Acta Clinica Croatica (Jan 2015)
Effect of Motor Limitations on the Expression of Aggressiveness among Adolescents
Abstract
This study examined how motor limitations in terms of reduced possibilities to move influence aggression, starting from the fact that motor skills and movement have an important place in the expression of aggression, as well as the tendency of adolescents to “body language”. Adolescent with motor deficit is hindered in gaining experience of one’s own body, which is reflected in the formation of complete experience of himself, or constitution of the self. In many of the functions of motor skills and movement aggression has a significant place that we wanted to determine without deeper analysis of whether the origin of aggression is instinctive or it is always just the result of frustration. The sample on which testing was performed consisted of 100 randomly selected subjects of both genders aged 16-18 years. Fifty subjects had motor limitations due to illness or injury, and another fifty subjects had intact motor functions. The study used three instruments: 1) A-87 questionnaire for aggressiveness examination; 2) structured interview; and 3) protocol for observation under natural conditions. Results of the analysis of data obtained in total score, as well as in all five subscales of the A-87 questionnaire for aggressiveness examination showed that the two groups were not significantly different. The results obtained by structured interview showed the adolescents with motor limitations to demonstrate greater verbal aggressiveness, then latent physical aggressiveness. A statistically significant between-group difference was obtained on the factor of self-destructiveness, which implies that adolescents with motor limitations are somewhat more self-destructive compared to those in control group. From the results obtained by the protocol for systematic observation in natural conditions, it was evident that there were significant differences on most of perceptual conducts between control and experimental group, whereby adolescents with motor limitations were more aggressive than control group subjects, especially in behaviors that apply to all forms of verbal aggressiveness. All examined adolescents in which some apparent forms of aggressive behavior were noticed in the observation protocol showed comparable expression of aggressiveness according to the results obtained on the subscales of the A-87 aggressiveness questionnaire, which connects these two measuring instruments and justifies their use in the study of aggressiveness regardless of the understanding of the origin of aggression.
