Between Transition and Turbulence: Understanding the Emotional and Contextual Roots of Aggression during Adolescence

Abstract

Adolescence is a period of substantial change in which young people experience new emotional, social, cognitive, and interpersonal demands. Aggressive behavior during this period may arise from the interaction of these demands with the resources available to adolescents for managing them. This theoretical paper aimed to develop a transition–turbulence framework to explain variations in adolescent aggression. A conceptual review and synthesis of existing literature on adolescent development, emotion regulation, social cognition, parenting, peer relationships, and ecological influences were undertaken. The analysis suggests that adolescence itself does not directly or inevitably lead to aggression. Instead, aggressive behavior may occur when developmental pressures become difficult to manage, particularly when emotional regulation, coping abilities, social understanding, or environmental support are limited. The framework also recognizes that adolescents may follow different patterns of aggression, including increasing, decreasing, or relatively stable trajectories. Overall, the proposed framework provides a multidimensional and dynamic perspective for understanding adolescent aggression.