In a study by Tremblay, Nagin, Seguin, et al. (2004), the authors report the results of a long-term qualitative study on 504 children during the ages of 5 months and 42 months of age. The authors conclude that physical aggression in children and adolescents begins in the preschool years. The authors theorized that preschool children who do not learn to ôuse alternativesö to physical aggression are ôat riskö for aggressive and violent behavior in adolescence and childhood (Tremblay et al. 2004, 43). The authors followed 504 children from 5 months to 42 months, using questionnaires to receive information from the childrenÆs parents at 5, 17, 30, and 42 months (Tremblay et al. 2004). The research revealed variables that are predictors of high-risk children who need early intervention to prevent future physical violence and aggression. Since all of these variables are measurable during pregnancy, the authors conclude that ôPreventative interventions should target families with high-risk profilesö (Tremblay et al. 2004, 43).
The authors collected information from mother interviews during 5, 17, 30, and 42 month intervals. Using studies on aggression and violence in more mature children, the author used the following criteria: how often the child hits, bites, kicks, fights, and bullies others (Tremblay et al. 2004, 44). In the initial stages of analysis, the authors discovered three trajectories related to aggressive behavior in the children: 1) little or no physical aggression, 2) moderate physical aggression, and 3) high physical aggression (Tremblay et al. 2004, 45). The second stage of analysis examined potential predictors of membership in each of the three groups. The researchers utilized the Chi-square test, T-test, and multivariate logit regression analysis to examine risk factors most associated with the high-aggression group.
The results of the data analysis revealed a number of significant predictors of ag...