A comparison of age, cognitive, hormonal, symptomatic and mood correlates of Aggression towards Others in boys with ASD

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Bitsika, V., Sharpley, C. F., Sweeney, J. A., Andronicos, N. M., Agnew, L. L., & Arnold, W. M. (2017). A comparison of age, cognitive, hormonal, symptomatic and mood correlates of Aggression towards Others in boys with ASD. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 66, 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2017.02.014

Publication date: 7 Mar 2017 Added to AutiHub: 14 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)
  1. Vicki Bitsika
  2. Christopher F. Sharpley
  3. John A. Sweeney
  1. Nicholas M. Andronicos
  2. Linda L. Agnew
  3. Wayne M. Arnold *

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Aggression is a major problem in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but little is known about the possible contributors to this behaviour. AIMS: To determine the relative strength of the relationships between developmental, cognitive, symptomatic, hormonal and mood factors and 'Aggression towards Others' in boys with ASD. METHOD: Predictors of Aggression towards Others were investigated in a sample of 136 boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder (M age=11.3yr, SD=3.2yr, range=6yr to 17yr). Data were collected from the boys themselves and their parents (14 fathers, 122 mothers). RESULTS: Results indicated that age and Low Registration on the Sensory Profile were the only significant correlates of this form of aggression. Importantly, testosterone levels did not account for level of social aggression. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that these boys may have learnt more effective methods of dealing with their frustration as they grew older or benefitted from cognitive maturation, and that having a high neurological threshold may be a source of frustration for these boys. The relationship between Aggression towards Others and Low Registration is discussed and clinical implications of the findings explicated.

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Cited references
54
With a DOI
40
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
13
0 / 54 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 54 (1.9%)
References with detected author names
53 / 54 (98.1%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
202
From DOI or external metadata
202
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
27 / 202 (13.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 175 / 202 (86.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 202 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 27 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 168 (0.0%).
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