Aggressive behavior: examining the psychological and demographic factors among university students in Nigeria

Abstract

AbstractAggressive behaviour is a common occurrence among adolescents. However, there has been less work done among young adults in Nigerian universities concerning this phenomenon. Therefore, we aimed to examine the psychological and demographic factors of aggressive behaviour among undergraduate students. A total of 350 undergraduate students {Male = 110 (31.4%): Female = 240 (68.6%)} conveniently sampled from various departments in the University of Lagos were involved in the study. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The Parenting Style Questionnaire (PSQ), Adverse Childhood Experience International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ), and Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) were used to gather data for the study. The multiple correlation analysis identified authoritarian parenting style (r(350) = .258; p < .01) and adverse childhood experience (r(350) = .285; p < .01) positively related to aggressive behaviour. Additionally, the multiple regression analysis revealed that adverse childhood experience (B = .344, β = .233, p < .05) and authoritarian parenting style (B = .803, β = .173, p < .05) are independent predictors of aggressive behaviour. we concluded that while demographic variables, authoritative and permissive parenting did not collectively predict aggressive behaviour among university students, adverse childhood experiences and authoritarian parenting style independently predicted aggressive behaviour among university students.

Keywords

• aggressive behaviours
• authoritarian parenting style
• adverse childhood experiences
• university students