Stephen Kanne and Micah Mazurek, did a project on determining how
many kids with ASD had aggressive behaviors. There was an event called Simons Simplex
Collection, that involved 1,380 children and both of these researchers were able to get results of
the kids with autism that had aggressive behaviors. 68% of the children had previously behaved
aggressively towards caregivers and 49% towards non-caregivers (Anderson). The researchers
concluded that it can be challenging to handle aggressive behaviors in kids with autism. Autism
Spectrum Disorder can provoke a child to be aggressive and at the same time have an outburst
(Treatment for Aggression). When a child outbursts, they lose control of their actions, they are
rude, and don't show any type of emotion of how they've affected the other person.
When children can't control their moods they have a bipolar disorder. This disorder
affects the part of their brain where their moods change all the time. In Aggression, ADHD
Symptoms, and Dysphoria in Children and Adolescents Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and
ADHD the author explains that the study made was to examine the characteristics of aggression
in children and teens with a bipolar disorder. Youngsters diagnosed with bipolar disorders were
more verbally aggressive and exhibited higher levels of reactive aggression than youngsters with
ADHD without co-occurring bipolar disorder (Doerfler, et at al). In the finding of this study,
they compared two mental disorders and the kids with the bipolar disorder have a higher level of
aggression then the kids with ADHD. Kids with bipolar disorder suffer from depression, and
during a depressive cycle, the kids become annoying and aggressive (Treatment for Aggression).
During a depressive cycle, the level of aggression in a kid is the same as when a child suffers
from a maniac episode.
A conduct disorder is another disorder that has symptoms of aggressive behaviors.
Parents can notice that the aggressive behavior their child has, prevents him or her from having
lasting relationships with others (Treatment for Aggression). It's hard for kids to control their
temper because they know they are incapable of controlling it, and so they instead hurt others. In

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most cases, kids are malicious towards others. Their actions are intended to cause harm
(Treatment for Aggression). Conduct disorder causes kids to not realize that they are harming
others because they don't comprehend the consequences of their actions. When they harm others
it's not fighting with their hands, they use weapons like a bat, brick, cars, or any object that's
around them (Conduct Disorder Symptoms).
When a child suffers from schizophrenia they imagine stuff that isn't real. For example,
they start to have delusions and hallucinations and believe that what they are imagining is real.
During a break in reality, the child or teen cannot determine what is real and what is not; as a
result, the hallucinations or delusions may lead to aggression (Treatment For Aggression).
Children can be aggressive when they snap back to reality, because they either don't know where
they are or don't know who is around so they respond back by being aggressive. In
Schizophrenia it was said that people living with schizophrenia are more likely to experience
aggression and violent acts than those who suffer from other mental disorders. When kids
become aggressive and violent it is because there are symptoms of psychosis (Schizophrenia).
When they suffer from the symptoms of psychosis, the hallucinations and delusions causes the
kids to act aggressive. In worldwide, there are 3.2 million people that suffer from schizophrenia
(Nemade and Dombeck).
The destroying of property, the fighting with someone because of provocation, or feeling
stress causes a kid to be aggressive (Intermittent Explosive). This is a disorder called Intermittent
Explosive Disorder (IED) and it is similar to schizophrenia, but then there are no hallucinations
or delusions causing the patient to be aggressive. In addition to Melina, when a blow up occurs,
the child with IED becomes furious and opposes to prevent their aggressive impulses. Kids tend
to blow up because they are angry or frustrated. Of those diagnosed with IED, 67.8% engaged
in direct interpersonal aggression, and 20.9% had threatened interpersonal aggression, and 11.4%
engaged in aggression against property and objects (Treatment for Aggression). By looking at

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the statistics of the levels of aggression, IED isn't as bad as it is to a kid because they mostly go
through anger and don't get to the point where they destroy objects.
Also, not only do mental disabilities cause children to have aggressive behaviors, but also
the mistreatment of parents can cause kids to be aggressive. It is believed that a child that suffers
from aggression is due to their parents not giving them enough attention, use of harsh
punishment, no limit to their actions, and negative threats between a parent and a child (Golden).
In this quote, it gives a set of examples that kids may experience in their daily life and they have
the possibility to become aggressive. For example, parental discipline can lead to aggression.
Golden stated that harsh discipline causes increased levels of anger and aggression.
Meaning that negative discipline given to kids will persuade them to be abusive to others.
Parents that are very strict to their child will create a generation where children will always be
rude and angry to those in their classroom (Clark). Now in society parents tend to not pay
attention to the activities their children do. When that occurs, kids tend to believe that what they
are doing wrong is right.
Kids that are being yelled at, are also at risk to have aggressive behaviors. They are at
risk to have aggressive behaviors because they can suffer from emotional trauma that leads
children to be harm for a long time (Vardigan). Since parents yell at their children, they are
already teaching them that by yelling, things will get better. When parents are aggressive, they
don't teach any lesson to their kids. On the other hand, kids will dislike the way they are treated
and do the same too others. When a child experiences verbal abuse, they have a higher chance of
facing delinquency, have problems, and physically hurt others (Vardigan). Being verbally abuse
not only causes children to have physical aggression, but they also can have problems
communicating with people because they may fear that they'll verbally abuse them as well. A
study at the University of New Hampshire found that 63 percent of more than 3,000 American
parents surveyed reported one or more cases of verbal aggression toward children in their

