Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study

Abstract Background The idea that attachment styles can affect the level of anger in an individual educes a reason why people develop anger issues and behavioral problems in adolescence that escalate into adulthood. Lebanon suffers from a shortage of data pertaining to insecure attachment styles and...

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Main Authors: Elise Maalouf, Pascale Salameh, Chadia Haddad, Hala Sacre, Souheil Hallit, Sahar Obeid
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2022-04-01
Series:BMC Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00813-9
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author Elise Maalouf
Pascale Salameh
Chadia Haddad
Hala Sacre
Souheil Hallit
Sahar Obeid
author_facet Elise Maalouf
Pascale Salameh
Chadia Haddad
Hala Sacre
Souheil Hallit
Sahar Obeid
author_sort Elise Maalouf
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background The idea that attachment styles can affect the level of anger in an individual educes a reason why people develop anger issues and behavioral problems in adolescence that escalate into adulthood. Lebanon suffers from a shortage of data pertaining to insecure attachment styles and the affective and cognitive aspects of anger and behavioral anger expression among the Lebanese youth population. This study aimed to investigate the association between attachment dimensions and anger expression (trait anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression) among a sample of Lebanese adolescent participants. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed between January and May 2019 among 1810 Lebanese high-school students aged 12–18 and used two validated measures, the Adolescent-Relationship Questionnaire (A-RQ) and The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). The A-RQ assessed attachment behaviors, while the BPAQ evaluated aggression. Results Higher fearful and dismissing attachment styles, and higher physical activity index were significantly associated with higher physical and verbal aggression. A higher fearful attachment style was significantly associated with more anger. A higher secure attachment style was significantly associated with less anger. Higher preoccupied and dismissing attachment styles were significantly associated with higher hostility. Conclusion Our findings revealed a significant relationship between both insecure attachment dimensions and the tripartite model of anger expression. This study adds to the anger literature by providing a more informed understanding of how variations in anger expression are linked to the processing of interpersonal interactions, which are the hidden facets of attachment systems.
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spelling doaj.art-cc0f768d1a304395a5f466fba3aea5412022-12-22T02:22:08ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832022-04-0110111410.1186/s40359-022-00813-9Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national studyElise Maalouf0Pascale Salameh1Chadia Haddad2Hala Sacre3Souheil Hallit4Sahar Obeid5Department of Life and Science, Paris Est UniversitySchool of Medicine, Lebanese American UniversityINSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d’Épidémiologie Clinique Et de Toxicologie-Liban)INSPECT-LB (Institut National de Santé Publique, d’Épidémiologie Clinique Et de Toxicologie-Liban)School of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of KaslikSocial and Education Sciences Department, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American UniversityAbstract Background The idea that attachment styles can affect the level of anger in an individual educes a reason why people develop anger issues and behavioral problems in adolescence that escalate into adulthood. Lebanon suffers from a shortage of data pertaining to insecure attachment styles and the affective and cognitive aspects of anger and behavioral anger expression among the Lebanese youth population. This study aimed to investigate the association between attachment dimensions and anger expression (trait anger, hostility, physical aggression, and verbal aggression) among a sample of Lebanese adolescent participants. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed between January and May 2019 among 1810 Lebanese high-school students aged 12–18 and used two validated measures, the Adolescent-Relationship Questionnaire (A-RQ) and The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). The A-RQ assessed attachment behaviors, while the BPAQ evaluated aggression. Results Higher fearful and dismissing attachment styles, and higher physical activity index were significantly associated with higher physical and verbal aggression. A higher fearful attachment style was significantly associated with more anger. A higher secure attachment style was significantly associated with less anger. Higher preoccupied and dismissing attachment styles were significantly associated with higher hostility. Conclusion Our findings revealed a significant relationship between both insecure attachment dimensions and the tripartite model of anger expression. This study adds to the anger literature by providing a more informed understanding of how variations in anger expression are linked to the processing of interpersonal interactions, which are the hidden facets of attachment systems.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00813-9Attachment stylesPhysical aggressionVerbal aggressionHostilityAnger
spellingShingle Elise Maalouf
Pascale Salameh
Chadia Haddad
Hala Sacre
Souheil Hallit
Sahar Obeid
Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study
BMC Psychology
Attachment styles
Physical aggression
Verbal aggression
Hostility
Anger
title Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study
title_full Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study
title_fullStr Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study
title_full_unstemmed Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study
title_short Attachment styles and their association with aggression, hostility, and anger in Lebanese adolescents: a national study
title_sort attachment styles and their association with aggression hostility and anger in lebanese adolescents a national study
topic Attachment styles
Physical aggression
Verbal aggression
Hostility
Anger
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00813-9
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AT chadiahaddad attachmentstylesandtheirassociationwithaggressionhostilityandangerinlebaneseadolescentsanationalstudy
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