Teacher-rated aggression and co-occurring behaviors and problems among schoolchildren: A comparison of four population-based European cohorts

Aggressive behavior in school is an ongoing concern, with the current focus mostly on specific manifestations such as bullying and extreme violence. Children spend a substantial amount of time in school, but their behaviors in the school setting tend to be less well characterized than in the home setting. Since aggression may index multiple behavioral problems, we assessed associations of teacher-rated aggressive behavior with co-occurring externalizing/internalizing problems and social behavior in 39,936 schoolchildren from 4 population-based cohorts from Finland, the Netherlands, and the UK. Mean levels of aggressive behavior differed significantly by gender. Correlations of aggressive behavior were high with all other externalizing problems (0.47-0.80) and lower with internalizing problems (0.02-0.39). A negative association was seen with prosocial behavior (−0.33 to −0.54). Despite the higher mean levels of aggressive behavior in boys, the correlations were notably similar for boys and girls (e.g., aggressive-hyperactivity correlations: 0.51-0.75 boys, 0.47-0.70 girls) and did not vary greatly with respect to age, instrument or cohort. Thus, aggressive behavior at school rarely occurs in isolation and children with problems of aggressive behavior likely require help with other behavioral and emotional problems. It is important to note that greater aggressive behavior is not only associated with greater amount of other externalizing and internalizing problems but also with lower levels of prosocial behavior.