Aggressive behaviour in adolescence: Links with self-esteem and parental emotional availability

Aggressive behaviours during adolescence may be predictive of later conduct disorders, hence it is important to early detect their signals and deepen the study of their possible risk factors. In order to address these issues, our study pursued two main objectives: to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian adaptation of the Aggression Questionnaire Short-Form (AQ-SF), a form never previously used among Italian adolescents; and to investigate the relation among aggressiveness, emotional relationship with both parents and self-esteem in a sample of adolescents. Our results highlighted that psychometric properties of the Italian AQ-SF are satisfactory and encourage a wider use of this tool; in addition, we found that self-esteem plays a mediation role between parental emotional availability and aggression. Prevention efforts should focus on improving the relationship with both parents and strengthening adolescent's self-esteem.