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homes (Vardigan). With this study, it is clarified that aggression can become a problem in a
child's life because their parents were aggressive with them as well.
Not only is verbal abuse an affective cause to a kids life but also physical abuse. A
psychology professor named John E. Bates did a study in a kindergarten class determining if
abuse at home had a powerful effect on children communicating with others (Abuse Is Seen).
Young children that have faced the abusiveness of others, are most likely to respond to any
provocation from others aggressively (Abuse is Seen). Studies reveal how kids that are
physically abuse do react aggressively to the things that provoke them. Aggressive parents that
suffer from poor self-control and still spank their kids, can also pass on their genes to their kids;
which the kids will then suffer from poor-self-control and aggression (O'Callaghan). When
parents just abuse their children, they don't have any other way to control them. So their kids will
have an aggressive behavior, but that behavior can grow to into bad outcomes. Kids will get into
fights with others and mostly likely not get accepted to attend school because of their behavior.
When parents don't have a connection with their kids, they don't care about their feelings.
Children can go through verbal and physical abuse, but also go through emotional maltreatment.
The weapons used against them are not visible such as hands, belts, cords, or sexual acts, but
rather ugly, hurting words or cold, uncaring silence (Hornor). As it is said in this quotation,
when kids don't get the love they need from their parents they start to be cold-hearted children.
When they do something and want to show it off to their parents and their parents don't give
them a positive reaction back, they start to believe their parents don't care at all. Also,
experiencing emotional abuse may result in an inability to develop adequate emotional regulation
skills, which increases the risk of persons being unable to rid themselves of negative feelings of
anger, predisposing them to overt forms of aggression (Hornor). Since children aren't giving the
attention they need from their parents and all they get it negative feedback from them, they start
being negative towards everything they consider should be. When they are negative towards stuff

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it leads children to have an aggressive behavior because they get to the point where they feel
frustrated.
Overall, there are many mental disorders that effect a children to have an aggressive
behavior. Also, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and emotional maltreatment, causes a children to be
aggressive. Some of these disorders prevent a kid from comprehending their actions, so the kids
don't notice what they do is wrong. Some of the disorders such as Schizophrenia, IED, and
Conduct disorder leads children to get to the point where they harm others. Physical abuse is the
most affective mistreatment from a parent that makes children to have an aggressive behavior.
Since they are being spanked in any sort of way it causes them to start fights with other kids at
school or anywhere. Aggressive behavior in kids can worsen if their parents to search for help.
There are clinics and therapies where they can give them treatment. Aggression in kids can grow
to bigger mental disorders and then there won't be a solution to prevent it to happen.

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Works Cited
Abuse Is Seen as a Leading Factor in Children's Aggressive Behavior. nytimes.com. The New
York Times, n.p. 21 Dec. 1990. Web. 3 Oct. 2015
Anderson, Connie. New Research on Children with ASD and Aggression. Ian Community.ord.
Kennedy Krieger Institute, 8 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 Oct. 2015
Clark, Laura. The angry generation: Lack of parental discipline is blamed for aggressive and
anti-social children. Daily Mail News. n.p. 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2015
Conduct Disorder Symptoms. Psych Central. n.p. 26 May. 2013. Web. 2 Oct. 2015
D'Alonzo, Bruno. Identification and education of students with attention deficit and attention
deficit.... Preventing School Failure 40. (1996):88. elibrary. Web. 25 Oct. 2015
Doerfler, Leonard A at al. Agression, ADHD symptoms, and dysphoria in children and
adolescents diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADHD. escholarship.umassmed.edu.
Umass Medical School, n.p. 2011. Web. 2 Oct. 2015
Golden, Loretta C. Early Exposure to Violence Leads to Aggression in Children. OpenSIUC.
1998: page 2-3. Print
Hornor, Gall. Emotional Maltreatment. Journal of Pediatric Health Care.
2012: page 3. Print
Intermittent Explosive Disorder Symptoms. Psych Central. n.p. 26 May. 2013. Web. 3 Oct.
2015
Melina, Remy. Is Rage a Mental Disorder Live Science. n.p. 21 July. 2010. Web. 3 Oct. 2015
Nemade, Rashmi and Dombeck, Mark. Schizophrenia Symtoms, Patterns and Statistics and
Patterns. MentalHealth.net, n.p. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2015
O'Callaghan, Kitty. Is It Okay to Spank. parenting.com. Parenting, n.p. n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2015
Schizophrenia and Dangerous Behaviour. livingwithschizophreniauk.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 3 Oct.
2015

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Treatment for Aggression. Piney Ridge Treatment Center. n.p. n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2015
Vardigan, Benj. Yelling at Children (Verbal Abuse). Healthday.com.n.p. 11 Mar. 2015. Web. 3
Oct. 2015