Authors
Nana Guo, Zhengyi Li, Weili Shi, Yuping Qian, Anselm B M Fuermaier
Published in
Applied neuropsychology. Child. Pages 1-10. Jul 07, 2026. Epub Jul 07, 2026.
Abstract
Aggression is a developmentally significant problem among adolescents with elevated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits. Although ADHD traits have been associated with both reactive and proactive aggression, the role of emotional problems in shaping these associations remains unclear. This study examined the associations among ADHD traits, emotional problems, and aggression subtypes, and tested whether emotional problems moderate the relationship between ADHD traits and reactive versus proactive aggression.
Participants were 2055 Chinese adolescents recruited from a community school. Self-report measures were used to assess ADHD traits, emotional problems, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression. Group comparisons and moderation analyses were conducted.
Adolescents with elevated ADHD traits exhibited higher levels of emotional problems and aggression than those with low ADHD traits, with larger effects for reactive aggression. Emotional problems significantly moderated the association between ADHD group status and reactive aggression, but not proactive aggression. Among adolescents with high ADHD traits, reactive aggression increased with higher emotional problem levels, whereas no such pattern was observed in the low-ADHD-trait group.
Our findings highlight emotional problems play a key role in linking ADHD traits to reactive aggression in adolescence. We stress the importance of considering emotional functioning when examining ADHD-related aggression and highlight emotional problems as a potential intervention target for reducing reactive aggression.
PMID:
42412493
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Jul 2026.
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