Aggressive Behaviors Among College Students: Parental Factors, Callous-Unemotional Traits, And Alcohol Use

Childhood aggressive behavior has been identified as the most significant antecedent and predictor of antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood. Alcohol use and callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been identified as correlates of aggressive behavior, and parental monitoring relates negatively with CU traits and substance use. In college students, intimate partner violence is common. The present study served as a small-scale replication of Lee and Randolph’s (2015) cross-sectional study with high school students, examining the potential mediating role of alcohol use in the relationship between perceived parental monitoring and aggressive behavior in a college sample (N = 277). Unlike the relationship found in high school students, there was no relationship between perceived parental monitoring and current aggressive behaviors among this college student sample. In this sample, childhood aggressive behaviors were negatively related to parental monitoring, and positively related to current aggressive behavior and IPV. Overall, CU traits and childhood behavior accounted for limited variance in self-reported aggressive behavior, and self-reported alcohol use contributed very slightly to the prediction of intimate partner violence. The current study was limited by a correlational design and homogeneous sample. Future studies should examine CU traits in the general population, women, and include environmental and individual-level variables.