Aggression in Adolescents: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Children are at a very precarious age when they become adolescents. It is as if their whole world turns turtle! There are so many changes happening all at once, physical, mental, emotional, and it can be very confusing and overwhelming for them. A large percentage of them are not able to process what is happening and turn to various coping mechanisms. In all of this confusion, there is also an upheaval in their emotions, and many times the adolescent is not able to regulate their emotions, which in turn causes frustration, further leading to the child becoming aggressive at the slightest provocation. The consequences of these outbursts of aggression are so many times uncalled for and cause so much harm and damage to not only the receiver of the aggressive outburst but to oneself as well.

Anger is an emotion that is not actually understood, and therefore, it has a wrong connotation to it. However, anger is something that tells a person that something wrong is happening to them. The problem is that adolescents are unable to process and express that anger in a correct way, furthering the

frustration that tags along with the emotion. Aggression is just an expression of pent-up anger, which is not good for the overall well-being of the adolescent. This causes children not to reach their potential and affects their social interactions, their academics, and, the majority of the time, the family environment gets disturbed, causing more frustration, and the whole thing finally becomes a vicious circle out of which the adolescent, even when wanting to, is sadly unable to get free from.

Studies have shown that when a positive environment is created for aggressive adolescents and the aggression acknowledged, things do take a turn for the better. When they are given the opportunity to express themselves in a safe place and feel that they are not being judged in any way, they begin to recognize the triggers and work on regulating their emotions so that there are no aggressive outbursts, which most of the time are detrimental to the adolescents themselves. If given the opportunity, an adolescent almost always responds to a positive and caring approach. They do try, and it is not a ‘flip the switch’ kind of method where things begin to get better immediately, but when there is a sense of belonging and acceptance, the adolescent begins to communicate better, and there is a definite improvement in almost all aspects of their lives and especially academics, which is the constant so to say, the sword over their heads. Thus, for every behavioural change needed and aspired for, the key is time. With constant and consistent positive reinforcement and counselling, aggression does get regulated, and improvement in social interactions is also seen.