Individual Facets of Emotional Dysregulation as Predictors of Aggression

Kryzsko Commons Ballroom, Winona, Minnesota

Studies have found significant relationships between emotional dysregulation and aggression (Casselman & McKenzie, 2015; Contardi et al., 2016). When developing the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Graetz and Roemer (2004) identified six facets that underly the construct of emotional dysregulation: nonacceptance of emotional responses, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, impulse control difficulties, lack of emotional awareness, limited access to emotional regulation strategies, and lack of emotional clarity. Buss and Perry's (1992) Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) conceptualized four dimensions of generalized aggression: physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. Previous studies have largely utilized the total scores of these scales when identifying relationships between them (e.g., McKenzie & Casselman, 2015). This study sought to examine predictive relationships between the subscales of these measures in a sample of college students. Based on evidence from the literature, we predicted that the DERS subscales would have positive correlations with the AQ subscales. In addition, it was hypothesized that impulsivity would be the strongest predictor of anger, physical, and verbal aggression, while nonacceptance of emotions would be the strongest predictor of hostility compared to the other DERS subscales. As expected, results show significant positive correlations between all DERS and AQ subscales. In support of our hypothesis, further analysis found impulsivity to be the most substantial predictor of anger, physical, and verbal aggression. However, four facets of emotional dysregulation were significant predictors of hostility. Implications and direction of future research are examined.