Abstract
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Objective We aimed to examine the association between aggressive ideations and aggressive behaviors in everyday life, as well as the role of processes related to self-regulatory control (i.e., self-control, ego depletion and emotional reactivity), using experience sampling methods (ESM). Method Sixty-two male adolescents performed a baseline measure of aggression, violent ideations (assessing trait level) and ESM assessments including four measures per day (i.e., aggressive ideations, behaviors, emotional reactivity, anger rumination, and self-control) during nine consecutive days (assessing state level). We analysed these longitudinal data using mixed effect models. Results At a state level, aggressive ideations were associated with higher negative emotions during the previous day (i.e., lag four of anger), with lower self-control and stronger anger rumination. Aggressive behaviors were related to higher anger rumination at the moment and to the manifestation of higher intensity of aggressive ideations derived in the previous measure (lag one). Higher self-control was related to lower probability of aggressive behavior. Finally, a higher intensity of violent ideations (i.e., inter-individual variability at trait level) were associated to a higher probability of both aggressive ideations and behaviors (i.e., at state level). Conclusion This study highlights the temporal link between aggressive ideations and behaviors in everyday life, as well as the role of self-control in understanding aggressivity in the laps of time. Furthermore, we observed that expressions of anger (i.e., reactivity, as well as rumination) were central in the understanding of aggressive ideations and behaviors in the everyday life (i.e., at intra-individual variability at state level).
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