Print

Mazzulla, Emily

Psychology

2013

PhD

The biological factors contributing to relational aggression remain understudied in the aggression literature. Many serious consequences of relational aggression for both perpetrators and victims have been documented, supporting the investigation into risk factors implicated in the emergence of this behavior. Additionally, although relational aggression is observed in both sexes, aggressive girls engage in relational aggression more than physical aggression, suggesting that understanding the development of relational aggression is essential for the identification of at-risk girls.
This study investigated the neural correlates of relational aggression during a social conditioning task in a sample of girls ages nine to eleven (12 healthy controls and 10 relationally aggressive girls). Participants completed functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging paradigm. A social conditioning task was administered during functional neuroimaging to assess neural activation during task conditions. Participants learned about face depicting negative, positive, and neutral social statements. Valence, anger arousal, likeability, and perceived likeability ratings were completed by the participants before and after conditioning.
Control participants demonstrated increased activity in the right ventral amygdala compared to the relationally aggressive group in responset to the early Negative identity presentations. Aggressors demonstrated increased activity in the right ventral amygdala compared to controls in response to the late Negative identity trials. Behavioral ratings revealed no significant differences between groups on valence, anger arousal, or likeability ratings. Relationally aggressive participants on average reported greater perceived likeability as compared to control participants. Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed differences in patterns of neural activation between groups.