ABSTRACT
Introduction A reactive aggressive tendency is associated with a developmental perspective and other externalizing problems such as disruptiveness, noncompliance, hyperactivity, and impulsivity during childhood and adolescence. Reactive aggression is rooted in hostile attribution biases and normative beliefs, which are cognitions and beliefs about expectations and appraisals of the self and others in social relations. Adolescent reactive aggression is linked to poor psychosocial adjustment, antisocial behavior, negative emotionality, and substance abuse in early adulthood. Some outcomes are intermittent explosive disorder (IED) and romantic relational aggression, which are often factors in homicides by reactive aggressive type perpetrators.
