Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

Many cardiovascular psychophysiological studies have found evidence of lower arousal states in aggressive individuals and hyper-arousal states in individuals exposed to chronic stress. However, most of these studies have relied on clinical diagnoses or self-reports to identify aggressive and victimized individuals. The present study used peer nominations to identify aggressive, victimized, and non-aggressive or victimized adolescents (mean age = 12.09 yrs.) to examine if any psychophysiological differences exist during resting and startle conditions. ANOVAs revealed that high aggressive/low victimized adolescents had a lower resting heart period/rate compared to high victimized/low aggressive adolescents. Further analyses revealed a statistical trend of lower resting heart period variability in high victimized/low aggressive individuals compared to non-aggressive non-victimized controls. Due to evidence suggesting that individuals with high self-reported empathy display less aggression, empathy as a moderator for aggression was investigated. Although gender differences w3ere found across measures, empathy ws not found to moderate aggression.

Extent

x, 81 p. : ill.

Comments

by Christopher Aults.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012.|Includes bibliography.|Mode of access: World Wide Web.|System requirements: Adobe Reader.|by Christopher Aults.

Identifier

FADT3358282

Format

pdf

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